How to Choose Good Questions and Topics for Your Notes
1. Remember that the goal of your notes is to create a rich and diverse “field” for your
thinking and writing. The more good ideas and insights you have in your notes, the
more you have to choose from when it comes time to write your paper. Remember
that notes/ideas you take for one short story might spark a good topic idea for
another short story you might be writing about.
2. As you begin to think about how to take good notes and how to create an interesting topic for discussion, consider the following things:
No matter what questions you choose to explore, you must include a connection with language . So, for instance, if you are looking at the central conflicts of the story, consider how the writer’s use of figurative language helps to enhance or reveal that conflict and the story’s themes. Also, in your questions, you want to always be asking how your topic reveals “the work as a whole” or the story’s themes. What is the writer’s purpose for including this character, this scene, this language, this plot twist, this point of view?
Also remember to discuss tone! Lastly, remember that the Q2 questions often explore issues of characterization, so always consider exploring issues of characterization.
Here are some other ideas:
a. Look for ideas and scenes that help to illustrate the writer’s thematic ideas
b. Look for interesting observations about characters: what makes this character tick,
what conflicts does this character encounter, how does this character change
throughout the story (positive or negative), do you agree with the choices the
character makes, how does the character perceive him/herself or his/her world,
are there things the character can’t see about him- or herself, has the character
changed for the better at the end of the book?
c. Look for interesting motifs, symbols, or metaphors the writer is using to help develop the theme.
d. How does this story connect to what’s happening in today’s society? Does the story have something
to say to us today--why/why not? What can we learn from the characters in the story--their choices,
their relationships, their tragedies?
e. How does the setting impact what’s happening in the story? How does the setting
impact the characters and their lives?
f. Look at the writer’s style, consider how he or she develops a scene, a moment of dialogue, describes the
characters, describes the setting. What do you notice about the writer’s style?
g. Look at the conflicts in the story (these are always interesting). What do the conflicts
reveal about the characters, the characters’ personalities and choices, the way that
the characters deal with stress and conflict, the way that the conflicts reveal the
power relationships among them (who is in control? who is dominant and why?).
h. As the facilitator, always pose a series of questions to ensure that your discussion stays “lively” and engaged.