What is a novel? “ A long, written story, about imaginary people and events” Long: “War and peace” by Leo Tolstoy = 1000 pages A short story or story is about eighty pages long Written: “not a poetry ” like the one we did of William Blake, but in prose Imaginary people and event: it does not strictly apply to historical novels (War and Peace for instance deals with the war between France and Russia and Napoleon)