“The QPA” – Quick Passage Analysis

(One Probing Question and Four Sentence Analysis)

Guideline for setting up your QPA:

1. Topic question which examines the author’s use of a literary device.

-How does the author’s use of ___________ contribute to the overall message?
-How does the author’s use of ___________ provide a deeper meaning for the reader?
-How does the author use __________ to explain ________________?

2. Sentence with evidence from the text.

-pull exact words and phrases from the text to help support your analysis

3. Sentence of analysis of your evidence.

-The use of ____________ creates an idea that…
-The author describes this in this way so that …

4. Sentence which explains how the device works for the reader.
-The use of ___________ helps readers to understand that….
-The use of ___________ teaches readers that…
-This use of __________ could lead readers to believe…
-This idea is important because …

5. Statement of theme. (the overall idea itself, a statement of truth about the text)
-In this story __________________ displays _______________________.
-In this story the use of __________________ expresses the idea that __________________.
-In this work of fiction, the author’s use of ____________________ shows that ______________.

Example QPA from the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison:

How does the author utilize motifs in the story to further develop Sethe’s identity as a mother? The
recurring motif throughout the novel of her “mother’s milk” drives deeper into Sethe’s ongoing struggle of
motherhood; the juxtaposition of mentioning “mother’s milk” just before “the blood of her sister” gives the two
unlike phrases a place where they work together to portray her inner wrestling with motherhood. The contrast
between the mother’s milk and the blood of her sister creates an idea that the “blood of her sister” came from the
same motherly instinct that the “mother’s milk” came from. The phrase “knife clean” could lead the reader to
believe that Sethe’s thoughts were morally right; however her actions may have seemed brutal. In this part of the
book, Sethe’s contrasting instincts as a mother display her discomfort in her parenting role.