Questions for Reading and Writing

Something to keep in mind in your essays for this class:

Be able to answer these four questions somewhere in the context of your essay. Please don't merely list the answers... make them part of your general discussion of the work.

1. What is the message? Clearly state it and support your response from the text itself. There can be more than one answer.
2. Who is the speaker of the message? Be as specific as you can. This is NOT necessarily the author. Authors will create characters or "voices" to tell a story or give a viewpoint. In lyrics, this often makes singer appear to be a different person than they really are or hold different values than they really do. In drama, that is all you get... all characters, no narrator.
3. Who is the audience of the message? There can be more than one, often linked to the message...or a single message may have different audiences with different expected results. Again, be specific and use text for support.
4. What methods does author use? Be specific, using terms from ENGL 101 -- irony, symbolism, theme, conflict -- and new terms from this course.
   • In poetry, the use of meter and rhyme and condensation of ideas into brief images is common.
   • In drama, the use of character, dialogue and setting are often important.
   • In literature, all of these aspects may be factors.

Once you've gotten this information into your paper, then we apply the critical approaches to discuss HOW EFFECTIVELY the message was delivered by author.