Fall Intercession Project
What is it?
A sample of a reduction
for “A Raisin in the Sun”
A reduction is to reduced or distilled the
essence of a literary work. Upon completion
of a work, you will individually create your
own reduction, including all the information
you deem is necessary in order to fully
understand the work.
It is a way to condense and organize important
information and thoughts regarding a
particular work.
It is not meant to represent all you know about
a work; rather each item is a link or spark
meant to elicit further chains of thought.
Your reduction will manifest how you have
internalized the work.
How do I construct one?
 A reduction is created on a sidle horizontal sheet of
81/2 x 11” or 8 ½ x 14” paper.
 Individual selection is key to the final product-- no two
reductions are alike.
 Organize information on the page in whatever way
that makes sense to you.
 Your reduction may contain groups of lists of
important facts and insights. You might use dashes,
bullets, arrows, boxes, brackets, underlining or
shading in creating a graphic organizer to highlight
items and make connections.
 You might use acts or chapters as organizing tools.
The format is open-ended and creative. You will draw on many sources:
reading class discussion, other writing assignments, or working with
other classmates at times. Literary terms will probably play an important
role in your reduction.
For example, you might include a phrase that suggests foreshadowing, a
note about an object that seems to be symbolic, or specific examples of
figurative language or irony and their significance. You might include a
list of adjectives frequently used to describe a particular character,
analysis of the setting and its effect, quotations from or about different
characters that reveal their motivations, a list of themes or images, or
any detail that is important to understanding the work.
Why would I want to construct one?
 Reductions help you organize your thoughts about a
work, not only summarizing them, but synthesizing
them.
They thus allow for a deeper understanding and the
ability to see relationships and patterns in works. They
aid in seeing the work as a whole rather than just
focusing on its parts.
They also serve as excellent study tools, helping you to
remember salient aspects of a work and emphasizing
its patterns and connections.
Sample of a reduction
This is a sample of a
reduction for the novel
The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolveris
A bestselling novel
about a missionary
family, the Prices, who
in 1959 move from
Georgiato the village of
Kilanga in the Belgian
Congo.
Creating a reduction of literature provides you with the opportunity to think both
analytically and comprehensively (parts and whole). Here are some guidelines:
Use one side of an8 ½ x 11 or 8 ½ x 14 inch unlined paper only.
Include the following information:
Title of work with picture
Author- give author’s name
Characters- List the characters and identify who each is in the novel- choose a
person (famous or not) to play each character- pictures and some creative
representation of the character(s)
 Outline of significant events in plot (similar to a plot outline)

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 Setting- when and where (time, place, date)
 Quotations (3)- list three major quotations, identify the speaker and explain
the meaning.
 Symbols (3)- pictures of the symbols and explain what they symbolize.
 Themes (3)- pictures of the themes and a brief explanation of how each theme
is developed in the text.
 Point of view- who tells the story and is it told in 1st person, 2nd, 3rd point of
view? Limited or omniscient? (narrator or no narrator)
Place your name and date on back of your Literary Reduction.
Be Creative!!!