Noticing Important Details in Our Texts
We’ve been practicing the art of reading slowly, thinking deeply about texts, and annotating. Here are some questions to help you think more deeply about different aspects of texts. If you improve your thinking, you will improve your annotating, and thus you will improve your writing. You can choose 1 question to answer in a reading response. Otherwise, you can also develop your own questions for your book.
Looking Deeply at Characters
Readers know characters through how they look, what they say, how they act, and how others react to them.
Identify types of characters. A protagonist is the main character in a literary work who the reader often sympathizes with; he/she often goes on a journey (abstract or physical) in which he/she struggles and changes; an antagonist is a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with the protagonist.
a. Evaluate the characters:
➢ What are the characters’ strengths and weaknesses? Beliefs and values (things that are important to the character such as family or helping others)? Important and admirable qualities/characteristics?
➢ What are their problems? How do they deal with them? What does this show about them?
➢ How do they develop and change or resist change? What do they learn throughout the book? What discoveries and realizations do they have?
➢ How are the characters’ names significant and/or symbolic?
➢ What difficulties (conflicts, moral dilemmas, etc.) do the characters deal with? How are they dealt with? What does this reveal about them?
b. Look at environment and relationships:
➢ How does the setting/environment in which they live affect them?
➢ How do they interact with other people? Who are her friends, families, enemies, etc.? What do the relationships show about him/her?
c. Make personal, text, and world connections:
➢ What do you like and/or dislike about the character? When have you had a similar emotion, thought, or experience as one of the characters?
➢ Who does the character remind you of (other characters or people you know)?
➢ What do the characters represent or symbolize (ex. Fern represents the voice of the author; Wilbur symbolizes childhood innocence)?
Setting: the where and when – the physical context – of a text. It includes larger settings such as United States, Brooklyn, etc. It also includes smaller setting such as a bedroom, park bench in Prospect Park, etc.
a. Where and when does the story take place? How does the setting affect the characters, plot, and theme? Why did the author choose this setting?
b. Is the geographical location important (ex. culture, weather, land, etc.)?
c. How is the setting symbolic?
d. What is the mood/feeling? Why is it significant?
e. What are important aspects and details of the setting?
f. What is the society like? What are the rules of the society? What is the culture of the people like?
g. What do you know about the historical period in which the story takes place? How does it affect the characters, theme, and plot?
Making Deep and Authentic Connections
a. How did the story make you feel? What did it make you think about?
b. What are your favorite and least favorite parts? Why?
c. What ideas do you agree/disagree with? Why?
d. What does the book represent in your life? How does it reflect you?
e. How is the book changing you?
f. What has this book taught you about living life? About writing?
g. How does the book compare to other movies, texts, or moments you’ve experienced?
Structure and Writing Style
a. How does the genre affect the text? Genre is a stylistic class or category of writing, each with its own form and techniques; there are larger, more general categories such as poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. However, within each larger genre are sub-genres. Examples: poetry – haiku, free verse, etc.; prose – short story, novel, article, memoir, essay, letter, etc.
b. What literary techniques does the author use (figurative language, incorporating other genres, symbolism, etc.)?
c. Who is the narrator? What point of view is the text written in (1st person – character narrating – could be the speaker or a made-up character/persona; 3rd person – outside narrator describing events? Why did the author choose to write the text from this point of view?
d. What in the text is symbolic or allegorical (allegory is a literary text in which the characters and events symbolically represent a moment or idea in real life)? Give specific examples. What is the author trying to convey about these symbols?
e. What do you notice about the word choice and other ironic and interesting details?
f. What do you notice and like about the structure/organization of the text?
g. What are the best, most memorable lines in the text? What do you notice/like about them?
Author’s Purpose and Theme - a theme is the message or lesson that the author wants to convey to the reader
a. What are the messages, morals, and/or lessons taught?
b. What is one important social issue or topic (family, discrimination, etc.)? What is the author trying to show you about this issue? What does the text show about the world and life in general?
c. How does the title relate to the text?
d. What is right or wrong, fair or unjust in the text?
e. Reflect on the ending of the text. Why did the author end the book this way? What significant questions and ideas are presented? What conclusions can you make about the characters and themes?
f. Why is this text important in the world? What is the universal message?
g. What does the story mean in terms of nature, the human condition, one individual, or particular institutions?
h. Why do you think the author wrote this book? Why did she make the choices she did (characters, setting, etc.)?
i. How does the book connect to other work by this author?
j. How does the book reflect the author’s life, beliefs, feelings, and/or ideas?
k. How does the book connect to the time period within which it was written? How does it tie into history and the word?
No comments:
Post a Comment