Another Way of Looking at the Relationship Between
the Concrete Elements and Abstract Ideas Literature
Writers communicate big IDEAS through the elements of the narrative. (characters, conflicts, setting, etc...)
For example, Pam Houston wanted to explore the impact that nature might have on a woman's depression.
Readers examine the elements of a narrative and use their own words to pin down the big IDEAS they find.. (These concepts may be different from what the author intended.)
In Analytical Essays readers turn their IDEAS about something the story accomplishes or teaches back into a written text that uses the elements of a narrative to demonstrate their thesis.
Hunters in the Snow: Getting Started
Read first two paragraphs of the story and do the following:
Close Reading Activity: Dialogue and Character
Directions: Find lines that reveal these characters’ personalities, not just their goals and obstacles, but the qualities that define who they are. Fee free to write on the story as you note what characters say and what is said about them.