Responding to a Fiction Text

Initial thoughts: Take note of your immediate reactions and thoughts. Was the story engaging? Confusing? Emotional? What are the standout themes or concepts?
Direct reaction: Emotional responses can form a useful foundation for later analytical work. How did the story make you feel and why?
Uncertainty: If there were elements that made you unsure or confused, jot them down, these might offer fruitful areas for deeper exploration.

Narrative trajectory: Identify the major events, conflicts, twists, and their resolutions in the narrative. This will help you understand the story’s progression.
Character analysis: Highlight the main characters and their major attributes. Understand their motivations, conflicts, and transformations throughout the story.
Theme identification: Take note of the overall themes underpinning the text. Themes could be issues like love, identity, loss, or power.

Language use: Pay attention to the author’s use of words (diction). This may include the use of figurative language such as metaphors, similes, personification, and symbols.
Structure of text: Notice how the text is organised by the author. This could be a narrative structure (exposition, climax, resolution), flashbacks, or foreshadowing.
Author’s intention: Identify and infer the potential message or moral the author is trying to convey through the story.

Personal connection: Think about how the story resonates with your own life, experiences or worldviews. This offers a unique personal lens through which you can analyse the text.
Historical and cultural context: Understand the time and place in which the story was written as it might influence the themes, characters, and plot.

Find supporting quotes from the text to substantiate your interpretations or observations.
Ensure your analysis refers to the broader narrative context to avoid overinterpretation of individual elements.
Continually review and revise your ideas to refine your understanding. Remember to benefit from multiple readings and perspectives on the text.
Aim for clarity and coherence in your final analysis without compromising on depth and insight into the text.