Background Notes for the novel...
a. Point of View: First–person narrative, (I)b. Stream of Consciousness: Reveals Holden’s inner thoughts, emotions & memories.c. Confessional:Tone is confidential & intimate.d. Dialogue: Holden repeats conversations.e. Flashbacks: Contains memories of earlier events, told in retrospect. f. Colloquial (local) Language & Slang: Holden speaks in a language that is real; it is authentic for 1950s.
g. Plot Structure = Episodic: Holden re-lives the 48-hour period following his expulsion from PenceyPrep School.h. Frame Novel:A story within a story. Inserting a story within the body of a larger story that encompasses the other one.i. Genres:1. bildungsroman:A coming-of-age story. A novel in which an adolescent protagonist comes to adulthood by a process of experience and disillusionment. This character loses his or her innocence, discovers that previous preconceptions are false, or has the security of childhood torn away, but usually matures and strengthens by this process.