1.How did the piece you read cause you to think differently about other pieces of writing by women
authors that you’ve read previously? If it is a piece of theory, is there a way in which it increases your
understanding?
2.Have you noticed that two assigned readings or critics disagree with one another? How do they agree or
disagree, and how would you assess their arguments?
3.Is there a critical or theoretical reading that you can apply to the work of fiction? How does it help to
explain that work of fiction?
4.If you’re reading a piece of fiction, how would you explain or analyze the character’s motives? Why does
she respond in the way that she does? What does she want from her life, and what obstacles stand in her
way?
5.How is the character’s situation influenced or affected by her position in life (as a nineteenth-century
person, for example, or as a married woman, or as a person of color, or as an individual in an
industrialized society)?
6.Is there a single speech or scene that seems to sum up the themes of the work as a whole? What is it,
and could you analyze it so that you show how it is central to the entire novel or story?
7.Does the character have an antagonist, a foil, or both in the novel or story? Who are they, and what are
their functions?
8.What holds the character back from achieving what she wants in life?
9.How does the author of a work of fiction use formal devices such as imagery, symbolism, metaphor,
simile, style, or dialogue to create a memorable work or character?
10.If you are reading poetry, how do the formal conventions of the poem serve to enhance its meaning?
11.How does one piece of fiction seem to respond to the themes of another? Can you compare or
contrast the characters of two pieces of fiction, for example?
12.Using the techniques of close reading (which considers the connotations of individual words and
sentences, images, symbols, and so on), choose a passage from a piece of fiction or a poem and analyze
it.
Sample Solution
