General Approaches to Writing about Literature

Having difficulty getting started with your blog? Well, you might consider starting here. Choose one of the following questions for discussion in a blog entry. Remember to be clear and concise in your answer, follow the conventions of writing about literature, and consult how to blog.

  1. Identify and discuss one or two of the conventional story-telling elements in the work(s) we’re reading. (E.g., protagonist, symbols, themes, point of view.)
  2. How important are gender and racial relations and identity portrayed in the work? How is this treatment important to the narrative?
  3. What are the elements of ambiguity in the work? I.e., what theme, plot point, or symbol remains unclear by the work’s end?
  4. Identify and discuss one major theme in the work.
  5. Consider how this work relates to another we have read. How does making this connection help your understanding of both works?
  6. Course content, requirements, and expectations as stated on the syllabus.
  7. Any aspect of the lecture presented by the professor.
  8. Any aspect of the reading assigned for a particular class.
  9. Any aspect of the in-class group work or class discussion.
  10. A more extensive treatment of a topic written on during the in-class writing portion of the class session.
  11. Select a 10-20 line portion or more of a poem you read for a class session for your critical/analytical response.
  12. Write a poem which imitates the style and content of a poem you were assigned to read for a particular class.
  13. Write a response to the events of the writer’s life as described in a textbook headnote or in other reading you have done.
  14. Select a significant prose passage in an assigned reading and analyze its meaning and relevance to the work as a whole.
  15. Discuss the relevance of a piece a literature read for the class to an article on a contemporary issue from a newspaper or magazine.
  16. Discuss the relevance of a work beyond the discipline of literature.
  17. Discuss how you would “teach” a particular work if you were the professor.
  18. Select a work by an author you really disliked and describe the reasons why you disliked it.
  19. Select a work by an author you really liked and describe the reasons why you liked it.

Courses

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An explanation of mandatory classroom policies for my courses, both in-class and online. [Go to Policies]

Need to Know FAQ

Much information in my courses is either review or is necessary throughout the semester. Consult the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for answers to questions that invariably arise. [Go to FAQ]

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