Analytical Questions for Literature Academic Toolkit

There are many ways to read literature, but perhaps the best way is to ask questions. Some questions help us to think about the world while others help us to understand better characters or situations in a story. Still others help us to understand why the author made certain choices in the text. All these questions help to develop critical thinking skills. And thinking about possible answers for your questions is even more helpful.

Synthesis / These questions look to understand characters, setting and plot on a deeper level.
Answers come from observing and thinking about multiple sections of the text. / Who do you think is stronger – the mothers or the daughters?
Are the mothers good mothers?
Why does Suyuan try to make June a prodigy?
Why does An-Mei Hsu write Bing’s name in pencil in the bible? Why does she put the bible under her kitchen table?
My EX:
Philosophical / These questions are brought up by ideas from the text.
Answers come from combining outside knowledge and evidence from the text. / What makes someone a good mother?
How does people’s heritage impact their identity?
What does it mean to “win” at (the Mah Jong game of) life?
What’s more important, someone’s intentions or the effects of their actions?
Why do teenagers rebel against their parents?
My EX:
Writerly / These questions look to understand the choices the author made in writing the text.
Answers come from considering why an author made certain decisions and use text evidence to support one’s argument. / Why does Tan break the novel into 4 sections each with 4 chapters?
Why does Tan end “The Voice from the Wall” chapter with the line, “and the girl grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her through the wall”?
What does Tan include the story about the woman with the swan that gets taken away by immigration officials?
My EX:
Clarifying / These questions are useful in discussions to help you better understand the ideas of your classmates and to force them to think through and develop their ideas.
Answers come from the person being asked and/or other peers. / What makes you think that the marble table represents their relationship?
Why do you think that Ying-Ying is a better mother than Suyuan?
What did you mean when you said ____....?"
My EX: