Key Idea: At HL you study two literary works. This topic shows how to read them so you can talk about any extract: its plot, themes, characters and the narrator's voice.
Reading a literary work
- Read on four levels from page one: {{la trama, el tema, los personajes, la voz|plot, theme, characters, voice}}
- Mark themes, characters and key quotations as you read.
- For an extract: a detail, then a quotation, then its effect.
- Keep one page in Spanish for each work: themes, how characters change, quotations, the turning point, the narrative voice.
- Analyse; don't retell the plot.
Themes and characters
- A theme is a claim the work makes, written as a sentence, not just a noun.
- To find it, ask: {{¿qué se repite? ¿qué cambia al final?|what recurs? what changes by the end?}}
- Analyse a character by motive, relationships and development: {{rasgo → cita → significado|trait → quote → meaning}}
- Link each character to a theme.
Narrative voice and style
- Ask two questions: {{¿quién narra?|who tells it?}} and {{¿cómo está escrito?|how is it written?}}
- Pronouns show first or third person. An omniscient narrator knows hidden thoughts.
- Five devices: {{metáfora, símil, imagen, símbolo, personificación|metaphor, simile, imagery, symbol, personification}}. A simile uses «como».
- For the oral: {{voz → tono → un recurso (con cita) → efecto|voice → tone → one device (with a quote) → effect}}
The narrator is never the author.
Is «la familia» a theme? Not yet: it is only a topic. Turn it into a claim, as a full sentence.
«Sus ojos eran como el mar.» Metaphor or simile? Simile: it has «como».
The narrator says «yo». Which person is it? First person.
Your friend retells the plot of the extract. What is missing? Analysis: how it is written and what it means.
Who knows what every character secretly thinks? An omniscient narrator.