What, Why, and How?

12 LITERATURE
Fiction & Drama: types and terms
Sample essay on a short story
Poetry: types and terms
Poetry Chart
Sample essay on a poem
Literary Theories
WHAT ARE THE MAIN LITERARY FORMS?

The main literary forms are Fiction, Drama & Poetry.

Although each of the three major literary genres, fiction, drama, and poetry are
different, they have many elements in common. For example, in all three genres,
authors make purposeful use of diction (word choice), employ imagery (significant
detail) and each piece of literature has its own unique tone (emotional quality). An
important element that you will find in all three genres is theme, the larger meaning(s) the
reader derives from the poem, story, novel or play.

Each of the literary genres is distinguished by its form: Fiction is written in sentences
and paragraphs. Poetry is written in lines and stanzas. Drama is written in dialogue.

WHY IS KNOWING THEM IMPORTANT?

As you read different forms of literature you will need to know specialized vocabulary
to be able to best understand, interpret, and write about what you are reading. Also,
how you approach a literary text and what you focus on will depend on its literary
form. For instance, fiction and drama are typically anchored by a reader’s
engagement with characters while many poems do not contain a character or tell a
story. Therefore, plot is often not a factor in a poem. A poem can be an
impression or reflection about a person, a place, an experience or an idea.
HOW DO I APPROACH EACH FORM?

KNOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FICTION:

Short Stories are usually defined as being between 2000-6000 words long. Most short
stories have at least one “rounded” (developed and complex) character and any number of
“flat” (less-developed, simpler) characters. Short stories tend to focus on one major source
of conflict and often take place within one basic time period.

Novellas generally run between 50-150 pages, halfway between a story and a novel.

Novels don’t have a prescribed length. Because they are a longer form of fiction, an author
has more freedom to work with plot and characters, as well as develop sub-plots and move
freely through time. Characters can change and develop over the course of time and the
theme(s) can be broader and more intricate than in shorter forms of fiction.
KNOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES AND
STRUCTURE OF DRAMA:
Drama Types:
Tragedy – generally serious in tone, focusing on a protagonist who experiences an eventual downfall
Comedy – light in tone, employs humor and ends happily
Satire – exaggerated and comic in tone for the purpose of criticism or ridicule
Experimental – can be light or serious in tone. It creates its own style through experimentation with
language,
characters, plot, etc.
Musical – can be light or serious. The majority of the dialogue is sung rather than spoken.
Drama Structure:
Plays are organized into dialogue, scenes and acts. A play can be made up one act or multiple acts. Each
act is divided into scenes, in which a character, or characters, come on or off stage and speak their lines. A
play can have only one character or many characters. The main character is the protagonist and a character
who opposes him/her is the antagonist.
The plots of plays typically follow this pattern:
Rising Action – complications the protagonist must face, composed of any number of conflicts and crises
Climax – the peak of the rising action and the turning point for the protagonist
Falling Action – the movement toward a resolution

COMMONALITIES OF FICTION AND DRAMA TERMS:

Both fiction and drama are typically anchored by plot and character. They also contain literary themes as well
as having other elements in common, so we will look at literary terms that can be applied to both of these
literary forms.
PLOT: Plot is the unfolding of a dramatic situation; it is what happens in the narrative. Be
aware that writers of fiction arrange fictional events into patterns. They select these events
carefully, they establish causal relationships among events, and they enliven these events with
conflict. Therefore, more accurately defined, plot is a pattern of carefully selected, casually
related events that contain conflict.
There are two general categories of conflict: internal conflict, takes place within the minds of
the characters and external conflict, takes place between individuals or between individuals
and the world external to the individuals (the forces of nature, human created objects, and
environments).
The forces in a conflict are usually embodied by characters, the most relevant being the
protagonist, the main character, and the antagonist, the opponent of the protagonist (the
antagonist is usually a person but can also be a nonhuman force or even an aspect of the
protagonist—his or her tendency toward evil and self-destruction for example).
CHARACTERS: There are two broad categories of character development: simple and
complex. Simple (or “flat”) characters have only one or two personality traits and are easily
recognizable as stereotypes—the shrewish wife, the lazy husband, the egomaniac, etc.
Complex (or “rounded”) characters have multiple personality traits and therefore resemble
real people. They are much harder to understand and describe than simple characters. No
single description or interpretation can fully contain them. For the characters in modern fiction,
the hero has often been replaced by the antihero, an ordinary, unglamorous person often
confused, frustrated and at odds with modern life.
THEME: The theme is an idea or point that is central to a story, which can often be summed
up in a word or a few words (e.g. loneliness, fate, oppression, rebirth, coming of age; humans
in conflict with technology; nostalgia; the dangers of unchecked power). A story may have
several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable
ideas, such as ethical questions and commentary on the human condition, and are usually
implied rather than stated explicitly.
SYMBOLISM: In the broadest sense, a symbol is something that represents something else.
Words, for example, are symbols. But in literature, a symbol is an object that has meaning
beyond itself. The object is concrete and the meanings are abstract.
SETTING: The social mores, values, and customs of the world in which the characters live; the
physical world; and the time of the action, including historical circumstances.
TONE: The narrator’s predominant attitude toward the subject, whether that subject is a
particular setting, an event, a character, or an idea.
POINT OF VIEW: The author’s relationship to his or her fictional world, especially to the minds of
the characters. Put another way, point of view is the position from which the story is told. There
are four common points of view:
* Omniscient point of view—the author tells the story and assumes complete knowledge
of the characters’ actions and thoughts.
* Limited omniscient point of view—the author still narrates the story but restricts his or her
revelation—and therefore our knowledge—to the thoughts of just one character.
* First person point of view—one of the characters tells the story, eliminating the author as
narrator. The narration is restricted to what one character says he or she observes.
* Objective point of view—the author is the narrator but does not enter the minds of
any of the characters. The writer sees them (and lets us see them) as we would
in real life.

FORESHADOWING: The anticipation of something, which will happen later. It is often done
subtlety with symbols or other indirect devices. We have to use inferential thinking to identify
foreshadowing in some stories, and often it occurs on an almost emotional level as we're
reading, leading us further into the heart of the story.
EXPOSITION: The opening portion of a story that sets the scene, introduces characters and
gives background information we may need to understand the story.
INTERIOR MONOLOGUE: An extended exploration of one character's thoughts told from the
inside but as if spoken out loud for the reader to overhear.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: A style of presenting thoughts and sense impressions in a

lifelike fashion, the way thoughts move freely through the mind, often chaotic or dreamlike.

IRONY: Generally irony makes visible a contrast between appearance and reality. More fully and
specifically, it exposes and underscores a contrast between (1) what is and what seems to be, (2)
between what is and what ought to be, (3) between what is and what one wishes to be, (4) and
between what is and what one expects to be. Incongruity is the method of irony; opposites come
suddenly together so that the disparity is obvious.

CLIMAX: The moment of greatest tension when a problem or complication may be resolved or,
at least, confronted.

RESOLUTION, CONCLUSION or DENOUEMENT ("untying of the knot"): Brings the problem

to some sort of finality, not necessarily a happy ending, but a resolution.
 Using the literary vocabulary and questions, let’s analyze
PRACTICE
a literary text.

Read the memoir, “Learning to Read,” by Jessica Powers which can be located in Chapter 1:
Critical Reading in the “Faculty-Written Texts” section. Powers employs many of the elements of
fiction in this autobiographical piece. When you have finished reading, answer the questions
below.

Questions about plot: Questions about theme:

1. What is the main conflict in the story? 1. What does the story show us about human
behavior?
2. What causes the conflict?
2. Are there moral issues raised by the story?
3. Is the conflict external or internal? Describe.

4. What is the turning point in the story? 3. What does the story tell us about why people
change?
Questions about character:
1.5.IsHow
the is
main
the character simple
main conflict or complex? Explain.
resolved?

2. What are the traits of the main character? Make a list.

3. Does the main character change? Describe.

4. What steps does she go through to change? Make a list.

(Pause)
5. What does she learn? Describe.
 A sample student essay written on fiction (a short story)
EXAMPLE
 A sample student essay written on fiction (a short story)
EXAMPLE
 A sample student essay written on fiction (a short story)
EXAMPLE
Types of Poetry
Poetry can be written in two general categories, formal or free verse. Formal
verse has set rules and structures that dictate how it must be written. For example,
a sonnet is written in fourteen lines that follow a set rhyming pattern. Free verse
follows what poet, Denise Levertov, called “organic form,” meaning that a poem can
be any shape or size it needs to be to communicate its message.

Some different types of Formal Verse:

Sonnet: a poem that is metered and rhymed of 14 lines usually in iambic pentameter
Villanelle: a French form of 19 lines in iambic pentameter with only two rhymes
Sestina: an unrhymed poem that places the same six words in varying patterns
through six stanzas, ending with a two-line stanza
Haiku: a Japanese form of three lines in which the first and third lines contain 5
syllables and the second line contains 7 syllables
Types of poetry styles:

Narrative: tells a story

Imagist: uses rich sensory imagery
Lyrical: expresses strongly felt emotion and is written in a shorter form
Persona: relies on a character whose voice speaks the poem
Confessional: speaks openly about a poet’s personal life
Satirical: uses humor to make a point
Sound: relies on sounds rather than ideas to create meaning
Concrete: takes on the literal shape of its subject
Experimental: creates its own style through experimentation with language,
shape, meaning and form
Epic: deals with a mythic, legendary or historic event and often focuses on a hero
and is written in a longer form
Occasional: marks a particular occasion, like a birthday, dedication, death
or marriage
Poetry shares many elements with its sister genres, fiction and drama such as characterization,
plot, and theme. Most poems, however, do not offer a “story” in the conventional sense. They are
usually brief and apparently devoid of “action.” Even so, a plot of sorts may be implied, a place
and time may be important, a specific point of view may be operating, and characters may be
dramatizing the key issues of the poem.

SPEAKER: In any poem there is always one “character” of the utmost importance which is the
speaker, the “I” of the poem. Often the speaker is a fictional personage, not at all equivalent to
the poet.
IMAGERY: Descriptive Language: Although the word imagery calls to mind the visual sense,
poetic imagery appeals to all the senses. Sensuous imagery is pleasurable for its own sake, but
it also provides a concreteness and immediacy. Imagery causes the reader to become
personally, experientially involved in the subject matter of the poem.

IMAGERY: Figurative Language: The conscious departure from normal or conventional ways
of saying things. This could mean merely a rearrangement of the normal word order of a
sentence. A much more common category of figurative language is tropes. Tropes (literally
“turns”) extend the meaning of words beyond their literal meaning, and the most common form
of trope is metaphor. A metaphor is a type of analogy which is a similarity between things that
are basically different.
ALLITERATION: the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words, as in "he clasps the
crag with crooked hands."
ALLUSION: a reference in a poem to a historical or literary character, event, idea or place outside
the piece of writing.
AMBIGUITY: a quality of certain words and phrases whereby meaning is unclear -- often used
intentionally to create multiple layers of meaning.
BALLAD: a songlike, narrative poem with a recurring refrain and four-line stanzas.
CONCEIT: an extended, elaborate and often farfetched comparison that continues throughout a
poem.
CONCRETE POETRY: poems that use the physical arrangement of words on the page to mirror
meaning such as a poem about a car that is car-shaped.
CONSONANCE: repetition of similar sounds in the final consonants of words as in torn/burn,
add/read, heaven/given.
COUPLET: two rhymed lines of verse -- when separated or self-contained, called a closed
couplet.
DICTION: Refers to the poet’s choice of words. Poets are sensitive to the subtle shades of
meaning of words, to the possible double meanings of words, and to the denotative (the object or
idea that the word represents) and connotative (the subjective, emotional association of a word)
meanings of words.
ELEGY: a poem of mourning and lamentation often associated with death.
END RHYME: a rhyme in which the last words of two or more lines of poetry rhyme with each
other.
END-STOPPPED LINE: a line of poetry that ends with a period, colon or semi-colon.
ENJAMBMENT: the continuation of a line in a poem so that it spills over into the next line.
EPIC POEM: a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details
of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.
EXTENDED METAPHOR: a metaphor that continues throughout the piece of writing.
FREE VERSE: poetry with no regular pattern of meter or rhyme. It avoids strict adherence to
metrical patterns and to fixed line lengths. But it is not entirely “free,” for it uses other ways of
creating rhythm and sound patterns.
HYPERBOLE: extreme exaggeration such as "he's as strong as an ox".
LINE BREAKS: where a poet chooses to end one line and start another.
METAPHOR: comparison between two essentially unlike things without the use of "like" or "as".
METER: the underlying regular beat in a poem; ex: pentameter has five stressed syllables to a
line.
PERSONIFICATION: figurative language that endows something nonhuman with human qualities
as in "the trees whispered in the wind."
PROSE POEM: a poem written with straight left-hand margins in paragraph form like prose.
REFRAIN: the same line or group of lines repeated at intervals in a poem.
RHYTHM: All human speech has rhythm, but poetry regularizes that rhythm into recognizable
patterns. These patterns are called meters. Metrical patterns vary depending on the sequence in
which one arranges the accented and unaccented syllables of an utterance. The unit that
determines that arrangement is the foot. A foot is one unit of rhythm in verse.
SIMILE: a comparison between two unlike things using "as" or "like" or "as if".
SOUND: Poets delight in the sound of language and consciously present sounds to be enjoyed
for themselves. They also use them to emphasize meaning, action, and emotion, and especially
to call the reader’s attention to the relationship of certain words. Rhyme, for example, has the
effect of linking words together. Among the most common sound devices are the following:

* Onomatopoeia—the use of words that sound like what they mean (“buzz,” “boom,” “hiss”)
* Alliteration—the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or at the
beginning of accented syllables (“the woeful woman went wading Wednesday”)
* Rhyme—the repetition of accented vowels and the sounds that follow.
STANZA: a grouping of lines, somewhat like a paragraph in prose.
STRESS: an accent that makes one syllable stand out from the others in a word or phrase --used
in metrical poetry.
STRUCTURE: Poets give structure to their poems in two overlapping ways: by organizing ideas
according to a logical plan and by creating a pattern of sounds. Perhaps the most common sound
device by which poets create structure is end rhyme, and any pattern of end rhyme is called a
rhyme scheme. Rhyme scheme helps to establish another structural device, the stanza, which
is physically separated from other stanzas by extra spaces and usually represents one idea.
 Poetry Chart: Poetry is challenging and requires the reader to actively
PRACTICE engage to illicit meaning. Here is a chart to help you apply poetry
concepts to analyze a poem:
 Use the Poetry Chart and the additional study questions to
PRACTICE
analyze the following poem:
Rockaway by Katharine Harer
When they come in
They stare at the ocean as if they’re and stand dripping by their cars
looking for something, a certain curl a faces calm from the tossing
ripple a break in the lacy and riding hair tangled
foam that unravels from the a salty wet glaze on their skin
hearts of waves when you’d think they’d had enough
of water
Slowly they undo their pants their eyes are still
all the while looking out beyond searching the waves
themselves pull their wet suits on
carefully like women easing Additional study questions on the poem “Rockaway”:
nylons over their legs all
Questions About Craft:
without looking away
1. Do you see any examples of figurative language (similes or metaphors) in the
chests bare and soft poem? Identify one or more examples.
the rubber suit flapping at 2. What do the similes add to the poem?
their waists they savor every step 3. Do you notice any alliteration in the poem? Identify one or more examples.
that takes them toward the waves 4. What does the alliteration add to the poem?
5. Try reading the poem out loud: what do you notice about the sounds and
Some run like children rhythms?
boards strapped to their wrists 6. Look at some of the poet’s word choices (diction): pick out a few examples of
others walk a slow, jagged line words that help to create the scene and/or the feeling of surfing.
Questions About Structure:
disappearing and reappearing 1. Is this poem written in free verse? Explain.
patiently stroking the water 2, Why do you think the poem is organized into four stanzas?
slipping inside the crashing 3. Why do you think the poet uses very little punctuation, such as commas and
and coming out whole skimming periods? How does the lack of punctuation affect the “feel” of the poem?
the thunder slick as glass Questions About Theme:
for as long as it lets them 1. How does the poem make you feel about the surfers it describes?

(Pause) 2. Notice how the poem begins and ends: what do you think the poet wants to tell us
 A sample student essay written on Langston Hughes’ poem
EXAMPLE

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

The following They send me to eat in the kitchen
essay is a When company comes,
student’s But I laugh,
And eat well,
analysis of And grow strong.
Langston
Hughes’ Tomorrow,
poem I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
“I, Too” Nobody’ll dare
(published Say to me,
in 1926) “Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed —

I, too, am America.
By Langston Hughes
 A sample student essay written on Langston Hughes’ poem
EXAMPLE
 A sample student essay written on Langston Hughes’ poem
EXAMPLE
 A sample student essay written on Langston Hughes’ poem
EXAMPLE
WHAT ARE LITERARY THEORIES?
Literary theories are different perspectives, or angles, that we use to approach interpreting the
literature we read. We can think of literary theories as “lenses” that allow us to “zoom in” on
specific ideas, concerns, and issues, rather than on literary forms, conventions, and structures.

In short, literary theories are tools that help us make meaning of the literature we read.
Understanding what these theories are and how they work provides us with tools that help us
find meaning in what we have read.

WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

Becoming familiar with literary theories allows us to formulate more focused, meaningful
interpretations and ideas. Applying the basic, guiding principles of these theories helps us
think critically about the literature and allows us to ask ourselves relevant, meaningful, and
focused questions. Once we’ve asked these questions, we can then move on to answering
them in a manner that allows us to “zoom in” on key issues and ideas.

Therefore, rather than looking at literature in a very general way, and rather than merely
focusing on the technical aspects of a work, literary theories allow us to approach literature in
a way that makes it easier for us to interpret and discover meaning than it would be without the
guidance of the theories.

Although multiple literary theories exist, it is important for us to remember that interpretations
of literature are the result of applying a combination of these theories.
HOW DO I USE THEM IN A PAPER?
Familiarize yourself with basic principles associated with the literary theories and how
readers might apply them to the literature they read. Once you have carefully read the
assigned poem, play, story, or novel, look over your notes and the annotations you have
made in response to the work, and highlight the comments and ideas that stand out for
you.

Once you’ve reviewed the ideas in your notes and annotations, go on to ask yourself the
following questions:

* Which literary theories can I connect to the ideas and issues I’ve identified?

* How are my ideas reflected in the literary theories?

* Which of my ideas do I want to explore further in relation to those theories?

* How can I further apply the principles of the literary theory or theories to get
more meaning from the text and delve deeper into the meaning/ideas I already

have?
 
For more specific questions that might be useful in helping you apply literary theories,
take a look at the “Questions to Consider” at the end of each literary theory description
below.
 THE LITERARY THEORIES:
Historical/Biographical Criticism is a literary lens that allows readers to examine the realities of
the historical period reflected in the work and/or the realities of the life and times of the author. To
study a work using the historical/biographical literary lens, the reader’s assumption is that the literary
work is a reflection of the period in which it was written, and/or that the work is a reflection of the
author’s life and times. In other words, the reader assumes that the work has been shaped by
historical events of the time (historical) and/or by events in the author’s life (biographical).
Approaching a literary work using the historical/biographical perspective requires the reader to
engage in supplemental research related to the relevant historical period and the author of the work.
Questions to Consider:
* In what ways do the events and/or characters in the work parallel significant events and/or
people represented during the time period or in the author’s life?
* How might the work and its meaning have been shaped by events of the time period in which it
was set or written?
* How might the work and its meaning have been shaped by events and/or people in the
author’s life?

New Criticism (also known as Formalist Criticism) examines the relationships between the
ideas and themes in a literary work and its form. When applying this theory, the reader focuses on
exploring the meaning of the literature and the way in which the meaning is conveyed in the text. In
other words, the work’s theme/meaning is reinforced and unified in the text’s form (imagery, narrative
structure, point of view, and other literary elements). In applying the New Criticism as an approach for
understanding literature, very close analysis of and focus on the literary text is essential.

Questions to Consider:
* How do imagery and narrative point of view reinforce a theme or idea you’ve identified in the work?
* How does the plot contribute to supporting the meaning of a story you’ve read?
 THE LITERARY THEORIES:
Archetypal Criticism is a literary lens requiring the reader to examine cultural and psychological
myths that contribute to the meaning of the texts. As readers apply this theory, they assume that the
literature imitates universal dreams of humanity and that recurring images, patterns, symbols, and
human experiences, also known as archetypes, contribute to the form and meaning of the work.
These archetypes may include what are known as motifs (recurring themes, subjects, ideas).

Questions to Consider:
* What symbols help to illustrate a common, universal struggle experienced by the protagonist of the
story?
* How do the actions of the characters and/or the setting of the story reflect events/ideas that we find
in other cultural stories and myths?

Gender Criticism (also known as Feminist Criticism) is a literary lens that allows the reader to
critique dominant patriarchal and heterosexual language and ideas by exposing how a work reflects
masculine, patriarchal, heterosexual ideology. Additionally, the reader may focus on examining how
literary works are shaped by and/or convey messages about gender-related issues such as gender
identity, sexual orientation, gender roles and expectations, gender dynamics, and gender-related
power structures.

Gender criticism encourages readers to examine gender ideology and politics in literature and to
critique oppressive patriarchal and masculine structures apparent in literary works.

Questions to Consider:
* In what ways is the work a commentary or critique of the dominant patriarchal ideologies in the
society it depicts?
* What ideas about gender are reflected in the work?
 THE LITERARY THEORIES:
Marxist Criticism argues that literature reflects the struggles between oppressed and oppressing
classes. Readers applying Marxist criticism focus on examining the representation of socio-economic
class structures, marginalization, materialism, class systems, and/or class conflict in literature.
Readers also examine the way in which a literary work may espouse oppressive social and class
structures.

In applying Marxist criticism, readers tend not to focus heavily on a literary work’s aesthetic or artistic
concerns, arguing that meaning is shaped by the work’s depiction of class conflict and class
distinctions, as well as its social and political concerns. In reading and critiquing literature, Marxist
theorists tend to find themselves sympathetic to the working classes and to authors whose works
challenge economic inequalities found in capitalist societies.

Questions to Consider:
In what ways does the literature depict the struggles between the rich and the poor?
How is the work be sympathetic to the working class?
How might the work
Deconstruction is be
an a critique or
approach commentary
that about to
requires readers capitalism?
challenge the assumption that a work has a
single, fixed meaning and that this meaning is accessed only through a close reading of the text alone.
Deconstruction involves examining contradictions that exist within a text and accepting the idea that
because a text can have a variety of meanings, some meanings may actually contradict others.

Readers employing deconstructionist criticism tend to focus not on what is being said but, rather, on
how it is said in the writer’s use of language. Because of this focus on the use of language,
deconstructionists rely on a close reading of the text/words in order to make meaning.

Questions to Consider:
* White is a color that typically represents purity and innocence in our culture. How is the color white
used to represent ideas that both support and contradict this meaning in the work?
 THE LITERARY THEORIES:

New Historicism is a literary lens through which readers find meaning by considering the context of
the period during which the text was written. Readers who examine literature through a New
Historical lens concern themselves with the political, social cultural, economic, and/or intellectual
implications of the work.

Questions to Consider:
* How are the politics and policies of the time in which the work was written depicted in the events and

characters of the work?

* In what ways are the social norms of the period reflected in the story, poem, play, or novel?

Cultural Criticism allows the reader to approach literature with the assumption that the work
questions traditional, cultural (typically Western-European) ideologies and values and that most literary
works espouse these dominant ideas. With this in mind, those who apply cultural criticism examine how
literature challenges Eurocentric-based meaning, particularly by focusing on how works, especially
those written by and about traditionally oppressed and/or marginalized groups or sub-groups, expose
the identities, systems, values, norms, traditions, etc. of typically under-represented groups.

Questions to Consider:
* How does the work reflect the oppressive environment of the time in which it takes place or in which it
was written?
* In what ways is the devaluation and/or marginalization of under-represented groups represented?
 THE LITERARY THEORIES:
Psychological/Psychoanalytic Criticism involves the assumption that the work is a reflection of
the personality, state of mind, feelings, and desires of the author. The Psychological/Psychoanalytic
lens requires readers to delve into the psychology or personality of the author and/or characters to
determine the meaning of the work.

Readers employing the psychological/psychoanalytic approach examine the role of unconscious

psychological drives/impulses and repressive behaviors in shaping human behavior.

Questions to Consider:
* In what ways does the story reveal the protagonist’s struggle to assert his/her identity?
* How is the work a reflection of an individual’s desire to act according to his/her impulses yet, at the
same time, struggle against those impulses?
Reader-Response Criticism suggests that the experience of reading and the experiences that the
reader brings to the reading determine the meaning of the work. In other words, meaning within
literature is created as the reader experiences (reads) the work. As readers bring their own ideas,
thoughts, moods, knowledge, and experiences to the text, meaning is created with little emphasis
placed on the structural elements of the work (plot, narrative point of view, character, symbol, etc.). The
interaction between the reader and the text determines the meaning of the work.

Questions to Consider:
* What attitudes do you and the main character of the story have in common? Have these attitudes led
you to similar/different outcomes to those of the main character? How so?
* How would you have responded to the situations the characters find themselves in? Why would you
have responded in such a manner?
 that concludes

12 LITERATURE