Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Piece of Fiction

Transcription

1 Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Piece of Fiction (Many of the following questions come from the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. Those questions are marked with an *.) GENERAL 1. Under what genre(s) can the piece be classified (ex. satire, adventure, coming of age, epic)? Are there certain literary conventions connected with this genre? If so, does the piece exhibit those conventions? How/how not? 2. With which literary movement(s) is the author associated? What are the characteristics of this literary movement? Does the piece exhibit any of those characteristics? If so, which ones and how does the piece exhibit those characteristics? PLOT 1. Does the writer use a plot structure different from that of the Freytag pyramid (ex: frame story, in medias res, episodic)? What is the writer s purpose in using this unconventional structure? 2. What is the plot structure of the piece (ex: exposition, moment of incitement (narrative hook), complications (rising action), turning point (crisis), falling action, resolution, denouement, climax, moment of epiphany)? Do these major points in the plot develop a theme or a motif? If so, how? 3. What internal/external conflicts are present in the story (ex: character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. society, character vs. the human condition, character vs. machine, character vs. the supernatural, character vs. himself)? What theme do these conflicts develop? 4. To which conflicts does the author provide/not provide a resolution? Why did the author choose to resolve/not resolve the conflicts? What decisions or actions made by the characters help resolve/not resolve the conflicts of the story? How do these decisions or actions develop a theme of the story? 5. Are there subplots? Do the subplots develop situations, characters, or themes that are similar to or that contrast to those in the primary plot? 6. Is situational, verbal, or dramatic irony present in the story? If so, where? What point does the author hope to emphasize by using irony?

2 7. Do some scenes provide comic relief or satire? If so, how/why? What idea(s) are developed through the comic relief or satire? 8. * Does the narrator state directly or indirectly that some particular aspect of the plot has particular significance? If so, what is the significance of that particular part of the plot? 9. * Does the plot parallel a plot from some other well-known piece of literature (ex: The Bible, a fairy tale, a myth, an epic, a Shakespearean play)? If so, what purpose does the parallel play? 10. Does the plot focus on a journey or a quest? What is the stated purpose of the journey/quest? What is the unstated purpose? Does the quest plot follow or deviate from Joseph Campbell s or Christopher Voegler s monomythic structures? How? Why? Campbell s structure: Separation: call to adventure, refusal of the call, supernatural aid; Initiation: crossing the first threshold, belly of the whale, road of trials, meeting with the god/goddess, temptation, atonement with the father, transformation, the ultimate boon, refusal of the return; Return: flight, rescue from without, crossing the return threshold, master of two worlds, freedom to live. Voegler s structure: The ordinary world; the call to adventure; refusal of the call; meeting the mentor; crossing the first threshold; tests, allies, and enemies; approach to the inmost cave; the supreme ordeal [death or the appearance of death]; reward; the road back; resurrection; return to the ordinary world with the treasure [may be knowledge]. The stages may be deleted, added to, or shuffled. 11. Do certain kinds of situations recur in the plot? If so, what reason(s) does the author have for repeating these situations? 12. What kinds of juxtaposition are present in the plot? What does the author contrast, compare, or highlight with these juxtapositions? 13. Does the plot parallel life or a stage in life? In what way does the plot parallel what happens to all of us in our lives? 14. From what point of view does the author relay the events of the plot? What advantage does the point of view give the author? 15. Is the narrator a reliable narrator? If not, why does the author use an unreliable narrator?

3 CHARACTER 1. What does the reader know about the character through direct characterization? 2. What does the reader know about the character through indirect characterization? What do we know about the character from what he says, what he thinks, his appearance, his actions? What do we know about the character from what other characters say about the character, what they think about the character, how they react to the character? 3. Does the author rely more on direct or indirect characterization? What advantage does the author s method of characterization give the writer? 4. In what kind(s) of conflict(s) is the character involved? What does the reader learn about the characters from their handling of the conflict(s)? 5. What are the effects of the resolutions of the conflicts upon the characters? Are any of the resolutions ironic? If so, how? Do these outcomes contribute to the development of a theme? 6. What external/internal motivations motivate the character? 7. Which characters are flat? Round? Why? 8. Which characters are static? Dynamic? Why? 9. Which characters are sympathetic? Unsympathetic? Why? (Remember that a sympathetic/unsympathetic character is one for whom the reader feels sympathy/little sympathy.) 10. Which characters are protagonists? Antagonists? Why? How does their conflict develop a theme of the story? 11. Which characters are foils? In what way(s)? What is the author s purpose for creating these foils? 12. Which characters provide comic relief? How? Why does the author insert such comedic characters into the story? 13. If the story is about a journey or a quest, are any of the following present in the story? a quester mentor(s) the object of the quester s search threshold guardian(s) trials and tribulations herald(s) the quester s nemesis (the Shadow) shapeshifter(s) a person who needs the quester s help trickster(s)

4 14. * Is a character exploitative? Does he use other people to get what he wants? Does he place his desires/needs before those of others? 15. * Does the character parallel an archetypal character, a character from history, from The Bible, from mythology, from a fairy tale? What is the author s purpose for creating the parallel? 16. * Does the character suffer from an illness that has symbolic or metaphorical significance? 17. * Does the character face a last chance for change? What will happen if the character changes/does not change? 18. * Does the character enter a river, a lake, a body of water? Does the scene function as a baptism, a renewal of life, a rebirth, a radical change, a new identity? 19. * Does the character possess enough of the following characteristics to qualify as a Christ figure? Wounds in hands and feet In pain Self-sacrificing; knowingly goes to death to save others Good with children Performs miracles Thirty-three years old or in early thirties Employed in the building trades Often walks or employs a humble mode of transportation Portrayed with arms outstretched or associated with objects in the shape of a cross Spends time alone in the wilderness Faces temptations Spends time with society s outcasts Creates aphorisms or parables Dies but comes back to life Has disciples or followers Forgiving Offers redemption Spends time sailing or fishing in water Unmarried 20. * Does a character possess a distinctive mark, physical deformity, physical asset, some other physical attribute that sets him apart from others? Do the markings signify some character trait or develop a theme that the writer is trying to make? 21. * Is a character blind? What special abilities does his blindness give him? Do sight or blindness have a figurative function in developing the character or a theme of the piece?

5 22. * Does a character suffer an injury? Does the injury parallel an emotional paralysis or an emotional injury of the character? 23. * Does a character experience sleep, or death, or an act of violence? Does the sleep, death, or act of violence parallel a character s underlying emotional or spiritual problem? 24. * Does a character suffer from an illness that has symbolic or metaphorical significance? 25. * Is a character in conflict with other characters from different social, religious, or political classes? Do these conflicts develop a political, religious, or social theme? 26. * Does the final fate of a character imply an affirmation or criticism of a character s beliefs or the author s beliefs? 27. * Does a character fly? Does the flight represent an escape? A kind of freedom? A spiritual release? Is the flight interrupted or incomplete? What does this interruption or failure represent? 28. * Does a character head to another locale? If so, does the change indicate a new set of experiences, fears, desires, or subconscious urges? If the change of locale does not present a new set of experiences, etc., does the lack of change indicate a theme? 29. What comparisons, allusions, analogies, or figures of speech does the author use to describe a character? How do these comparisons color the reader s attitude toward the character? Are any of the comparisons ironic, comic, or tragic? Why? 30. Are certain characters associated with a particular philosophy, idea, belief, code of ethics, attitude? If so, does this association develop a theme of the piece? 31. Do certain characters display a particular pattern of behavior or thought? If so, what is the pattern? Does the pattern lend the character a thematic significance? 32. Does a character place particular value on a particular object, person, setting, etc.? Why? What insight does this attachment give the reader into the character? 33. Is there a pattern of behavior, or a particular object, setting, idea, belief that other characters in the piece identify with another character? Why do they make this association? What insight does the association give the reader into the other character?

6 SETTING 1. Identify the following aspects of the setting: historical setting, cultural setting, time period, time of year, time of day, physical setting, atmosphere, social milieu, political milieu, home environment, emotional milieu. 2. Is the setting essential to the story? Could the story have taken place in any other time, place, or society? If not, why not? Why did the author have to have those particular elements of the setting present in the story? 3. Do any of the settings have a symbolic function? 4. Does the author describe only certain aspects of a setting? Why? 5. Is the description of the setting objective or subjective? What reason does the author have for describing the setting in this particular way? 6. Does the author emphasize the physical, sensory details of a setting or does the writer emphasize the atmosphere of a setting? What reason might the author have for emphasizing a particular details of the setting? 7. Is the setting in the past, present, or future? If the author sets the story in the past or the future, is there a similarity to the time/place in which the author was writing? Is there a similarity to our time? Why did the author want these similarities to occur? 8. What universal aspects of time/place are present in the setting? 9. Does the description of the setting include local color? If so, for what purpose(s)? 10. What effect does the setting have on the characters? What traits does a character reveal while interacting with the setting? 11. Does the setting serve as a character? If so, how? 12. Are certain characters associated with certain settings? Do the characters behave in a particular way in these particular settings? What reason does the author have for establishing this pattern? 13. Do aspects of the setting parallel characters, conflicts, or plot developments? What reason does the author have for establishing these parallels? 14. Are there settings that are associated with particular ideas, attitudes, beliefs, or codes of ethics? Do these settings function as symbols? 15. Do any behaviors ironically occur in certain settings?

7 16. Does the author use any allusions, figures of speech, or imagery to describe a setting? In what way(s) are the setting and allusion/figure of speech/image alike? 17. Does the author use wording that has a connotative or symbolic weight? What is the author s purpose in using such wording? 18. What settings are juxtaposed? What is the effect of the juxtaposition? 19. * Does the action occur in the winter? Why? Does the season represent death, old age, frozen emotions, loss of faith, loss of hope? 20. * Does the action occur in the spring? Why? Does the season represent hope, new life, birth, youth, emerging emotions, growth, new beginnings? 21. * Does the action occur in the summer? Why? Does the season represent adulthood, romance, fulfillment, passion? 22. * Does the action occur in the autumn? Why? Does the season represent decline, middle age, approaching death? OR does the season represent fulfillment, harvest, etc.? 23. * Does any of the action occur during a meal? Is the tradition of breaking bread together, sharing, and peaceful coexistence maintained or does the meal turn ugly? Why? 24. * Is there a rainbow? Does the rainbow foretell a promise, hope, peace? 25. * Is there fog? Does the fog parallel a character s confusion? 26. Does the weather parallel the action of the story or the mood of a character? 27. Does the title indicate a setting that is important to the development of a character, symbol, or theme of the piece? MOTIF 1. Do certain kinds of situations reoccur in the plot? If so, what reason(s) does the author have for repeating these situations? 2. Do certain characters display a particular pattern of behavior or thought? If so, what is the pattern? Does the reoccurring pattern function as a motif? 3. Does the author draw attention to certain aspects of a reoccurring setting? What reason does the author have for establishing this pattern? 4. Do certain objects reoccur during the course of the story? Do these objects function as motifs?

8 5. Does the author repeat certain kinds of imagery, figures of speech, or allusions throughout the piece? Do these repetitions establish a motif in the piece? 6. What is the purpose of a given motif used in the piece? To unify the piece? To develop a symbol? To establish a theme? SYMBOL 1. Does the title indicate a symbol? If so, what is the symbol and what does it symbolize? 2. Do certain characters function as symbols of a particular philosophy, idea, belief, code of ethics, or attitude? 3. Do certain objects or classes of objects, or do certain kinds of situations recur in the story? Are these recurrences consistently associated with some idea, belief, code of ethics, attitude, person or class of people, or a religious figure or teaching? 4. Does a particular figure of speech or allusion indicate a symbol in the piece? 5. Are there aspects of the setting that function as a symbol? 6. Does the plot parallel life or a stage in life? In what way is the plot universal? 7. Can any of the symbols be associated with more than one belief, attitude, etc.? 8. Do any of the settings, characters, or events work as interconnected symbols? 9. Does the story work as an allegory? THEME 1. What was the author s purpose in writing the story? What did the author want the audience to experience, see, understand, or know? Why did he want this effect on the audience? 2. Does the title indicate an important theme of the story? 3. Do any of the characters learn an important lesson during the course of the story? 4. What lesson can the reader learn by looking at the experiences of the characters? 5. Do the turning point, climax, moment of epiphany, or resolution indicate an important lesson? 6. Are situations repeated during the course of the story? What do these situations have in common? What lesson does the author want the reader to learn from these situations?

9 7. Do the plot, images, descriptions, figures of speech, or allusions indicate a certain attitude or view of life? 8. What abstract idea do the symbols in the story develop? 9. Does the author use irony to highlight the importance of a particular situation? What lesson can the reader learn by looking at this significant scene or situation?