Watch the following video:

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mining-literature-for-deeper-meanings-amy-e-harter

Answer the questions in the Think tab in a Word document and submit to the drop box.

1.    What is insight?
aThe skill needed to comprehend a text based on historical contextCheck my answer
b  A way to build vocabularyCheck my answer
c  The ability to understand something intuitively, using small observationsCheck my answer
d  A reflection on one’s own feelings and life events

2.    Which of the following types of passages might lead to important insight about the motivations of a literary character?
aA scene in which we can observe many small details about a character’s behaviorCheck my answer
b  A brief physical description of a character, when he or she first appearsCheck my answer
c  A moment where a character states his or her emotions out loudCheck my answer
d  Any scene where the character is not actually present

3.    For a successful literary analysis, what must insightful conclusions ultimately lead to?
a  Several literary terms such as “parallelism” and “meter”Check my answer
b  An in-depth commentary on character emotionsCheck my answer
c  Biographical information about the authorCheck my answer
d  Connections to the big ideas—the abstract concepts—approached by the text

4.    Why should complexity be acknowledged when writing about literature?
a  Complicated writing is a sign of having mastered organizationCheck my answer
b  There are multiple social forces at work in every text that reflect the human experience and the abstract concepts of the novelCheck my answer
c  It’s the only way to accurately identify metaphors and similesCheck my answer
d  It will result in a longer finished piece of writing

5.    Which of the following is NOT an example of a potential “big idea” to discuss within a text?
aThe question of whether humans are inherently good or evilCheck my answer
b  The nature of violence in a chaotic environmentCheck my answer
c  The power of the natural world to help or harm humanityCheck my answer
d  The deep sorrow of the main character

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

6.  Think about the most recent literary text you’ve studied. Give some examples of small details that you noticed about one of the characters. Then, apply your powers

of insight to come to some conclusions about that character’s motivations based on those clues.

7.  Using that same text as a case study, acknowledge some complexity. Think of the main struggle that your character goes through as the story progresses. What

different social forces contribute to the complicated situation that the character is in? Describe these forces (they may be large or small, internal or external),

discussing the way that they push or pull on the character’s choices and actions

8. Considering your answers to question one and two, what might be some of these big ideas (otherwise known as abstract concepts or thematic ideas) in the text that

you would want to address in an essay? Explain how you arrived at these ideas based off of your own insight and acknowledgement of the text’s complexity.