Your goal here is to identify and analyze the features of the text that are important to your
interpretation. Your discussion should also indicate the ways in which the author "controls" or
influences the reader through the literary conventions s/he employs.
LITERARY CONVENTIONS. Look closely at your author’s use of literary conventions in the text you have
chosen. How does the author characteristically use the four areas of literary conventions (structure, viewpoint,
backdrop, texture) and which specific literary conventions are hallmarks of his/her work? Point out which of the
four areas of literary conventions the author has emphasized or de-emphasized, and which persuasive devices (WW
p. 88+) the writer has used in the story. For example, in "A Rose for Emily" the author’s choice of structure and
viewpoint are essential to the way the story is developed. Discuss what choices the author has made in writing the
story and what effects these choices have on the reader. Discuss the theme[s] of the text and show how the author’s
use of literary conventions helps to make the theme[s] apparent. Use your own reading experience and the
experiences of others in class with whom you have discussed this story as the basis for your observations.
GENRE. What genre is the author using, and what are its standard features? Which of these does the author follow
and which does he modify? Does the author follow the prescriptions of the genre or experiment with the genre and
take risks with the audience?s expectations?