A UNIVERSAL REVISION CHECKLIST
for a novel

1. State fully the title and author (check all words and spelling)

2. When was it published? Where? Why?

3. What other novels by the same author rank with it?

4. Name and spell correctly the chief characters.

5. State what you consider to be its chief themes.

6. PLOT:

What conflict drove the story on?

Identify the climax. Was it the resolution of this conflict?

How do sub-plots relate to the main one?

Do they amplify, detail, enhance it?

Do these sub-plots parallel or foreshadow the main action?

POINT OF VIEW

How is the novel presented? Who narrates it?

Rate its success.

8. CHARACTER

How well developed are the principals?

List adjectives to describe them.

What do you recognise as the driving force, the motivation of these principal characters?

9. SETTING

Give historical, geographical, social details.

Is the setting an important feature even a player in the action? How/Why?

10. STYLE

Identify and evaluate this novel for its prose, method of narration, ease of reading.

11. THEMES/ PURPOSE/ CRITIQUE

Is it relevant to our lives today? How?

12. List principal scenes and show how they reveal character, or are turning points in the action.