Literature Analysis #1

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same). 

• The plot begins with Silas entering the town of Raveloe because of being accused of stealing a large amount of money. While in Raveloe he keeps his distance from the town and doesn’t make any real connections with the towns people. He lives in a small cottage while the rich cass family lives in a big red house. Many think of Silas as an outsider with wealth. Godfrey cass and his brother Dunsey are wealthy heirs to the cass fortune. One night when Silas is not home Dunsey steals his money. So he is left poor and lonely. That is until one night when Godfrey’s wife (that nobody knows about) arrives to town to prove that she is his wife and has his baby. However, she dies before she makes it and the young girl finds her way to Silas’s house. He takes care of her (he names her eppie) and she loves him as a dad.  Years later when Godfrey’s brother is found at the bottom of Silas’s well with the money that was stolen from Silas thus making Godfrey tell his current wife about his dead wife and daughter. Godfrey wants his daughter back but she chooses to stay with Silas. Silas is happy and eppie serves as a link between him and the community. Silas later visits the town he once left a long time ago and realized how much it changed and that the accusation of him being a thief was no longer important. The inciting incident of this story is when Godfrey’s younger brother Dunsey is found at the bottom of the well with Silas’s money. 

1. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

• A theme in this novel is the difference between classes and how they can rise above it. Silas is poor but takes care of a girl who belongs to a rich man and that kid bridges the gap between both classes.  

1. Describe the author's tone. 

• The authors tone is strong but understanding.

1. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

• Foreshadowing- The disappearance of Dunsey and the fact that Dunsey walked by the house and though of robbing Silas was foreshadowing that Dunsey died with Silas’s money.
• Protagonist- The protagonist is Silas Marner
• Motif- Class is the motif because it plays apart throughout the entire novel. It is the basis for everything that happens.
• Irony- The irony in this book is the death of Dunsey. “No he fell in… Dunsey is the man who robbed Silas Marner”  page 162. The irony is that he stole from Silas and then he fell into a well and died.
• Tragedy- There are several tragedies in this story. One is the death of Eppies mother, “The mother’s dead, and I reckon its got no father.” Pg. 188
• Point-of-view- The point of view is third person omniscient. “Godfrey bit his lips and clenched his fist.” page 26