Use these questions below to guide you as you complete your
reading responses for short stories. I suggest that you choose
only a few questions to answer in your response–but make the response a paragraph–don’t
number your responses. You will probably notice that some of the
questions are similar and that some of the responses may
overlap–that’s fine. Your response should reflect your own
thoughts and analysis of the story. Your response to each story
should be at least 200 words (but will probably be longer) and
should show that you have read the story carefully. You should
mention the names of characters, details from the story that
support your response, incidents in the story that affect your
reading of it, etc. (You must use quotations from the stories in
your responses.)
Please post ONE time where you
make a ‘substantial’ literary analysis comment about this reading, and
then respond to TWO other student postings. Please remember that you are
only allowed to use your own original ideas – do not refer to or post
any “outside” information you have read on the Internet or elsewhere, or
you will receive an automatic ‘F’ for plagiarism. You are only allowed
to use your own original ideas to analyze the stories and direct quotes
from the stories
- What are the main points the author is trying to convey to the reader?
- What is the significance of the title?
- What is the tone of this work and why is this particularly important?
- How is the memoir format of this work appealing?
1. What did you like about the story? What did you dislike? Why?
2. Who is your favorite character? Is he or she like you in any
way? Would you make the same decisions (or react in the same ways)
in the same situations as this character? Why or why not? Which
characters remind you of people you know?
3. What did you learn about American history, society, art,
literature, philosophy, science (etc.) from this story? What
research might you do to help you understand the story better?
4. What did you learn about life from the story?
5. In what ways do you identify with the story?
6. How would you describe the writer’s style or voice? Style
includes use of irony, symbolism, figurative language, point of
view, etc.
Here’s an interesting checklist of literary style that you might
find helpful: Checklist:
Elements of Literary Style
7. What are your favorite sentences, passages, words, etc. from
the story? Explain your choice.
8. What would you tell a friend about this story?
9. Who would you recommend this story to and why?
10. What value does this story have for you?
11. What connections do you find between the life of the author
and his or her work?
12. What questions did you have after you finished the story?
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