A Schematic Approach to Writing About Literature and Film Steps in choosing a topic Read the work well Identify your audience Use strategies to help you think creatively Raise a key question about the work Choose a topic that interests you Questions to ask yourself about the work's world view What are the work's basic ideas? What is typical about the characters in the work? What do they do and say that identify them as typical? What ideas do the characters represent? To which of these views does the author seem sympathetic? Which predominates at the end of the work? What are the implications of titles and epigraphs? What themes does the author develop in other works? What has your instructor said about the meaning of the work? Mark those sections the instructor calls to your attention in class and reread them. Elements of fiction and ways of using them to generate a paper Plot List external and internal conflicts; try to relate them List key conflicts and (if) resolved Describe turning point or climax. List how (if) each conflict has been resolved List major structural units of the work List causes of unstable situations at the beginning of the work and throughout it. List qualities that make the conclusion more stable. Characterization List traits of main characters. List characters in order of complexity. Describe each event that influences a character's change. Explain, for each event, what happens to the character and how he or she changes. Describe a scene in which a character has an epiphany. Explain what happens and what the character comes to see. Mark the places where the author or other characters make revealing statements about a character. Theme Explain how title, subtitle, epigraph, and names of characters may be related to theme. Describe author's apparent attitude toward human behavior. Describe author's apparent attitude toward society. List the moral issues raised by the work. Name the character who is the moral center of the work. List his or her traits. Mark statements by the author or characters that seem to state themes. Setting Mark the most extensive or important descriptions of physical place. Characterize physical locales. Explain the relationship to the physical place that one or more of the main characters has. Explain the influence that place exerts on the characters. Mark passages where a character's emotional state affects the way the passage of time is presented to us. List the patterns of behavior that characterize the social environment of the work. Mark scenes in which the author or characters express approval or disapproval of these patterns of behavior. Mark sections that contribute to atmosphere. List the traits of the atmosphere. Point of view Irony Symbolism Dialogue Description Metaphor/language/diction Return to the Handouts List -----Return to the Writing Center