Questions to Elicit Reader’s Response

What struck you about the poem?

What kinds of things did you notice?

What would you like to talk about after reading this?

What issues did it raise for you?

Were there parts that confused you?

What questions would you like to ask?

Did anything upset you or make you angry?

Is there anything you want to ask any of the characters?

Formalist

Steps Mnemonic: TDAFSLIDe

Title

Diction: connotative, denotative meaning and etymological roots

Allusions

Figures of speech (symbols, images)

Structural patterns

Literary elements

Interrelationship of all elements: tensions, ambiguities and/or paradoxes

Dominant effect of the poem

Psychoanalitic

Specific: 1. What can you say about the behavior of the characters in the text?

2. Does the background of the author affects/influence the literary text?

3. What do you think is the unconscious motives of the author?

4. What is the textual meaning and hidden meaning of the story?

5. Can you list some psychological features present in the text?

Marxist

Who are the powerful people in the society as depicted in the text? Who are the powerless people? Are
they depicted with equal attention?

Do you find any evidence of class conflict and struggle?

Did the bourgeoisie in the text, either consciously or unconsciously, manipulate or trick the proletariat?
If so, in what way?

Is there any evidence of conspicuous consumption?

Feminist

Is the author male or female?

What type of roles do women have in the text? Are the female characters the protagonist or secondary
or minor characters?

Do any stereotypical characterizations of women appear in the text?

What are the attitudes towards women held by the male characters?

Do the female characters speak differently than the male characters?

What does the work reveal about operations (economically, politically, socially or psychologically) of
women?