THE NOTEBOOK

The Notebook is a 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks. The story centers on the relationship between Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. Spanning over five decades, their love endures an uncertain beginning, the onset and conclusion of World War II, the death of one child, and Allie’s eventual diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

The novel is framed by the titular notebook. The story that the reader engages with is the same one that an elderly Noah reads to Allie in the Creekside Assistance Living Facility when they are in their eighties. Allie does not know who Noah is, only that he comes to her room every day and reads to her. Each night, she forgets who he is and what he has read to her. Noah loves her and enjoys his time with her but also holds out hope that the story will restore her memories and bring her back to him.

The teenage Allie and Noah meet one summer in the 1930s, in the small town of New Bern, North Carolina. They fall in love and promise that they will always be together. But at the end of the summer, Allie leaves with her family, and Noah does not hear from her again for fourteen years. He writes to her every month, but his letters receive no reply. Allie will later learn that Noah wrote to her but that her mother intercepted the letters and hid them. Allie’s family is part of the southern aristocracy, and her parents do not believe that the lower-class Noah deserves their daughter.

After fourteen years, Allie returns to New Bern to tell Noah that she is engaged to a good, charming, handsome attorney named Lon Hammond. But she and Lon do not have a passionate relationship. Allie and Noah quickly fall in love again. Allie’s mother figures out why her daughter is in New Bern and visits them at Noah’s house. She gives Allie the letters she hid and tells her to make whatever decision is best for her. That is where Noah ends his written account of their story and the novel returns to present day.
In the final chapter, Noah reveals the circumstances of Allie’s diagnosis and relates a summary of their life together after she left Lon and came to New Bern to be with him. She has since become a famous painter, and they traveled the world and had five children together, with four surviving.

Allie remembers who Noah is after he finishes reading, and understands that they are the characters in the notebook. But her dementia quickly returns, and she forgets, shouting for help and sending Noah out of her room. Days later, Noah has a stroke that puts him in the hospital for two weeks and paralyses the right side of his body. When he returns to Creekside, he visits Allie on the night of their forty-ninth anniversary. She opens her eyes and calls him by name, then kisses him. As the novel ends, Noah says that they are going to heaven together, at the same moment.

Passive or Active Voice:

• Present Tense: to be (is, am, are) + Verb 3

Active voice : The titular notebook frames the novel.
Passive voice : The novel is framed by the titular notebook.

What Is a Pronoun?

Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of pronouns is that they can be substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re telling a story about your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if you keep repeating “Sarah” over and over again.

Ex: Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to Sarah as “my sister,” but then it sounds like you’re referring to two different people.

Ex: Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

Instead, you can use the pronouns she and her to refer to Sarah.

Ex: Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants to go to fashion school.

Personal Pronouns

There are a few different types of pronouns, and some pronouns belong to more than one category. She and her are known as personal pronouns. The other personal pronouns are I and me, you, he and him, it, we and us, and they and them. If you learned about pronouns in school, these are probably the words your teacher focused on. We’ll get to the other types of pronouns in a moment.

Antecedents

Pronouns are versatile. The pronoun it can refer to just about anything: a bike, a tree, a movie, a feeling. That’s why you need an antecedent. An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase that you mention at the beginning of a sentence or story and later replace with a pronoun. In the examples below, the antecedent is highlighted and the pronoun that replaces it is bolded.

Ex: My family drives me nuts, but I love them. The sign was too far away for Henry to read it. Sarah said she is almost finished with the application.

In some cases, the antecedent doesn’t need to be mentioned explicitly, as long as the context is totally clear. It’s usually clear who the pronouns I, me, and you refer to based on who is speaking.

It’s also possible to use a pronoun before you mention the antecedent, but try to avoid doing it in long or complex sentences because it can make the sentence hard to follow.

Ex: I love them, but my family drives me nuts.