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Tutoring Techniques for Literature Students

Fiction Review: The tutor should review the English Works! Guide to Fiction. The tutor must have a firm grasp on the following terms: Plot (introduction, conflict, climax, resolution) Characters and Characterization (flat, round, static, dynamic) Theme Setting Point of View Irony Symbolism The tutor should understand and be able to explain the meaning of the above terms, as well as their significance.

Fiction Analysis: Some students will come in with no idea of how to analyze a piece of literature. They may not even really understand the piece. Obviously, the tutor will need to alter his/her techniques to meet each individual student's needs. In general, asking questions, and discussing the answers with the student, tends to help the student to develop a deeper understanding and a more analytical thought process about literature. Here are some questions to consider when helping a student analyze a work of fiction: Plot:  In only a few sentences, what is the basic story line?  What is the main conflict?  What are the minor conflicts?  How are the conflicts related?  What/who caused the conflicts?  Are the conflicts internal or external?  How is the conflict resolved?  Where does the main climax occur?  Why does the main climax occur?  Is there more than one climax?  How does the story end? Characters (about a specific character):  What is the character like?  How is 'X' person characterized by the author?  What are his/her character traits?  Is s/he flat, round, dynamic or static?  What makes him/her complex (if s/he is)?  Does s/he change?  How and why does s/he change?  What sort of self realization does s/he experience? Characters (about the characters in general): Do the characters understand each other and themselves? Who is the protagonist? Who (or what) is the antagonist? What do the characters learn? Does the author want us to compare one character to another? Theme: What is the theme (what is the work about)? What is the author trying to say about that subject? How does the author communicate this theme (how do you know what the theme is)? Did the author use symbolism, setting or the characters themselves to convey this theme? Setting and Time: Where does the action take place? What time period, time of day, time of year, etc. does this action take place? How long does it take for the action to occur? What is the social environment of the place and time? How does this time and place affect the characters? How does it affect the reader's perception of the characters? Point of View: From who's point of view is the story told? What is the narrator's tone? What are the narrator's biases? Irony: Are there important ironies in the work? What kind of ironies are in the work? What do these ironies reveal to the reader? Symbols: Are there important symbols in the work? What do they mean? How do you know they are symbols?

Drama Review: The tutor should review the English Works! Guide to Drama. The tutor must understand the following terms. Some of the important terms will be the same for Fiction and Drama, however the way these terms impact the reading may differ. Structure of a Play (plot) Characterization Theme Setting Irony

Drama Analysis: Structure of a Play (Plot): What is the basic story line? What has happened before the play begins? What are the main conflicts? What has caused these conflicts? Are the conflicts man vs. man, or are any of them man vs. a larger entity (nature, society, fate...)? How are the conflicts resolved? What actions occur on stage? What actions occur offstage?  Why? How do the characters react to the offstage actions? What is the structure of the play (is it separated into Acts and Scenes)? How many divisions (acts, scenes) are there? Characterization: If the characters are flat, what are their main character traits? What is their function in the play? If they are dynamic, how do they change? How are they involved in the conflict? What do we learn about the characters? What do they learn about themselves? What do we know about their inner states from what they say and do not say? What secrets do they have? How are these revealed and what are the results of these revelations? Theme: What is the theme? What is the play about? What is the playwright trying to say about that subject?  If the student is unsure, ask him or her . . . What analogies and ideas are repeated throughout the play? What do these repetitions indicate? What symbols does the playwright use? How do you know (what actions or dialogue establishes them as symbols)? Are there big contrasts in the play? Do these contrasts relate to the conflict? What is the playwright trying to say? Setting: What is the time and place of the play? Does it span a long or short period of time? Does the location change? How do you know (does the playwright explain it in stage directions, or is it revealed in the characters' dialogue)? Does the playwright specify what the set should look like? How does the physical set affect the mood and meaning of the play? Is the set realistic or symbolic? Irony: What are the ironies in the play? Are there verbal ironies? Are there dramatic ironies? Do the dramatic ironies impact meaning and revelation? What purpose do the dramatic ironies serve (why do they appear where they do)?

Poetry Review: The tutor should review the English Works! Guide to Poetry. Characterization, point of view, plot, setting and theme essentially mean the same thing for all three types of literature. They are equally important terms to consider for each kind of literature. In addition to the above terms, the tutor should be familiar with the following terms: Speaker (characterization) Audience (also characterization) Theme Diction Imagery Figures of speech (especially symbolism) Rhythm Sound devices

Poetry Analysis: Speaker (point of view) and Audience: Who is speaking? To whom is s/he speaking? What is the speaker's tone? How is the speaker feeling? Why is s/he speaking? Are there other characters involved? What are these other characters like? What ideas is the speaker communicating? Are the speaker's ideas and the poet's ideas the same? Plot and Setting: What situation is being described? What are the conflicts? Where does it take place? How is that important? Are the speaker and the poet the same person? Theme: What is the subject (what is the poem's topic)? What is the theme (what statement is the poem/poet making about its subject)? How does the poet communicate this theme (how do you know what the theme is)? Did the author use symbolism, setting or the characters themselves to convey this theme? If the student is having trouble understanding the poem, or supporting his/her ideas, have him/her: write a brief (one sentence) summary of the meaning of each stanza (or line, depending on the poem) in his/her own words; sign each stanza of the poem to be sure s/he understands; find the subject, verb and object for every sentence in the poem. Sometimes you will have to rearrange lines to do this, you may even need to add words to fill in gaps. Diction: How do the meanings (both denotative and connotative) of specific words affect the poem? Why did the author chose a specific word? Is the poem formally or informally written? How does the word choice contribute to the speaker's tone? If the student has trouble answering these questions, have him/her: underline unfamiliar words and use a dictionary to look them up; highlight words that are repeated and discuss why they are repeated; mark words that seem particularly well chosen; look for any made-up words or slang. What meanings do these words add to the poem? Imagery: What special images are used? What senses is the poet appealing to? How do these images affect the poem's mood or meaning? What is the relationship of descriptive images to the speaker's state of mind? Is there a progression in the images (day to night, hot to cold, etc.)? Figures of Speech: Does the poet use any similes or metaphors? Does the poet use any personification? What symbols does the poet use? How do you know that the author really intended these to be symbols? What do these symbols mean? Could there be more than one meaning? How does each symbol contribute to the overall meaning of the poem? Rhythm: How many syllables are there per line? Which ones are accented and which ones are unaccented? Does the poet use a consistent meter (the same number of accented and unaccented syllables per line)? Why? Are there any places where the poet strays from the pattern? Why? Why does the poet put line breaks where s/he does? Is the poem organized into couplets, tercets, quatrains, etc.? Is the poem written in free verse? Sound Devices: Does the poem have end rhyme? Does the poem have internal rhyme? Are there any other sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.)? Why does the poet use these devices?

Writing Critical Essays: Essays About Literature The critical essay should have the same structural characteristics as any other kind of essay. Please see our Structure of an Essay explanation and picture to refresh your memory. However, the kind of information that a critical essay should include can be very different from the information included in other kinds of essays. The critical essay must have the following parts: Introduction: Be sure that the student's paper has an introduction.  This section must clearly identify the title, author and kind of writing that the student is analyzing.  It also needs to have a clearly stated thesis. The thesis could be about the work's strengths and weaknesses, or it could be about a specific aspect of the work (a character, the tone, the use of symbols, etc.). The essay does not need to criticize the work, it can simply analyze one aspect of the work. Reconstruction (refreshing the reader's memory of the work): Be sure the student does not just assume that the reader knows exactly which part of the work, which argument, which symbols, etc. he/she is writing about. It is best to spend a bit of time reminding the reader about the main points of the original work. This section should explain the author's presentation of the subject that will be evaluated. This part of the paper should not be very long. Good papers leave this section brief and spend most of the time on analysis. If the student is critiquing the author's argument, he/she needs to include the author's conclusions, supporting ideas, implied ideas, and assumptions. However, if the student is analyzing the author's method of writing, (i.e. his/her use of literary devices, imagery, development of a specific character, structural choices, etc.), he/she only needs to mention the one aspect of his work that he/she is discussing. Remember, the student should refrain from analysis in the Reconstruction section. This section is used only to refresh the reader's memory of a specific aspect of the piece. Depending on the essay, the reconstruction could be a separate paragraph or two, or, the student could include the reconstructive information at the beginning of each body paragraph. If the student includes it at the beginning of each body paragraph, he/she should state the author's presentation briefly, then present his/her own analysis of it. Criticism/Analysis: These are the main body paragraphs of the essay. This will be the longest part of the essay, because it is the part in which the writer proves his/her thesis. Here the student evaluates and analyzes the work. Depending on the thesis, he/she may be assessing the author's argument, use of figurative language, development of a specific character, repetition of a theme, etc. In this section, the student should use examples from the work and analyze them in a way that supports his/her thesis. If the student spends too much time on reconstruction and not enough on criticism, he/she will not score very well on the essay. Conclusion: The student should use the conclusion to summarize the main points of his/her analysis. Here he/she should restate the thesis briefly. The student can opt to leave the reader with a broad statement to provoke further thought about the subject.