ENG 208/209 - World Literature: Multi-media Presentation (Jordan)

2. Explore Your Work

After thoroughly examining your assignment, now it's time to look for some initial background information on your world literature work. Many of the works in the ENG 208 textbook have entries in the Gale eBooks: Literature Collection database, which provide information on plot, characters, style, historical context, and even some literary criticism articles.

Note: Most of the works in your textbook are excerpts of the entire work. It will probably help for you to see the full work. A lot of these can be found at Project Gutenberg which can be found at this link https://www.gutenberg.org/. Please be aware that the quality of translations vary. If you choose to look at the entire work that does not count as the required secondary sources.

Analyze Your Work

Questions to Ask Yourself

When and where did the work take place? (place and time)

What is the atmosphere? (historical / sociological)

How is the story told? (narrative / point of view)

What language is used? (style, tone, and irony)

Who are the main characters? (protagonist / antagonist / others)

Are there symbols used? (symbols)

How does the plot help the reader understand the theme?

What is the dramatic moment?  What is the conflict?

What is the moment of climax? (turning point / illumination / understanding)

How does the story end? (resolution)