Stages of Reading

Stage 1: ​Begin by reading the back cover, table of contents, etc. As you read, write down a one

sentence summary of each chapter or section. Use these to make an outline of the book. On a

separate page, write down questions that you have while you are reading, along with page

numbers. Mark important or confusing pages with post-it notes. If you get stuck, mark the page

and keep going. ​At the end of Stage 1 reading, please turn in the following: an outline of the

book, with title; any notes you have taken, including the suggestions below.

For novels​: Keep a character list, which you can add on to as you read. Who is the central

character? What is the main event?

For autobiographies​: What are the central events in the writer’s life? What historical events

happen at the same time? Who is the most important person in the writer’s life? What events

form the outline of that story? What would you title the book?

For histories​: What are the major events of the history? Who or what is this story about? What

challenge did the hero face? Who or what causes this challenge? What happened to the

historical hero? If you were to sum up the history in a paragraph, as though it were a movie plot,

how would you do so? Are the characters better or worse off at the end? When does the story

take place? Where does it take place?

For poems​: For narrative poems (tell a story), make a list of main characters and events as you

read. Limit yourself to 2-3 events per section. For non-narrative poems, make notes on the

poem’s ideas, moods, or experiences. Is the poem describing a scene, portraying a mood, or

investigating a thought? Write down words or phrases that capture your response to the poem,

or that you find interesting. Mark any section that seems confusing to come back to later.
Stage 2: ​Go back to the important passages you marked in the first reading. Use your outline to

find main passages if needed. ​At the end of Stage 2 reading, please turn in your writing journal

with answers to the applicable questions below.

For novels​: In your writing journal, answer the following questions (these might not apply to all

novels, but try to answer as many as you can). Include a quote in each answer, along with the

page number.

1. Is this novel a fable (a place where different rules apply) or a chronicle (a place like

our own)?

a. If this novel is set in our own world, how does the write show us reality? Is it

through careful presentation of physical details (i.e., food, clothing, landscape) or

psychological details (i.e., thoughts, emotions, motivations)?

b. If this novel is set in a fantasy world, what is the intent or purpose? Is it an

allegory (a one-to-one correspondence between the fantasy world and ours, as in

Pilgrim’s Progress​ or ​Narnia)​ ? If not, is it speculating (represents ideas taken to

an extreme, as in ​1984​ or ​The Hunger Games​)?

c. If this novel is primarily realistic, but has a few fantasy elements, it isn’t simply a

fable or a chronicle (as in ​Jane Eyre​, when she hears Mr. Rochester calling her).

What are the fantastic elements? Are they the result of a dream or something

else?

2. What does the central character want? What is standing in his way? What strategy

does he use to overcome this? Is he successful?

3. Who is telling you this story? What is the point of view? Choose from: first person (“I”),

second person (“you”), third person limited (“he/she”; tells from the perspective of one

character), third person objective (tells from a distant perspective; the narrator and see
 everything, but can’t look into the mind of any character), omniscient (“God-like”; the

narrator knows everything, including what the characters think and feel). Why do you

think the author chooses this point of view? What are the benefits? The disadvantages?

What would happen if the author used a different point of view?

4. Where is the story set? Look for several sections of description. Who is present in the

scene? What are the surroundings like? How does the character sense them? What

does this say about his state of mind?

5. What style does the writer employ? Is it formal or informal language? What about the

dialogue? Do all of the characters sound alike, or can you tell them apart by how they

speak?

6. Images and metaphors: Is any particular image repeated again and again (a certain

color, scenery, etc.)? Is it a metaphor (a physical object that represents something else)?

7. Beginnings and endings: How does the novel begin? Does it hint at what is to come?

How does the author draw you into the story? What sort of ending does the novel have?

Is there a resolution, or a sense that we are powerless to repeat the same actions over

and over again? Why do you think the author ended the book as they did? Do you agree

with the ending?

For autobiographies​: In your writing journal, answer the following questions (these might not

apply to all novels, but try to answer as many as you can). Include a quote in each answer,

along with the page number.

1. What is the theme that ties the narrative together? Is it spiritual or skeptical?

a. If it is spiritual, the writer believes God has organized and planned his life. Life is

a journey, a battle, a trial to be faced. What metaphors does the writer use to

show this?
 b. If it is skeptical, is it ​relational​ (describes relationships coming together or falling

apart), ​oppositional​ (a conflict between choices), h

​ eroic​ (writer as hero),

representational​ (writer as symbol for all others in same condition) or ​historical

(describing a historical movement)? Write 2-3 sentences describing the theme.

2. Where is the life’s turning point? Is there a conversion or change, when the writer

learns a great truth or experiences a life changing event? Look back at your outline. Is

there a chapter in which important events seem to cluster? What is the turning point? Is

the change in the writer instantaneous or gradual?

3. What is the model or ideal for this person’s life? Where do they feel they have fallen

short? Look for places where the writer apologizes or makes excuses. If the writer could

be perfect, who would they be?

4. What is the end of the life: the place where the writer has arrived, found closure,

discovered rest? Re-read the final chapter. What is the stopping point? Write 2-3

sentences describing the writer’s position at the end of the book. Where is he, what is he

doing? Quote any evaluation the writer supplies.

5. Now revisit your first question: What is the theme of the writer’s life? Does is still ring

true? Re-write your theme if needed. What would you title this book now?

For histories​: Answer the following questions.

1. Look for the historian’s major assertions. Check the last two paragraphs of each

chapter, and the final chapter of the book. Write down a sentence or two for each of

these, leaving space for analysis in between.

2. What questions is the historian asking?

 3. What sources does the historian use to answer them? Look at the footnotes. These

could include written documents, oral sources, advertisements, art, arguments of others,

etc. Does he use a variety of sources or just one or two?

4. Does the evidence support the connection between questions and answers? What

mistakes might the author be making in reasoning? Is he jumping to conclusions? Does

his argument make sense based on the evidence?

5. Can you identify the history’s genre? Is it ​political​ (stories of nations and leaders),

intellectual​ (focuses on the ideas that led to a movement or event), or ​social​ (reaction to

political and intellectual history; examines patterns of life which apply to the majority)?

For poems​: Answer the following questions.

1. What is the basic narrative strategy? Choose one of the following: Does the poet tell a

complete story? Does the poet make an argument with conclusion? Does the poet

describe an experience (physical or psychological)? Does the poet describe a physical

place, object, or sensation and allow it to stand for some other non-physical reality? Is

the poem evocative of a mood, feeling, idea, or emotion?

2. What is the poem’s basic form? Choose from: ​ballad​ (narrative with one main

character), ​elegy​ (lament, usually for someone dead), ​epic​ (long narrative with legendary

heroes), ​haiku​ (Japanese; 3 lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern), ​ode​ (poem of exalted

character, usually addressed to the reader), ​sonnet​ (14 lines in iambic pentameter; can

be Petrarchan, Shakespearian, or Spenserian), or ​villanelle​ (5 3 line stanzas and one

last 4 line stanza, with an ​aba​ rhyme scheme).

3. What is the poem’s meter? How many syllables are in each line? Which are stressed

and which are unstressed?

 4. Examine the lines and stanzas. Is each line a complete sentence, or is it broken up?

How many lines does each stanza have? Does each stanza follow a pattern of rhyme

and meter?

5. Examine the rhyme pattern. Using the ​ab​ lettering system, list the pattern.

6. What kinds of words does the poet use? Are they large or small? Complicated or

simple? What senses does the poet appeal to? Does he appeal primarily to emotions or

intellect?

7. Look for monologue or dialogue. Is there dialogue between the narrator and another

person? What is the mood of the dialogue? Does the narrator carry on a dialogue with

himself? What is the effect of this dialogue on how he relates to others?

Stage 3:

For novels​: Your primary goal is to decide if the novel is an accurate portrayal of life. Is it true?

Answer the following questions.

1. Do you sympathize with the characters? Which ones, and why? What character

quality do you most admire? Do you see this in yourself or others? Is this quality

somehow distorted or exaggerated in the character? Is the writer making a statement

about the human condition and the opposition we face?

2. Does the writer’s technique give you a clue as to his take on the human condition? For

example, in point of view (omniscient could point to a belief in a higher power) or an

emphasis on physical landscape (time and place determine who we are) vs. what’s

going on inside the character’s head (free soul, able to triumph over surroundings).

3. Is the novel self-reflective? Can stories about people convey truth? Do any characters

read or write in the story? What do they gain or lose from it?
 4. Did the writer’s times affect him? What was going on in the world when the novel was

written? What was the life of the author like?

5. Is there an argument in this book? What exactly is the writer telling you? Think about

what happens to the main characters and why. Is there an argument in the hero’s fate or

the villain’s downfall?

6. Do you agree? Is this work true? Not in the sense of non-fiction, but is what the novel

tells you about life true? What is the purpose of this novel?

For autobiographies​: Answer the following questions.

1. Is the writer writing for himself or a group? What parts of the writer’s experience does

he assume to be universal (apply to all)? What does he think is unique about himself?

Do you identify with the writer? Why or why not? Do you agree with what the writer is

saying?

2. What are the three moments, or time frames, of the autobiography? The first moment

is when the events actually happened. The second moment is when the story was

written. Why did the writer tell his story? How long did it take to write? How was the

writer feeling? What was going on in his life at the time? The third moment is the

present. How has the autobiography changed over the years since it has been written?

How do we view it? (For example, Hitler’s autobiography was viewed very differently

from the time it was first written, compared to the end of WWII).

3. Where does the writer’s judgment lie? What, or whom, does the writer judge? Who is

responsible for the writer’s successes or failures? Do you agree?

4. Do you reach a different conclusion about the writer’s life than they do? Do you agree

with what the writer has done?

 5. What have you brought away from the story? What did you think going in to it? How

has your opinion changed? Do you understand more about something than you did

before?

For histories​: Answer the following questions.

1. What is the purpose of this history?

2. Does this story have forward motion? What does it say about the historian’s view of

human existence? Does it progress forward, or are we treading water? Are we destined

to climb, or doomed to slide downward?

3. What does it mean to be human? How are men and women portrayed? What is their

central quality?

4. Why do things go wrong? What motivates people?

5. What place does free will have?

6. What relationship does this history have to social problems? Does the historian just

present the facts, or make a plan for change?

7. What is the end of the history? What is the goal of the story? Are the people better or

worse off at the end? How have they changed?

8. How is this history the same or different from stories of other historians who have

come before?

9. Is there another possible explanation? Given the same facts, would you come to a

similar conclusion?

For poems​: Answer the following questions.

1. Is there a moment of choice or change in the poem?

2. Is there cause and effect? If not, do emotions or events arise for no particular reason?
3. What is the tension between the physical and the mental, the earthly and the spiritual,

the mind and the body?

4. What is the poem’s subject? What is the poem about? Choose a word or phrase to

describe it.

5. Where is the self? Is the poet’s “self” in the poem? What is the relationship between

that self and the subject?

6. Do you feel sympathy? Do you agree? Which part or parts? Why or why not?

7. How does the poet relate to those who came before?