GUIDELINES FOR LITERARY ANALYSIS
Whether or not you have made your notes in the margins of the book,
you should plan to record your more lengthy responses in a notebook,
on note cards, on separate sheets of paper, or in computer file. You
should be careful not to loose anything. As you progress from work to
work you will find that your written or saved comments will be
immensely important to you as your record, or journal of your first
impressions together with your more carefully considered and
expanded thoughts.
In keeping your notebook, your objective should be to learn
assigned works inside and out and then to say perceptive things about
them. To achieve this goal, you need to read the work more that once.
Develop a good note taking system so that as you read, you will create
a “memory bank” of your own knowledge about works that you have
read. As a guide towards creating your own procedures of reading, the
following guidelines may be useful but you may want to modify them as
you get along and as you become a more experienced and disciplined
reader.
General Guidelines for reading
1. Observations for basic understanding.
Explain words, situations and concepts. Write down words that are new
or not immediately clear. Use your dictionary and record the relevant
meanings in your note book.Determine what is happening in the work. For a
story or play, where do the actions take place? What do they show? Who is
involved? Who is the major figure? What relationships do the characters have
with one another? What concerns do the characters have? What do they do?
Who says what to whom? How do the speeches advance the action and
reveal the characters? For a poem, What is the situation? Who is talking, and
to whom? What does the speaker say about the situation? Why does the
poem end as it does and where it does?
1
2. Notes on first impressions
, Make a record of your reactions and responses. What did you
think was memorable, noteworthy, funny or otherwise striking?
Did you worry, get scared, laugh, smile, feel a thrill, learn a
great deal, fell proud find a lot to think about?
Describe interesting characterizations, events, techniques and
ideas. If you like a character or an idea, explain what you like
and do the same for characters and ideas you do not like. Is
there anything else in the work that you especially like or dislike?
Are parts easy or difficult to understand? Why? Are there any
surprises? What was your reaction to them?
3. Development of ideas and enlargement of responses
Trace developing patterns. Make an outline or a scheme: What
conflicts appear? Do these conflicts appear between people,
groups, or ideas? How are the conflicts resolved? Is one force
idea or side the winner? How do you respond to the winner or to
the loser?
Write expanded notes about characters, situations and actions.
What explanations need to be made about the characters?
What is the nature of the situations? What is the nature of the
actions? What are the people like, what are their habits and
customs, and what sort of language do they use?
Always write down questions that come up during reading and
try to write down your own answers to aid study.
It is important to always write down what you are thinking. An unwritten
thought is an incomplete thought. Make a practice of writing your
observations about the work, in addition to any questions that may
occur to you. This is an important step in preliminary writing because it
will be useful when you write later drafts.
To assist you in active and reflective reading, refer to important reading
guidelines for the novel, poem and short story given provided below. 2
Whether or not you have made your notes in the margins of the book,
you should plan to record your more lengthy responses in a notebook,
on note cards, on separate sheets of paper, or in computer file. You
should be careful not to loose anything. As you progress from work to
work you will find that your written or saved comments will be
immensely important to you as your record, or journal of your first
impressions together with your more carefully considered and
expanded thoughts.
In keeping your notebook, your objective should be to learn
assigned works inside and out and then to say perceptive things about
them. To achieve this goal, you need to read the work more that once.
Develop a good note taking system so that as you read, you will create
a “memory bank” of your own knowledge about works that you have
read. As a guide towards creating your own procedures of reading, the
following guidelines may be useful but you may want to modify them as
you get along and as you become a more experienced and disciplined
reader.
General Guidelines for reading
1. Observations for basic understanding.
Explain words, situations and concepts. Write down words that are new
or not immediately clear. Use your dictionary and record the relevant
meanings in your note book.Determine what is happening in the work. For a
story or play, where do the actions take place? What do they show? Who is
involved? Who is the major figure? What relationships do the characters have
with one another? What concerns do the characters have? What do they do?
Who says what to whom? How do the speeches advance the action and
reveal the characters? For a poem, What is the situation? Who is talking, and
to whom? What does the speaker say about the situation? Why does the
poem end as it does and where it does?
1
2. Notes on first impressions
, Make a record of your reactions and responses. What did you
think was memorable, noteworthy, funny or otherwise striking?
Did you worry, get scared, laugh, smile, feel a thrill, learn a
great deal, fell proud find a lot to think about?
Describe interesting characterizations, events, techniques and
ideas. If you like a character or an idea, explain what you like
and do the same for characters and ideas you do not like. Is
there anything else in the work that you especially like or dislike?
Are parts easy or difficult to understand? Why? Are there any
surprises? What was your reaction to them?
3. Development of ideas and enlargement of responses
Trace developing patterns. Make an outline or a scheme: What
conflicts appear? Do these conflicts appear between people,
groups, or ideas? How are the conflicts resolved? Is one force
idea or side the winner? How do you respond to the winner or to
the loser?
Write expanded notes about characters, situations and actions.
What explanations need to be made about the characters?
What is the nature of the situations? What is the nature of the
actions? What are the people like, what are their habits and
customs, and what sort of language do they use?
Always write down questions that come up during reading and
try to write down your own answers to aid study.
It is important to always write down what you are thinking. An unwritten
thought is an incomplete thought. Make a practice of writing your
observations about the work, in addition to any questions that may
occur to you. This is an important step in preliminary writing because it
will be useful when you write later drafts.
To assist you in active and reflective reading, refer to important reading
guidelines for the novel, poem and short story given provided below. 2
