Analyzing prose
Before you read.
1- Who is the author?
2- What literary movement does he/she belong to?
3- What does he/she usually write about?
Read the story and look up new words in the dictionary.
4- What is this story about? List the topics. Is the historical context relevant?
5- Summarize the story in no more than three sentences.
6- What is the narrative structure?
7- Narrator and point of view: Who tells the story? From which perspective?
8- Tone: What is the narrator’s attitude in the story?
9- Setting: Time and place
10- Theme(s): What does the author believe about the topics you listed?
11- Characterization: How are the characters presented? What do they represent?
Divide the story into different sections.
12- Is there any action/description/dialogue/interior monologue/free indirect speech? For
what purpose?
13- Language: Is the language in each section formal/informal/colloquial/ poetic? Why?
What figurative language is present? What is the effect on the reader?
14- Mood: What is the feeling or atmosphere created in each section?