Title Normal People by Sally Rooney (Key aspect or irony)
Escapist/Formulaic or Escapist fiction
Imaginative fiction?
Plot Starts in secondary school. Marianne is rich, but has a brother who abuses her
(verbally and physically) which made her have a low self-esteem. Connell is not as
wealthy, his mother cleans Mariannes house. They know each other from school
and from when Connell picks up his mom when she is done cleaning. Connell is
popular at school (handsome, athletic and shy) and Marianne is a mis-fit (antisocial
and weird). They pretend not to know each other. They start a relationship in
secret, because Connell doesn’t want to loose his social status. This goes along
until prom, when Connell asks Rachel to the prom instead of Marianne. Lorraine,
Connell mother, is very angry with him since she likes Marianne. Marianne does not
attend school anymore after this. They both go to college in Dublin. Marianne
becomes more social and has a lot of friends. Now Connell is more of a misfit.
Marianne dates Gareth and then Jamie, Connell dates Helen. They both go on a
vacation with their friends to Europe. Marianne goes to study in Sweden, where she
gets another boyfriend who abuses her. Connell gets depressed, partly because an
old school friend killed himself. Helen breaks up with him and he gets back together
with Marianne. He is offered an internship in New York and does not know if he
should go or stay for Marianne. Marianne convinces him to go and let things go as
they will go.
Exposition (you get to know a bit about Connell and Marianne and their
lives separately, their family’s and school situations)
Rising action (Connell and Marianne breakup and get together again
constantly, their communication is very bad and they don’t know if the other
person has feelings and cares for them)
Climax (After Marianne was hit by her brother Alan and has a broken nose
she calls Connell, he comes to her house and threatens Alan he will kill him
if he ever hurt her again, he promises he will always look out for her, thus
showing he cares for her deeply)
Denouement (they get together again, Connell even starts to show public
affection, they still don’t communicate tho)
Conclusion (they are together, but Connell is going to move to New York,
they don’t really break up but they also don’t really discuss wether they are
going to do long distance or not)
Escapist/Formulaic or Escapist fiction
Imaginative fiction?
Plot Starts in secondary school. Marianne is rich, but has a brother who abuses her
(verbally and physically) which made her have a low self-esteem. Connell is not as
wealthy, his mother cleans Mariannes house. They know each other from school
and from when Connell picks up his mom when she is done cleaning. Connell is
popular at school (handsome, athletic and shy) and Marianne is a mis-fit (antisocial
and weird). They pretend not to know each other. They start a relationship in
secret, because Connell doesn’t want to loose his social status. This goes along
until prom, when Connell asks Rachel to the prom instead of Marianne. Lorraine,
Connell mother, is very angry with him since she likes Marianne. Marianne does not
attend school anymore after this. They both go to college in Dublin. Marianne
becomes more social and has a lot of friends. Now Connell is more of a misfit.
Marianne dates Gareth and then Jamie, Connell dates Helen. They both go on a
vacation with their friends to Europe. Marianne goes to study in Sweden, where she
gets another boyfriend who abuses her. Connell gets depressed, partly because an
old school friend killed himself. Helen breaks up with him and he gets back together
with Marianne. He is offered an internship in New York and does not know if he
should go or stay for Marianne. Marianne convinces him to go and let things go as
they will go.
Exposition (you get to know a bit about Connell and Marianne and their
lives separately, their family’s and school situations)
Rising action (Connell and Marianne breakup and get together again
constantly, their communication is very bad and they don’t know if the other
person has feelings and cares for them)
Climax (After Marianne was hit by her brother Alan and has a broken nose
she calls Connell, he comes to her house and threatens Alan he will kill him
if he ever hurt her again, he promises he will always look out for her, thus
showing he cares for her deeply)
Denouement (they get together again, Connell even starts to show public
affection, they still don’t communicate tho)
Conclusion (they are together, but Connell is going to move to New York,
they don’t really break up but they also don’t really discuss wether they are
going to do long distance or not)
