Genre
Mystery-Thriller
Setting and Context
Vermont
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person point of view.
Tone and Mood
The book is oftentimes tense, mysterious, scandalous, solemn, frenetic, and energetic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Jacob Finch Bonner (both the protagonist and the antagonist)
Major Conflict
Jacob's efforts to find success, his struggle to write his book, and finally, his fight against the people who start the email campaign against him.
Climax
When the email campaign intensifies and comes to a head about Jacob's plagiarism.
Foreshadowing
Jacob's realizations about his student's plagiarism foreshadows the start of the email campaign against Jacob.
Understatement
Initially, the brilliance of Jacob's student who has the idea for the book that ultimately became a bestseller is understated.
Allusions
The book alludes to the literary world, other novels (especially Korelitz's previous books, the geography of the United States, religion, and journalism and entities which employ journalists (like the New York Times).
Imagery
As it becomes more clear that Jacob has plagiarized his book, imagery surrounding the email campaign becomes more common.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
The story of how Jacob and his student came to discover the story of the novel Jacob would later write is paralleled in the book.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
MFA is used to refer to the Master of Fine Arts program at the college Jacob teaches at in Vermont.
Personification
The book that Jacob writes is mythologized, given human-like characteristics, and is personified throughout the book.
