Some elements you might consider:
- five parts
- narrative perspective
- changes in style
- jumps/gaps in the story
- time devoted to different periods in the story
- linear progression
Post your paragraph as a comment on this post.
Write a paragraph analysing the structure of the novel, explaining its impact on the reader and why the author has chosen to do this.
Some elements you might consider: - five parts - narrative perspective - changes in style - jumps/gaps in the story - time devoted to different periods in the story - linear progression Post your paragraph as a comment on this post.
15 Comments
Ola O
3/10/2015 01:41:23 pm
The first three chapters of the novel focusing on Isobel’s childhood cause the reader to instill in their mind the events of her childhood evoking sympathy for Isobel. As these events are most recent in the readers mind the reader can empathise with Isobel with how these events are so heavily instilled in her mind. The focus on her childhood then jumping to her youth create this effect. The first three chapters set the scene for Isobel’s character and provide greater meaning to why she behaves as she does. Chapter 4 explores how Isobel tries to fix her past and cope with it where as Chapter 5 finds a way to cope, making the cause of her struggles seem more effective. By dedicating more of the text to chapter 4 to explore these methods of coping it conveys how difficult it was for Isobel to let go of her past and overcome the events introduced in the first three chapters. Witting’s use of streams of consciousness in the last chapter show Isobel’s development as a character as contrasted to the beginning of the novel, Isobel begins to allow her thoughts to flow more freely. These streams of consciousness show Isobel exploring her own thoughts deeper and this way the authour begins to get to know who Isobel really is too. It emphasises Isobel’s development as a character as compared to the first few chapters Isobel instead of listening to her thoughts she tried to dismiss and change them. The use of third person narrative allows for the reader to feel greater sympathy towards Isobel as it allows the reader to understand her but also hear it from someone else so it doesn’t sound like Isobel’s complaining and feeling sorry for herself which may cause the reader to be against her as a character.
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Emma.S
3/10/2015 05:10:08 pm
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Steph V
3/10/2015 07:46:40 pm
The novel I for Isobel is centered around the growth of the protagonist from childhood into adulthood. The first few chapters of the novel focus on Isobel’s childhood and highlight events that made a significant impact on her life such as “the birthday present”, the “divine grace from God” and “a fireball”, and they enable the reader to understand the protagonist’s character and furthermore justify Isobel’s actions later on in her life. Isobel’s constant struggle “to be acceptable to the others” and to “be one of the crowd” throughout the forth chapter can be seen by the reader as a product of her childhood and willingness to isolate herself from society in her “private world” with “her people”, show the reader how the events of her childhood have affected her ability to develop into adulthood. The final chapter, entitled “I for Isobel” signifies Isobel’s catharsis from her past and her childhood and came to realise that she was “a writer”. The title of the chapter suggests to the reader that Isobel eventually comes to realise her identity.
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Amanda
3/10/2015 08:02:25 pm
The first 3 chapters of the novel I for Isobel focus solely on Isobel’s childhood alone, because without the background knowledge that readers gain from it, it’s almost impossible to justify and completely comprehend Isobel’s behaviour and actions later on in the novel. Isobel’s childhood extends over three chapters, which differs from Isobel’s adulthood of when she is fresh out of her normal surroundings and in a boarding house, as this all happens in one big chapter. This difference in the chapters represents that Isobel had many the significance of Isobel’s childhood, and thus this is why it was in three separate chapters, because it needed to be explored deeply in order for Witting to provide with the effects on Isobel in such little time. Chapter 4 is long and provides in great depth most of Isobel’s behaviour towards society and the decisions that she makes concerning the struggle to find her identity. As an effective way of making connections between what we learnt of Isobel as a child, links and comparisons can be made between our knowledge from Isobel’s past and our knowledge of Isobel as an adult, making it’s therefore easier to justify and understand her throughout chapter 4, which is where much of the novel is spent. Chapter 5 is much shorter than chapter 4, and is written in a stream of consciousness. This style of writing from Witting shows the growth of Isobel’s character whilst showing more depth towards Isobel’s thoughts and feelings, accompanied by her own evaluations and connections not just with herself, but with her past. Furthermore, time is skipped between chapter 4 and chapter 5, which can leave readers questionable, but it also teaches them to think that that time was insignificant and not of relevance to the text.
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Evie K
3/11/2015 07:00:57 am
The structure of I for Isobel is a linear progression, showing Isobel’s development from childhood to adulthood. The first three chapters which focus in great detail on Isobel’s childhood aim to introduce Isobel as a character to readers, explaining the behaviour she later displays as an adult. The fourth chapter, which is the longest in the novel, focuses on Isobel’s attempts to belong; particularly her confusion about herself as an adult. The fourth chapter gives clear meaning to the final chapter which sees Isobel realise her own sense of who she is and her place in society. The choice of Amy Witting to construct the final chapter as a stream of consciousness from Isobel’s own perspective shows that Isobel is finally beginning to reflect on her own thoughts and is beginning to discover her own emotions which she previously kept hidden. Chapter 5; in focusing on Isobel’s thoughts, shows she is in greater control of herself than as she was shown to be in her childhood across the first three chapters. As a reader, it seems easier to relate to Isobel in the final chapter when you hear more of her own voice than for the majority of the novel which is told as a third-person narrative and from someone who knows Isobel but is not Isobel herself.
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Carina
3/11/2015 04:50:02 pm
The novel ‘I for Isobel’ is structured in a linear progression which follows the protagonists journey from childhood throughout to early adulthood. This positions the reader to feel emotionally connected to Isobel. The stucture of linear progression also gives the reader an insight as to why Isobel behaves in various manners throughout young adulthood. The book is divided into five chapters. The first three chapters follow Isobel in her childhood followed by the last two which follow Isobel on her journey throughout young adulthood. This further gives insight to the reader as to why Isobel acts the way she does at various parts of the novel. The first four chapters are written in the 3rd person which make the reader feel as though they are an observer in Isobel’s life. Unlike the first four chapters the fifth chapter is written in a stream of consciousness which really helps the reader feel as though they are inside Isobel’s head and know her deepest thoughts and feelings. There is a gap in the story of Isobel’s teenage years which are left to the readers imagination. The author has chosen to do this as the teenage years are usually the years which impact ones life significantly however the exclusion of this period positions the reader feel as though Isobel’s childhood years were even more influential than her teenage years.
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Zoe H
3/11/2015 05:38:52 pm
The structure of Amy Witting’s novel is one that does not provide the reader with a great depth of information about certain sections of Isobel’s life. Chapters 1-3 explore the theme of abuse and the childhood of Isobel but there is an information gap between chapter 3 and 4 which leaves the reader questioning what went on. In the beginning chapters, the reader learns solely about Isobel’s childhood and significant, sometimes traumatic, events that take place. The length of chapter 4 suggests that the chapter is the most important of the novel, and the one which Witting wants the reader to focus most attention to. It provides the greatest depth of information and knowledge about Isobel’s life and what she is like as a character. In chapters 4 and 5, Witting uses a “stream of consciousness” to convey Isobel’s direct thoughts and emotions about situations; instead of directly narrating the novel at that point, she writes Isobel’s stream of thoughts in 1st person, as if Isobel narrates the book herself. Throughout the novel, there is no insight into the thoughts, beliefs and emotions of other characters apart from Isobel. She is the only character that Witting allows the reader to “get to know”, therefore encouraging the reader to focus solely on Isobel’s character and development throughout the novel.
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Lisa D
3/11/2015 08:13:54 pm
I For Isobel follows the course of Isobel’s (protagonist) life in a linear progression from a young girl through to a young adult (coming of age). The first three chapters are short and cover scenes from Isobels childhood (birthday, love of reading, divine grace). These are to establish the the struggles, mostly the emotional abuse by her mother, that Isobel faces, and how she copes with those difficulties. Although they are short chapters the reader can sympathise with Isobel from the beginning of the novel, since she is a child and is being subjected to unorthodox treatment by her mother. This treatment however had an ongoing impact on Isobel for the remainder of the novel, hence the reason that these significant stages of Isobel’s life were included. The fourth and fifth chapters are much longer but show the development of Isobel trying to find her identity and where she belongs in society, but also the lasting impacts that her mother’s abuse left on Isobel. They cover the period of time following the death of Isobel’s mother and charts her quest for independence (living in the boarding house) and identity. Chapter 4 shows Isobels determination to find independence after her mothers death and to find her place in society (cafe crowd). The jump to the fifth chapter is unexpected, showing Isobel’s promiscuous and unusual behaviour that wasn’t present in the previous chapter. However in this chapter Witting uses a stream of consciousness to show Isobels thought process, where we are starting to see Isobel developing her own ideas and forming her identity (morals/beliefs).
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Steph L
3/11/2015 09:24:01 pm
The structure of Amy Witting's novel is in a linear progression, showing the Isobel's development from childhood to a young adult. The first three chapters are relatively short, depicting in great detail the emotional abuse Isobel faces by her mother, which impacted on her greatly in her adult years. The main themes that Amy Witting focuses on here are abuse, family, fear, feminism and state of grace. The fourth and fifth chapters together are longer, covering Isobel's independent adult life in less than a year. Isobel strives to find her identity as an individual and also able to fit in with society, but has difficulty achieving this matter due to the impact her childhood, causing her to be vulnerable in making relationships easily and understanding what society expected from her. The main themes that Amy Witting focuses on here are, belonging and identity. The difficulties that Isobel faces makes the readers feel a sense of sympathy towards her. Amy Witting has chosen to have the narrative's perspective is described to be third person limited, not usually written in the traditional style of omniscient. This is the case because readers are only understanding from Isobel's perspective, how she understands and interpret situations are different to other's.
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Meg
3/11/2015 09:58:13 pm
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Audrey
3/11/2015 10:20:49 pm
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Liz
3/12/2015 09:59:33 am
In the first 3 chapters of I for Isobel, the story is based solely on Isobel’s childhood and all that had happened to her. The 4th chapter is about Isobel’s life as a young adult and how she deals with being independent and free from her mother’s abuse. The 5th chapter portrays a stream of consciousness where Isobel finds her true self and forms her morals. Amy Witting decided to spend numerous chapters on Isobel’s childhood because it shows the reader the way Isobel had been treated and why she was the way she was during her adulthood. The author also chooses to jump to different points in Isobel’s life because it leaves an air of mystery of what happened during those missing times and also activates the reader’s imagination. She also leaves such gaps so that the reader has to piece together the information they have received and to an extent form Isobel’s journey themselves. It forces them to pick up things they wouldn’t have done in other novels and involves them in the journey of the protagonists existence.
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Adele
3/12/2015 11:20:55 am
The perspective of the narrator, although not Isobel herself, quite clearly shows the thoughts that Isobel has throughout the storyline in the novel. This allows Witting to be both objective and subjective at the same time, effectively it gives the reader the sense of knowing what is happening inside Isobel’s head but not limiting the storyline to just Isobel’s view of situations. Throughout the novel the style changes. One of the main changes in novel is in the fifth chapter, this is when the book becomes more from Isobel’s persecutive than it previously was as she enters a state of consciousness. The effect that this has on the reader is that we can now understand how and why Isobel’s mind works the way it does giving us a better insight to why she did all the things that she did throughout the novel. Throughout the novel there was different time frames that were devoted to different stages in her life. The reason why Witting had spent so much time on Isobel could be because it allows the reader to have an insight to why Isobel acts like she does, and how her childhood helped to shape her identity. There are also quite big jumps in the story, such as Witting decides to cut out the chunk of her life from when she was a child to when she was almost an adult as well as after she leaves the cafe crowd and when she has a one night stand with Michael. Although there are glimpses as to what Isobel’s life was in between these time periods, the reason why Witting may have left them out is because it allows the reader to speculate on what happened and how it effected Isobel.
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Amber
3/12/2015 08:29:31 pm
I For Isobel follows the early life of the protagonist, Isobel, on her journey of self-discovery. The first three stories illustrate the relationship she shares with her mother and antagonist, Mrs Callaghan. It is with the context of these three chapters that the readers is somewhat able to justify or at least sympathize with Isobel’s inability to sustain healthy or any relationship with another human being for an extended period of time. Witting has included multiple time jumps in which Isobel’s life has somewhat changed and the author left this ambiguous to the reader so as to illustrate only the vital parts of Isobel’s story rather than the gradual developments. The lack of flashback assists in keeping the reader in sync with Isobel at all times, a theme which increases in the fifth chapter of the novel when Witting writes Isobel’s stream of consciousness, connecting the reader to Isobel on a higher level. Obviously, the fourth and fifth chapters included many significant moments for Isobel in which she tried to conform and be accepted into society and eventually found herself by revisiting and making peace with her past.
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Ola
3/15/2015 08:01:52 pm
The novel is divided into five parts, the author has done this in order to briefly present five periods of time during Isobel’s childhood and adolescence that have made an impact on her life. During the first three chapters it is obvious to the reader that Isobel is still a little girl who wants to stay out of trouble and gain the acceptance of the people around her. The author has included these chapters as background information to show the reader all the struggles that Isobel had to overcome as a child and show how she grew into the person she turned out to be at the end of the novel. From the fourth chapter, after the death of her mother Isobel is immediately presented as a more independent character who is eager to start a new life. Chapters four and five revolve around Isobel discovering herself and her purpose in life, but also determining whether it was right for Isobel to place such importance on what people thought of her. The linear progression of the novel allows the reader to understand the changes that have been occurring in Isobel’s life and how she finally came to the point where she was able to discover who she was.
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