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Twilight

by

Stephenie Meyer
2005

MonkeyNotes Study Guide by Ray Mescallado

For the complete study guide: http://monkeynote.stores.yahoo.net/

Reprinted with permission from TheBestNotes.com Copyright  2008, All Rights Reserved 
Any distribution without the written consent of TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited.

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The story is set primarily in the small town of Forks in northwest Washington State, as well as nearby communities such as La Push and Port Angeles. The very……. 

LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Isabella "Bella" Swan - The narrator of the story, a human girl who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father.

Renee Dwyer- The mother of Isabella, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona and recently married a minor league athlete.

Charlie Swan - The father of Isabella and Police Chief of Forks, Washington.

Billy Black - A Quileute Native American tribal elder who sells his truck to Charlie Swan, which becomes a gift to Bella.

Edward Cullen - A vampire in the Cullen family who possesses the ability to read most minds, but not Bella's. He is attracted to Bella in a predatory manner, but also falls in love with her.

Emmett Cullen - A vampire in the Cullen family who possess unusual strength.

Alice Cullen - A vampire in the Cullen family who takes a…….. 

Many additional characters are identified in the complete study guide.

CONFLICT
Protagonist - Bella Swan, a human teenager who moves to Forks, Washington.
Antagonist - For most of the novel, Edward Cullen is the antagonist, as they both come to terms with the powerful attraction they feel for each other. However, the……..
Climax - James tricks Bella into coming to him in order to save her mother.
Outcome - Bella is saved by Edward and his family, though Edward refuses to……. 

SHORT PLOT / CHAPTER SUMMARY (Synopsis)
Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie. While unhappy with this decision, it is one she makes on her own as she wants to give her mother Renee the chance to follow her new husband Phil, a minor league baseball player, to Florida. Bella adjusts well to her new high school in Forks, but notices the five Cullen siblings: Edward, Emmett, Alice, Jasper Hale, and Rosalie Hale. They are all adopted by the young doctor Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme, are unbelievably beautiful, and tend to keep to themselves. Bella is shocked when she finds that she has to share her Biology class table with Edward, and even more surprised when it seems that Edward takes an instant dislike for Bella without even speaking to her. Edward disappears from school for several days and when he returns tries to be friendly with Bella, which confuses her. The next morning, she is almost run over by a van and only saved by the unnatural strength and speed of Edward, who swoops in to rescue her from sure death. He asks her to keep quiet about what she had witnessed about him, and she abides by his request. She tries to be friendly with Edward in the aftermath, but he does not acknowledge her existence for the next six weeks. 

As the girls' choice dance approaches, Bella is asked by several boys to take them to the event. She refuses them all, but Edward starts speaking to her again, asking if she would go with him to Seattle instead, which was the excuse she gave for not attending the dance. Edward starts to show unusual attention to Bella, which others notice. However, he does not go with Bella when she invites him to come along to……… 

THEMES
Major Themes
Based on one of its genre traditions, Love and Romance is the first major theme of Twilight: that is, the way two people become attracted to each other and become mates. While the main characters Bella and Edward are the pairing readers focus on, there are others that serve as a striking contrast to further develop the……
Additional themes are discussed in the complete study guide.

MOOD
The mood is serious and at times melodramatic. This is in keeping with both the horror and romance genres that Twilight embodies: in both traditions, situations and emotions are heightened beyond the usual everyday concerns, often……..

BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY
Stephenie Meyer was born on December 24, 1973 in Connecticut. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She married in 1994 and has three sons, and is a ember of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The inspiration for Twilight came to her after a dream on June 2, 2003, that involved a human girl and a sparkling vampire sitting in a meadow. (This would become Chapter 13 of Twilight.) She wrote what would be Twilight - which originally was titled Forks - and signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company. Twilight was published in 2005 to great success and critical acclaim. The second ……..

LITERARY / HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Twilight follows several literary traditions, combining them in an interesting fashion. The most important traditions worth noting are: romances; supernatural horror, specifically vampire stories; and Young Adult.

The romance genre in the broadest sense involves any story that focuses primarily on the relationship between two people who are attracted to each other and, after some obstacles are presented, eventually come together. In a more narrow sense, the romance refers to a specific marketing category in modern publishing which often follows a specific formula in terms of plot and characterization. This includes: an initial misunderstanding between the two main characters that sets them in opposition at the start of the story; a romantic rival of some sort, either male or female; and the male being a physical Adonis who presents himself as a stoic distant figure despite possessing great emotional sensitivity. While there is often strong critical disdain for the modern romance, it is the most popular category of fiction in the…….. 

CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES / ANALYSIS
Preface
Summary
Bella considers her mortality and how she will die, as she confronts the relaxed hunter preparing to kill her. She takes some consolation in that she will die to protect someone she loves, even as the hunter approaches.
Notes
The book actually begins with an epigraph from the Book of Genesis in the Bible about the Tree of Knowledge. It is the warning God gives Adam and Eve against tasting the fruit from the tree or else they will die. This feeds into the actual Preface, which shows action at the novel's climax, where Bella is indeed risking her life. However, suspense is created because we do not know the specifics of this situation: where she is, who the hunter is, who she is protecting, and how she got to this situation in the first place. Thus, the reader will feel more compelled to read to find out these answers.

CHAPTER 1. First Sight
Summary
Bella Swan is driven to the Phoenix, Arizona airport by her mother. She travels to the small town of Forks, Washington, where her father Charlie lives and works as the police chief. Both parents are not sure what to make of this move, which Bella has decided upon by herself, and Bella knows she does not like relocating to Forks but is resolute on the matter. Upon her arrival, Charlie surprises Bella with a gift: an old truck he bought from Billy Black, which has a sturdiness in which she finds comfort.

Bella is concerned about attending a new school, especially as she is a pale and clumsy girl unlike the kind of tan athlete people may expect from a Phoenix transplant. However, the next day she goes to Forks High School, noticing her old truck fits in well in the parking lot - where a shiny Volvo stood out - and she proceeds to attend classes. She is befriended by several people over the course of this day: Eric in English class, then Jessica in Trigonometry and Spanish. During lunch with Jessica, Bella sees a table of five very pale, very beautiful students: they turn out to be Edward Cullen, Emmett Cullen, Alice Cullen, and the blond twins Rosalie and Jasper Hale. All are the adopted children of Dr. Cullen and his wife, who is said to be the aunt of the Hales; this unusual family moved to Forks from Alaska two years ago.

In Biology class, Bella is surprised to find herself seated at a table next to Edward Cullen, who has a strong negative reaction to her, tensing and making a fist in her presence. This unnerves her but after class she is befriended by Mike, who also notices the tension she stirred in Edward. Mike shares Gym class with Bella, where she fears her clumsiness will become obvious. As the receptionist instructed her in the morning, Bella returns to the main office at the end of the day only to find Edward Cullen there, trying to change his Biology class to any other time. He is unsuccessful, tenses again in Bella's presence, and leaves. The receptionist asks how Bella's day went but is not convinced when she says it was fine. Bella fights tears as she drives home.

Notes
Isabella's nickname of Bella recalls Bela Lugosi, who played Dracula in the classic Tod Browning film as well as on-stage in theatrical productions. Romance novels often have a situation where the initial meeting between the heroine and her hero results in a very negative reaction by the hero; later, the hero explains the reaction in a way that shows how sensitive he is. This story does not deviate from the formula, as Edward seems to grow violent in Bella's presence and goes out of his way to try to avoid her. Note also that his response to the school receptionist is very courteous, giving him the formal air one may associate with aristocracy - a small touch that again recalls the romance genre.

CHAPTER 2. Open Book
Summary
The next day at school is better in that Bella's new friends were paying attention to her. However, it's worse because she is still tired, gets a question in Trig wrong, shows off her clumsiness with a bad accident during Gym volleyball; mostly, though, it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school. Mike shows extra attention to Bella and invites her to sit with him during lunch, which pleases Jessica who also joins him; it is then that Bella sees the other four Cullens but not Edward at their own table. Edward is also absent from Biology, and Bella cannot shake the feeling that she is responsible. She also discovers the Volvo belongs to the Cullen children.

After school she goes grocery shopping, as she requested to take over the cooking for her and Charlie. Coming home, she checks her e-mail for the first time since arriving and finds three increasingly panicked messages from her mother Renee. She writes back her mother to assure her all is fine then reads Wuthering Heights for English. Charlie arrives home for dinner and shares his positive opinions on Mike Newton, Bella's new friend, as well as the Cullen family, who he defends against the gossip of the locals. 

Edward Cullen is not in school for the remainder of the week. On Monday after English class, it starts to snow, which delights Mike. Bella is not pleased by the snow, and even less so when she gets hit by a snowball by Eric, who apparently considers Mike a rival. Snowball fights occur and are discussed with great enthusiasm by Bella's friends, and during lunch she sees Edward has returned and with the other Cullens are also enjoying the snowballs. Bella notices Edward looking at her but doesn't know how to react. The snow turns to rain, which ruins Mike's plans for a big snowball war but is a relief to Bella.

In Biology class, Edward introduces himself to Bella, who is shocked that he knows enough to call her Bella instead of Isabella. While they perform their lab experiment, Edward and Bella touch hands, and Bella notices how cold it is as well as an electric current passing through them. She also notices that his black eyes - which she noticed on her first day - were now a different color, a strange ocher. When she asks about this, he becomes evasive. Edward asks why Bella moved to Forks, and she tells him it was so that her mother could travel unimpeded with her new husband Phil, who is a minor league ball player. She is surprised at confessing so much to Edward. At the end of the day she sees Edward, who is staring at her; flustered, she almost hits another car, and suspects that Edward is laughing at her afterwards.

Notes
Wuthering Heights is one of the most well-known classic literary romances, and its dark, gothic mood is in keeping with the tone being set by this novel. The Volvo represents the different, more glamorous lifestyle that the Cullens and their stylish beauty embody; it presents a stark contrast to Bella and her truck, which is plain and clunky and considerably slower. However, as Bella herself observes, the truck is the kind of vehicle that can demolish a Volvo and come out intact - thus symbolizing the damage that Bella can have on the Cullen family, despite their seeming superiority……… 

OVERALL ANALYSES
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Bella Swan - Bella Swan's main development as a character is her movement through adolescence to emotional and sexual maturity by finding her first - and perfect - love, Edward Cullen. She arrives in Forks for the sake of her mother, feeling out of place and not even fitting the stereotype that could be placed on a Phoenix transplant. Nevertheless, she blossoms immediately as she attracts the attention of several boys before the bond with Edward is cemented. That her first love is someone as beautiful and unusual as Edward is key to the fantasy of Twilight - first love is a common rite of passage, but one that has added weight here because her choice turns out to be a century-old vampire, with all the romance and danger and exoticism it carries. Her interactions with Edward help embolden her in unexpected way: she goes matchmaking to fend off the attention of…….

Edward Cullen - Edward Cullen is as complex a figure in Twilight as Bella, but this is due to his history more than his development over the course of the novel. His growth comes from the…….. 

Additional characters are analyzed in the complete study guide.
PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
The plot is relatively straightforward, following events in a clear linear fashion. The only exception is at the very beginning: the Prologue serves as a kind of teaser now common in popular narratives - starting with the most exciting part of the story, the climax, so that readers want to know what exactly led to that moment and why. This has become a common ploy in popular culture narratives, especially in visual media such as movies and television. 

One can clearly follow the novel's structure in terms of the romance novel. The first meeting between heroine and hero seems to alienate the two from each other; in this case, the encounter in Biology lab and its consequences weigh heavily on Bella's mind. The attention of rival love matches enters the scenario; in this case for Bella, as she must contend with Mike, Eric, and later Tyler. Next, a rescue bring the hero and heroine closer together; actually, Edward saves her twice, first from Tyler's out-of-control van, then from the four men in Port Angeles. The two lovers are united in a brief idyll; in this case, it's the hike……….. 

THEMES – THEME ANALYSIS
The theme of Love and Romance - Love and Romance is the first major theme of the book, as the main action hinges on Bella and Edward uniting and the adventures resulting from this union. Bella and Edward are the ideal couple in some ways - thematically, they represent a balance between vampiric passion and human intellect - but also fatally flawed in that they can also be predator and prey, which would happen if the balance is lost. The vampire-human bond brings out an image of the victim being ravished - that is, being taken in hungrily by the predatory nature of the vampire. However, that ravishing is also balanced in order to preserve the love, as Edward reins in his instinct constantly and Bella - in her kisses and forward behavior - gives in to her own instinct and becomes quite passionate and even aggressive with Edward.

The ideal of Bella and Edward isn't the only example of love and romance, of course. There are other pairings which also work well - Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, Jessica and Mike - though little is shown about them. Further, there are several examples of romance that has gone awry - from the…… 

Additional themes are fully analyzed in the complete study guide.

AUTHOR’S STYLE
The style of Twilight is straightforward, conversational, and highly accessible, as one would expect from a Young Adult novel. Written from the perspective of a teenage girl going through difficult situations, there are canny observations on her parents and peers, as well as moments of self-deprecating humor. There are also pop cultural allusions which help give a sense of timeliness to the story, reflecting the……. 

QUOTES – IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

1.) After a quote from the Book of Genesis, the Preface begins:
I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would have not imagined it like this.
I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.
Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something. (1)
Given the conventions of the genre, readers may have certain expectations: the narrator is sacrificing herself for the sake of her love, who will be a vampire, and that this "hunter" is a hunter of vampires. Those familiar with vampires in popular culture may think of Van Helsing from Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the anime Vampire Hunter D. We find out the details at the climax of the novel, but it is not as expected: the room is the dance studio near Bella's mother's home in Phoenix, Arizona; the hunter is James, a vampire who hunts humans; and the person for whom Bella is sacrificing her life is her mother. 

2.) Thus, a re-reading of the first proper chapter of the novel is rewarding in unexpected ways:
My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt - sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.
In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. (3)
We now see that this first paragraph also includes many of the elements of the novel's climax: the airport and Bella's mother Renee. The "farewell gesture" of her favorite shirt - which is white, the color of surrender - refers to her moving to Forks, but also foreshadows her own surrender to James in order to save Renee. 

3.) While she does not look forward to this move, she does take a liking to the gift Charlie gets her:
There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new - well, new to me - truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To…….. 

Many more additional quotations are analyzed in the complete study guide.

SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / METAPHORS / SYMBOLS
Vampirism is the most obvious motif and symbol in the story. It is not a theme in itself, but is used to flesh out all the themes to varying extent. Given the genres embodied by Twilight, the vampire represents the unleashed id, the release of intellect to a more pure, animal passion. The desire and romance that comes with the vampire romance is the notion of passion or love as an insatiable hunger that requires the very essence of the loved one. Of course, passion can also be quite dangerous, and a hunger must know limits or will threaten everyone involved - this is shown by the appearance of James late in the book. Edward knows best the…….. 

IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY
Title: Twilight.
Author: Stephenie Meyer.
Date Published: 2005.
Meaning of Title: The span between daylight and evening, which Edward calls the safest time.
Setting: Primarily Forks, Washington and its environs, but also Phoenix, Arizona.
Genre: Supernatural horror, romance,…….. 

STUDY QUESTIONS – MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
1. What location does Bella leave to live with her father?
a. Phoenix, Arizona.
b. Forks, Washington.
c. La Push, Washington.
d. Denali, Alaska.
2. What is Charlie Swan's occupation?
a. Doctor.
b. Police Chief.
c. Writer.
d. College professor………

ESSAY TOPICS / BOOK REPORT IDEAS
1.) Imagine if this novel had the same themes and plot, but did not involve vampires. Would anything be lost as a result? Would anything be gained? Choose a key scene from the novel involving vampirism and imagine how it could be done without that motif.

2.) What if the main roles were reversed? That is, what if Bella was a

ANSWER KEY
1.) a 2.) b  3.) c  4.) a  5.) d  6.) c  7.) a  8.) c  9.) b  10.) b  11.) d  12.) d  13.) c  14.) a  15.) b

For the complete study guide: http://monkeynote.stores.yahoo.net/

Copyright ©2008 TheBestNotes.com.
Reprinted with permission of TheBestNotes.com. All Rights Reserved. 
Distribution without the written consent TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited.