After rereading, jotting notes, and perhaps discussing the work, you are ready to start forming an interpretation. Look through your notes and annotations for recurring questions and insights about a single aspect of the work.
In forming an interpretation, you should try to focus on a central issue. Avoid trying to do everything at once. You may think, for example, that Huckleberry Finn is a great book because it contains brilliant descriptions of scenery, has a lot of humorous moments, but also tells a serious story of one boy’s development. This is a valid response to the work.
However, your job in writing an essay will be to focus on one issue that you can develop into a sustained, in-depth interpretation. Here are three possible approaches you might take:
focus on ways in which the runaway slave Jim uses humor to preserve his dignity.
focus on ironic discrepancies between what Huck says and what his heart tells him.
focus on just one or two minor characters, such as the Duke and the Dauphin, and show how they represent flaws in the society at large.
Questions to ask about literature
Related topics:
Asking questions that lead to an interpretation
Drafting an interpretive thesis
Focusing an interpretive thesis
Outlining an interpretive paper