Introduction to the Seventh Edition viii
1 Fiction and the Novel
The universality and the distinctiveness of fiction
Fiction�� play�� fantasy
Imaginary characters and real life
Prose
Narrative
Characters�� action�� plot
Novel�� short story�� novella

2 History�� Genre�� Culture
When was the novel born?
Ancestors and close relations
Novel and romance
Life and pattern
The "rise of the novel"

3 Shorter Fiction
The short story
The novella

4 Realism�� Modernism�� Postmodernism����and Beyond s
Realism
Modernism
Postmodernism
The electronic revolution

5 Analyzing Fiction
Prose fiction and formal analysis
Narrative technique
Character
Plot
Structure
Setting
Theme
Symbol and image
Speech and dialogue

6 Studying the Novel
Studying the novel in the digital age
Reading�� responding�� criticizing
How to take notes
Using critics
Using computers
Revision/review
Essays and examinations

7 Versions�� Adaptations�� Translations
Versions
Adaptations
Translations

8 Critical Approaches to Fiction
Courses and approaches
Categorizing criticism
Narratology�� Structuralist and rhetorical
The literary critical tradition
Textual approaches
Contextual approaches
Ideological approaches

9 World Literature and Fiction
World Literature
For whom does the novel speak today?
Fiction�� truth�� and ��recent�� history
Timeline of the Novel
Glossary of Terms
Bibliography
Index