NOTE 1: These are questions intended to help you to begin to research and gather information you might find useful for your essay. There are a lot of questions here that I have tried to organize into “categories” to help with annotation and research. You are not required to answer the questions below in your essay; however, you might find that some of the questions help you answer the ultimate question: What are some of the positive and/or negative historical and more recent effects of the selected literary texts?
NOTE 2: Some questions could be considered “cross-categorical.”
“Literary and Period” History
What was happening in the world at the time the text was written? What was occurring during the time in which it was set?
How does this text fit into the rules of literature in the period in which it was written?
What were some major controversies at the time the text was written? The time in which it was set?
Who was on either side of the controversy? Who were the powerful? Who were the powerless?
Why were the powerful in their positions of power? What qualities did they have? What events transpired to put them into their positions?
How did the public receive the work when it was first published?
How did the critics receive the work when it was first published?
“General” Author History:
What events occurred in the writer’s life that made him or her who he or she is? What has affected his or her look on life?
Who influenced the writer? What people in his or her life may have helped form a world view?
What did the writer read that affected his or her philosophy?
What were the writer’s political views?
Last Completed Projects
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