I have started a new project: I will be reading through the novels (and histories) as suggested by Susan Wise Bauer in her popular book The Well Educated Mind. (I intend on reading through the other categories, too, but later.) I have completed an outline for questions I’m going to ask myself while reading the first book on the novel list – Don Quixote:
Bauer suggests three levels of study:
Inquiry Level 1: Grammar
This is the first read-through, during which I will take important notes from biographies and blurb, and list the characters and relationships to each-other. She suggests dog-earing and underlining the book. Instead, I will take notes in Evernote, and share them here on Saturdays.
Inquiry Level 2: Logic
After reading through the book, she wants me to come up with my own title and subtitle for the book, describing the major event or point. I should also take note of:
π½What is the most central life-changing event?
π½Am I transported? Do I see, feel, and hear this other world?
π½Can I sympathize with the people who live there? Do I understand their wants and desires and problems? Or am I left unmoved?
π½Is this a fable or a chronicle?
If the novel is a chronicle, how are we shown reality: Physical? Mental?
If the novel is a fable, what was the intent? Is it an allegory? If not, is it speculation?
Is the novel realistic with a few fantastic elements? If yes, it’s not simply a fable. What is the phenomenon being described that can not be described in real terms?
π½What does the central character want? What is standing in his or her way? What strategy is pursued to overcome this block?
π½Who is telling you this story? Is this person reliable?
Is it first person? Second person? Third person limited? Third person objective? Omniscient?
π½Where is the story set?
Is it natural or human constructed? If natural, does nature reflect the emotions and problems of characters? Or is the universe indifferent? If human constructed, do those constructions set a mood?
π½What style does the writer employ?
π½Images and metaphors
Are there any repeated images? If so, is this a metaphor, and if so, what does it represent?
π½Β Beginnings and endings
Does the beginning sentence/scene come with meaningful imagery that represents where the story is going?
Does the end have a resolution or a logical exhaustion?
Inquiry Level 3: RhetoricΒ
π½Do you sympathize with the characters? Which ones, and why?
Did the author choose characteristics to make a statement about the human condition?
π½Does the author’s technique give you a clue as to her argument: her take on the human condition?Β
π½Is the novel self-reflective?
π½Did the writer’s times affect him?
π½Is there an argument in this book? If so, do you agree?