Generating Ideas
Read several literary works from the course options to find two or three you like. Next, reread those that interest you. Select one that strikes you as especially significant — realistic or universal, moving or disturbing, believable or shocking — with a meaning you wish to share with classmates.
Analyzing a literary work is the first step in interpreting meaning and evaluating literary quality. As you read the work, identify its elements and analyze them. Then focus on one significant element or a cluster of related elements. As you write, restrict your discussion to that focus.
We provide three checklists to guide you in analyzing different types of literature. Each of these is an aid to understanding, not an organizational outline for writing about literature. The first checklist focuses on short stories and novels, but some of its questions can help you analyze setting, character, theme, or your reactions as a reader for almost any kind of literary work.
DISCOVERY CHECKLIST
See a glossary of literary terms.
Analyzing a Short Story or a Novel
- What is your reaction to the story? Jot it down.
- Who is the narrator — not the author, but the one who tells the story?
- What is the point of view?
- What is the setting (time and place)? What is the atmosphere or mood?
- How does the plot unfold? Write a synopsis, or summary, of the events in time order, including relationships among those events.
- What are the characters like? Describe their personalities, traits, and motivations based on their actions, speech, habits, and so on. What strategies does the author use to develop the characters? Who is the protagonist? The antagonist? Do any characters change? Are the changes believable?
- How would you describe the story’s style, or use of language? Is it informal, conversational, or formal? Does the story use dialect or foreign words?
- What are the external conflicts and the internal conflicts? What is the central conflict? Express the conflicts using the word versus, such as “dreams versus reality” or “the individual versus society.”
- What is the climax of the story? Is there any resolution?
- Are there important symbols? What might they mean?
- What does the title of the story mean?
- What are the themes of the story? Are they universal (applicable to all people everywhere at all times)? Write down your interpretation of the main theme. How is this theme related to your own life?
- What other literary works or life experiences does the story remind you of?
When looking at a poem, consider the elements specific to poetry and those shared with other genres, as the following checklist suggests.
DISCOVERY CHECKLIST
- What is your reaction to the poem? Jot it down.
- Who is the speaker — not the author, but the one who narrates?
- Is there a setting? What mood or emotional atmosphere does it suggest?
- Can you put the poem into your own words — paraphrase it?
- What is striking about the poem’s language? Is it informal or formal? Does it use irony or figurative language: imagery, metaphor, personification? Identify repetition or words that are unusual, used in an unusual way, or archaic (no longer commonly used). Consider connotations, the suggestions conjured by the words: house versus home, though both refer to the same place.
- Is the poem lyric (expressing emotion) or narrative (telling a story)?
- How is the poem structured or divided? Does it use couplets (two consecutive rhyming lines), quatrains (units of four lines), or other units? How do the beginning and end relate to each other and to the poem as a whole?
- Does the poem use rhyme (words that sound alike)? If so, how does the rhyme contribute to the meaning?
- Does the poem have rhythm (regular meter or beat, patterns of accented and unaccented syllables)? How does the rhythm contribute to the meaning?
- What does the title of the poem mean?
- What is the major theme of the poem? How does this underlying idea unify the poem? How is it related to your own life?
- What other literary works or life experiences does the poem remind you of?
A play is written to be seen and heard, not read. You may analyze what kind it is and how it would appear onstage, as this checklist suggests.
DISCOVERY CHECKLIST
- What is your reaction to the play? Jot it down.
- Is the play a serious tragedy (which arouses pity and fear in the audience and usually ends unhappily with the death or downfall of the tragic hero)? Or is it a comedy (which aims to amuse and usually ends happily)?
- What is the setting of the play? What is its mood?
- In brief, what happens? Summarize each act of the play.
- What are the characters like? Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? Are there foil characters who contrast with the main character and reveal his or her traits? Which characters are in conflict? Which change?
- Which speeches seem especially significant?
- What is the plot? Identify the exposition or background information needed to understand the story. Determine the main external and internal conflicts. What is the central conflict? What events complicate the central conflict? How are these elements of the plot spread throughout the play?
- What is the climax of the play? Is there a resolution to the action?
- What does the title mean?
- Can you identify any dramatic irony, words or actions of a character that carry meaning unperceived by the character but evident to the audience?
- What is the major theme? Is it universal? How is it related to your life?
- What other literary works or life experiences does the play remind you of?