TEXTUAL QUESTIONS

   ˙        Is the piece of text the whole of the text?

   ˙        Does the text exist in only one version, or many different versions?

   ˙        If in many versions, are there likely to be signicant differences between them?

   ˙        Has the text been cut, edited or expurgated?

   ˙        Has the text been annotated?

   

   CONTEXTUAL QUESTIONS

   ˙        Is the author male of female? Professional or amateur? Native English speaker?

   ˙        How old was he/she when the text was produced?

   ˙        Who was the text originally aimed at? Are you part of that anticipated audience?

   ˙        Where, when and in what circumstances was the text produced?

   

   REFERENTIAL QUESTIONS

   ˙        Does the text contain quotations?

   ˙        Does it refer to particular social attitudes, facts or suppositions about the world,
   or to particular interests or geographical knowledge?

   ˙        Does the text contain specific references to other literary, media, historical,
   mythological or religious texts, events or figures? Do you know what these references refer
   to?

   

   LANGUAGE QUESTIONS

   ˙        Is the text in its original, or a translation?

   ˙        Is it likely that all the words mean what you think they mean?

   ˙        What sort of vocabulary do the words of the text generally come from?

   ˙        Were all the words and structures current at the time the text was written, or are
   some archaisms?

   ˙        Are the sentences generally of the same length and complexity?

   ˙        Is a very "literary" language used?

   

   SYMBOLIC QUESTIONS

   ˙        Do names in the text refer to unique, particular individuals, or are they
   representative, standing for general characters or character types?

   ˙        Are there any symbolic meanings of the places, weather, or events?

   ˙        Does the text relate a specific set of events, or does it function allegorically?

   ˙        Is the text` s title a key to its meaning?

   

   

   

   QUESTIONS OF CONVENTION

   ˙        Should the way you look at the text be guided by conventions about the sort of the
   text it is (e.g. satire, pantomime, sitcom)?

   ˙        How realisitc do you expect the text to be? Is it appropriate to ask such a question
   of the text?

   

   QUESTIONS OF REPRESENTATION

   ˙        Is the text typical  of the theme it represents, or significantly different from
   other texts on similar topics?

   ˙        Does the text create images of race, women, industry, money or other socially centred
   themes? If so, are these images problematic? Why?