A taste of analyzing literature

Step One Read to understand—don’t worry about the assignment or not “getting” the work at first.

Step Two Ask questions about the work What do you like? What don’t you like? When and where is the story set? Does that inform the story in any way? What drives the characters? What does a character mean when he/she says ___________________________? What impressions does this story make on me? What is the tone of the story? What themes are apparent in the story? Do any of the characters change from the beginning to the end of the work? Do they change for better or worse? Is there anything in culture, history, or politics we can connect this work to? How are the experiences of this character (or these characters) like or unlike my own experiences? Does the difference in our experience make the work more difficult to understand? Does the similarity in our experience make me connect with the character(s) more closely? Why might the author have written this work? Are there any recurrent phrases and/or images in the work? What connotations do they have?

For example….”A&P” How does Sammy describe the girls when he first sees them? Does this description seem flattering or insulting? Be specific. Do his feelings towards the girls seem to change at all over the course of the story? What are the other shoppers reactions to the girls? Why do you think they react that way? What kinds of people seem to frequent the “A&P” normally? What makes you think this? How are the girls different from the usual shoppers? 7. Describe Stokesie. What do you think of him? 8. Why does Sammy to quit? 9. Sammy at one point names himself the girls “unsuspected hero.” Do you think what he did was heroic? Why or why not? 10. Near the end it reads, “’You'll feel this for the rest of your life,’ Lengel says, and I know that's true, too.” What is “this” and how do you think Sammy might feel it for the rest of his life? 11. Lastly, Sammy thinks “and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter. “ In what way will the world now be harder for him than before? Do you agree?

Step Three Decide on a specific question you want to pursue? Why does Sammy in “A&P” quit his job ?

Step Four Test the question Go back to the work with it and underline passages that might help you answer your question The part where Sammy sees the girls for the first time and how he describes them might help you explain to your audience why you chose this question The part where Sammy quits but then nothing happens. I kept asking myself why he would bother losing his job when the girls aren’t even concerned with him. I just didn’t get it.

Step Five If it’s a “good” question, keep it and try to answer it What is your answer to your question about the work? Example: Why does Sammy in “A&P” quit his job for some girls he doesn’t even know? Answer: Because he is upset with the injustice the shoppers and the workers do to the girls. It’s a matter of principal for Sammy. He doesn’t think he can work in a place where people are so If it’s a “bad” question, come up with a new one

Step Five (continued) Here is where you try to edit your answer into a working thesis Your thesis should be a claim about the work It should Be debatable : this means it’s your opinion not a fact about the work Be interpretive: this means it seeks to explain or lend insight into some aspect of the work Be a statement: not a question Avoid announcing intent

Other possible questions to inspire writing 1. Sammy is presented as a typical teenager of his time: the late 1950s. Is he typical of our time as well? What behaviors typify Sammy as a middle-class American teenager? What makes him typical of a teen in the 1950s? Which of his characteristics of details from his life transcend time, and are typical of teens today? Which of his traits cannot bridge the epochal gap? 2. Some critics have accused Updike's work of an ingrained sexism. Is Sammy a male chauvinist? Are his descriptions and treatment of the three girls who enter the store objectionable? Is "A&P" a sexist work? 3. How does point of view contribute to the story? For instance, how might “A&P” been different if it was told from another point of view (for example, Lengel or Queenie)?