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Literary Analysis:  Understanding the techniques
that make a literary work effective, identifying them in the books you read
and writing a brief essay explaining what you’ve identified.

Fiction: a made-up story

Historical Fiction: a made-up story that happens during a real time in the past

Novel: a long made-up story with chapters

Fable: a short made-up story that teaches a lesson (a moral)

Nonfiction: a true story

Biography: the true story of a person’s life

Poem: written in lines rather than in paragraphs (Stanzas)

Rhyme: words that have the same sound at the end

Author: the person who wrote a poem or book

Anonymous: what we call the author when we don’t know who he/she was

Literary analysis for middle-grade students (grades 5-8)
Goals:

 Think about why literature works through conversation about discussion questions.
Write short essays as answers to these questions.

Preserve your love of reading.

FOR A NOVEL OR STORY:

 
Who is this book about? (central character[s])
What do the central characters want?
What keeps them/him/her from getting it?
How do they/he/she get what they want?
Do they have an enemy or enemies? Is there a villain?
What does the villain want?
What do you think is the most important event in the story?
What leads up to this event?
How are the characters different after this event?
Pick out the most important event in each chapter.
How many different stories does the writer tell?

FOR A BIOGRAPHY:

 
What kind of family did the subject come from?
What were his parents like?
Where did he go to school?
What did he want the most as a child?
What did he want the most as a grownup?
Were they the same?
How did he get what he wanted?
Who were the three most important people in his life?
Did he get married? To whom? When?
Did they have children?
What was the most important event in his life?
Name three other important events in his life.
Did he get what he wanted in life? Why or why not?
Why do we still remember this person?

EVALUATION QUESTIONS:

 
What was the most exciting part of the book?
What was the most boring part of the book?
Did you like the character[s]? Why or why not?
Did you hope that he/she would get what he/she wanted?
Did any part of the book seem particularly real? Did any part seem unlikely?
Did you hope that it would end in another way? If so, how?
Would you read this book again?
Which one of your friends would enjoy this book?