Choose a story (tale) that we have addressed so far this semester, or one that you are familiar with, and answer the following questions:
- What language/characters/events present in the work reflect the current events of the author’s day?
- Are there words in the text that have changed their meaning from the time of the writing?
- How are such events interpreted and presented?
- How are events’ interpretation and presentation a product of the culture of the author?
- Does the work’s presentation support or condemn the event? Can it be seen to do both?
- How does this portrayal criticize the leading political figures or movements of the day?
- How does the literary text function as part of a continuum with other historical/cultural texts from the same period…?
- How can we use a literary work to “map” the interplay of both traditional and subversive discourses circulating in the culture in which that work emerged and/or the cultures in which the work has been interpreted?
- How does the work consider traditionally marginalized populations?
