Fiction:  First Reading Questions

Plot Summary

• What is the story? What is happening, to whom, where. when, and how?

Free Association

• What personal or cultural associations come to your mind as you read? What literary associations?
• What do you most "recognize" as "true to life"?
• What do you most like or dislike about the story?
• If you've read anything by this author before, what do you expect to find in this story?

First Questionings

Plot

• Are there parts of the story which don't seem to fit? Is anything confusing, out of order, apparently irrelevant?
• Were you surprised by anything that happened?

Character

• Who are the characters and what are they like? What are their relationships to each other?
• What character interests you the most and why?
• Do any characters seem extraneous? Do they act as you would expect?
• Do changes or behavior in any of the characters seem plausible or implausible?
• How has the author caused you to sympathize--or not--with certain characters?

Point of view

• Who is telling this story and how much does he/she/it know?
• Do you think the narrator is reliable? Does the narrator's truthfulness matter in fully understanding the story? Where do you think the narrator is biased or ignorant? How do you know?

Setting

• How much of a role does the setting seem to play in this story?
• Would anything be lost from the story if the setting were different or the descriptions deleted?

Symbolism and Style

• Do characters or setting seem to represent something besides themselves?
• Do you notice anything special about the style of the story?

Preliminary Interpretation

• What (in fairly simple terms) would you say that a major theme or motif of the story is? Is it closely connected with the title?

Re-read the story at least once. Now consider the re-reading questions