When analyzing and writing about literature, consider your foundation text(s): the fairy or folk tale. What aspects of the text interest you? Theme? Characters? Plot? Style? Explore and learn about those aspects of the foundation text. For example, many fairy tales have stock or stereotypical characters whose traits and depiction are a reflection of the time and place, the society in which the tale is told.
Next explore ideas that may intersect with the text, ideas that may have more to do with society, social norms, history, religion, or philosophy.
Find the intersection between the text(s) and the external ideas.
Formulate or develop a thesis that makes a claim about the intersection of the aspect of the foundation text that captures your interest and the external ideas.
A Venn diagram is one way to visualize these intersections.
This exercise of identifying the intersecting ideas leads directly to your search strategy.
Prompt your thinking critically about literature:
Agree or disagree with how:
an author explains an idea
an author defines an idea through the actions of a character
an author feels about an issue or idea
an author establishes the tone of a scene
the importance the author places on a character, character trait, character’s actions/decisions, event or idea
the accuracy of an author’s portrayal of a person, place or thing
the authentic quality of an author’s portrayal of a person, place, time or idea
the success or failure of an author’s image to evoke an emotion or other response from the reader
the effectiveness of the author’s ability to evoke a specific response in the reader
similarities between the manner one author evokes a response and how another author in another text evokes that same response
similarities between the manner one author defines or develops an idea and how another author in another text develops or defines that idea
