Core Concept Definitions & Related Questions

Identity: an author’s identity shapes (but does not necessarily determine) the perspectives, voices,
and characters in a literary work, just as we bring our own understandings, shaped by our identity, to
reading literature
● To what extent is a text an expression of a writer’s identity? Do readers like characters who are
thinly veiled versions of themselves?

Culture: literary texts are the product of particular cultural/literary traditions and contexts, but
they also express and shape the values and beliefs of society
● To what extent is a text a product of culture or tradition? How do texts and literary works
express the values and beliefs of a society?

Creativity: the act of writing is an act of imagination (conjuring up worlds, characters, stories,
etc.), but creativity is also important for readers who must use their imaginations to generate a range of
potential meanings from literary works (good writers show, they don’t tell)
● How do writers make creative choices to construct meaning? Where does creativity come
from?

Communication: writers make choices (of style, structure, word choice, etc.) to help them
communicate their ideas, messages, etc. to particular groups of readers
● How do writers ‘speak’ to readers through texts? To what extent is a text a vehicle for
communicating a writer’s message? Can we ever really be certain of an artist’s intent?

Perspective: literary texts offer us new perspectives on life, for example through particular
characters, or an impactful narrator
● How can a character give us a window into a world? How do narrative techniques shape the
reader’s understanding of a story?

Transformation: literary texts appropriate elements from each other and transform them to suit
a different aesthetic or communicative purpose, but individual readers are also able to “transform” a
text with their own interpretations
● How can the reading of a text be transformative for the reader? How can words change the
world?

Representation: literary texts have a relationship to reality, and can be more or less “realistic”
depending on the aims of the writer
● Can fiction represent reality? How are characters ‘fair’ representations of people?