Asking the Right Questions

What does it mean to ask the“right”questions?—is probably your question at the moment. Specifically, we are discussing the fundamental building blocks of any piece of writing:its logical progression, or, as you may call it in works of fiction, the plot; its main argument, or the theme; the issues with which it deals, or, in fiction, the characters; and finally, its context or setting.

Any piece of writing will probably include at least some of these factors, but how they take shape depends on the writer' s choices. For example, in the Dostoyevsky passage we saw that the plot was the discussion between Ivan and Alyosha, who were the characters; the theme under discussion was Jesus' choice to give humanity free will.

Many times students will say that they have no idea what they are reading. My suggestion to those students is to ask themselves these questions, the same ones that English teachers talk about in English class—who, what, when, where, why? Cliché as it may be, these questions are the so-called“right”ones—the ones that form the basis of any reasonable analysis of a piece of writing. At the very least, for the entirely addled students who look at an essay piece and have no idea where to begin, these questions serve as a valuable starting point from which they can collect the metaphorical $200 and“Go”. It is mostly the case that SAT essay topics will inform students of any piece's background and context, for example, so those without too much background knowledge will at least have some sense of context.

If we refer back to Bogard' s piece at the very beginning of this book, when we looked at the sample SAT essay prompt, you will see that Bogard uses himself as a“character”in the development of his argument. And why is this? Why does Bogard introduce his personal experience to the reader? Answer that question—or rather, that sequence of questions, starting from who, then what, and finally progressing to why—and you will form the basis of the essay you write on Bogard. Each question, you will find, has deeper levels until you finally get to the core of the problem. Why, for example, did Harry Potter' s parents have to die? Why did Dumbledore say Harry was stronger than Voldemort? Obviously, we won't look at Harry Potter in too much depth in this book, but it is quite evident that there are universal questions budding writers can ask of any work they may encounter. Then, those questions, as they delve deeper and deeper, provide evidence for your essay. For example, Harry's parents died to save him in demonstrating their love for their son. The motif of“love”then becomes a central idea of the entire series, and is ultimately what Harry has that Voldemort does not. Love made Harry stronger, and that is a theme that carries throughout the whole series.

Other texts may not be so simple to understand. Sometimes it may be difficult to separate the author' s opinions from those of the characters. This is why scholars treat Plato and Socrates as having essentially the same ideas; the only modern understanding of Socrates comes from how Plato represented Socrates in his dialogues, and so the author(Plato)and the character(Socrates)share identical worldviews. Similarly, in a more recent example, one on which we've already touched, where do the views of Ivan Karamazov stop and the views of Fyodor Dostoyevsky begin? Is Dostoyevsky promoting Ivan' s pessimistic worldview by devoting such a large portion of text to it? Or does he simply set it up, creating circumstances later in the novel only to demolish them later?

One way of understanding this distinction is to observe the story with a larger lens.For example, Edmund in King Lear is somewhat“victorious”by the play' s end in that he has beaten the French, usurped his brother's rightful inheritance, and holds absolute power, despite the skullduggery and deception Edmund employed to reach his lofty position. In fact, Edmund lies dying even as he is at the height of his power. So while it may be true that Edmund gained temporary power thanks to his betrayal of his father and brother and subsequent ruthlessness, there is an argument that can be made here regarding the permanence of such power, and the satisfaction such power brings. Realistically—although it may be four hundred years too late to surmise Shakespeare' s intention—we can argue that Shakespeare depicts Edmund as temporarily successful due to his short-sighted ruthlessness, but that same ruthless did not bring Edmund lasting success or contentment. Therefore, instead of looking at King Lear as a play that glorifies Machiavellian power politics, a critical reader might see the play as giving readers an objective analysis of the consequences of such cold-hearted, remorseless behavior. Beyond the literature itself, even more advanced levels of critique might consider the context and historical situation in which this play first appeared. But that is something to consider for background reading texts—not necessarily something for an SAT essay writer to worry about.

Even in nonfiction texts, as will generally be the case on SAT essays, authors make similar declarations—and often in a much more straightforward manner. Academic papers (which, admittedly, will probably be rare on the SAT), speeches, newspapers, and opinion pieces very rapidly make their main points known. Sometimes, if you have access to the title of the work, you may be able to glean some understanding of the author' s message based on that alone. End This Depression Now! by Paul Krugman is an excellent example; in the book, Krugman calls for expansionary economic policies to combat what he perceives to be an economic problem. Bismarck:A Life by Jonathan Steinberg is also an example where the title immediately informs the reader as to the purpose of the text; that book is a detailed biography of the life of Otto von Bismarck just as the title suggests. Speeches may not, however, be so direct; without any historical context, it would be difficult for anyone to guess what Ronald Reagan's Berlin Wall Speech was about. Similarly, newspaper articles have titles that often ignore certain words, which may be difficult to understand at first, but their concision quickly mends that issue. If you do have trouble with speeches or articles, however, you will almost certainly divine their main messages from the first few paragraphs of each. After that, after you' ve established a solid foothold on the contents, you will understand which questions to ask.

Does John Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money discuss average transit times on Line 5 of the Paris Metro?—this would be an example of a question you'd refrain from asking, because it has nothing to do with the book's title. Why does President Reagan call on General Secretary Gorbachev to meet him in Berlin?—would be a question you might ask after reading the text of the Berlin Wall speech, because of its relation to the topic of the passage. There is quite an evident difference, as you can see.

There must be a general form for these questions, you ask. And of course there is. However, it may be in a form you' ve long outgrown because of how simple they are. Perhaps some students do not absorb the lessons they learn in school too easily or too well, and so the basic questions about a text escape their memories. But these basic questions, as we' ve seen over and over again, are really the foundation of the essay you write. How can you discuss what literary device an author uses to develop an idea if you have no idea what the idea is? It is absolutely imperative that you learn to use this very basic analysis before moving on to more advanced techniques. Otherwise, whatever you learn after this will be for naught. So always remember—ask yourself the basic questions.

●Who is writing this piece? Who is involved in it?

●What is the message? What is happening?

●Where is the action taking place? In other words, what is the context of the passage?

●When is the action taking place? In literature, time—again a part of context—can reflect a significant part of a piece' s meaning.

●Why is the writer choosing to write in this or that fashion? What sort of message is he trying to convey through his literary choices?

It isn' t very complicated, because that' s not the objective. The objective is to be able to ask the right questions, such that you can arrive at what you believe to the right answers regarding how an author writes a piece or develops his argument. And, as long as you practice, that goal will very much be in sight.

For example, let' s take one of my favorite books—Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Right from the outset, you see an interesting title:it is a portmanteau of freak and economics. That may lead you to think the book is about a freaky or unorthodox approach to economics. If it did, you are on the right track; I do recommend the book for those who are interested. And in fact, it is a book that deals with unorthodoxy but perhaps not in the same sense you may have first imagined. The book uses a statistical, empirical approach, informed by best practices in economics, to look at social issues as diverse as crime, apathy, and climate change—and reach very surprising conclusions.

But before we go further with those questions, you may have already thought of some answers to those questions in your own way. While that' s an excellent approach, there is a language for us to sufficiently describe how authors write. Perhaps not“language”—that may go too far—but English, like any other field, has its jargon. And in English, especially in writing and literature studies, that lexicon comprises“literary devices”—tools writers use to develop meaning and insight in their works. You may have noticed that there is a frame story within the narrative of the Grand Inquisitor—namely, that the Grand Inquisitor episode itself is a frame story, and Ivan and Alyosha's discussion is the framing story that wraps around it. This is one example of a literary device.

And we do need these things; we would not have a way of talking about language without them. In fact, they are the crux of any analytical essay on literature. Every device can achieve a different effect depending on the context in which it appears. As a reader, you will improve your skills by being able to recognize them wherever they appear. That will help you increase the depth of your reading ability. Ultimately, knowing your literary devices will help you build stronger arguments around which you will write your essay. Why, for example, does Satan offer Jesus bread of all things? Bread is incredibly boring on its own, without any flavor—and this was in the 1st century AD, so it was likely even worse. Rather, aside from the purely alimentary nature of the bread, Jesus and Satan both view bread as a source of life. Bread then, like it is now, was a staple food, and Jesus, having wandered the wilderness for forty days, needed some sustenance because he was going hungry. The author, through the characters of Jesus and Satan, treats the bread as a metaphor for the nourishing tendency of God. And in rejecting Satan' s offer, Jesus rejected Satan' s assuming the power of God. It is a powerful message one might not understand simply by reading the words alone. Would you have known what questions to ask if you wanted to uncover that deeper meaning?

So, remember that the most essential part of literary analysis is asking the right questions. Then you can answer those questions by scouring the text for details. You may not know what to call a certain phenomenon. But you can identify patterns in the text that you know have some significance. We can give names to those phenomena in the next section, where we'll look at some common literary devices in detail, and where I' ll provide definitions and examples of each. But don' t think of them as purposes in themselves. Writers refer to these devices to emphasize a deeper point, rather than simply using onomatopoeia for the sake of using onomatopoeia. I will make this point clearer as you read more and more texts—you will see, if you haven' t already, that every writer has a message. Using literary devices is their way of making that message stronger or more resonant with the reader, rather than a direct, unsophisticated message along the lines of WAR IS BAD or CLIMATE CHANGE IS BAD or LOVE IS GOOD. Not, of course, that being direct is necessarily a bad thing either—but if that were the extent of human writing, then you probably wouldn' t need to read a book on how to write an essay anyway.

And so, rest assured that you will certainly develop your skills—but that relies on your knowing where to look for the answers you seek. Essay markers, in fact, look at your reading and analysis skills with regard to your writing the essay. Your writing, even though it encapsulates your thoughts and ideas, only counts for a third of your essay score. Your thoughts and their complexity count for two-thirds—as they should. That is why such a large portion of this book is devoted to reading and analysis. After all, knowing how to think about literature is a skill that will help you far beyond a test that is, in the context of your entire life—rather insignificant. Perhaps it is not the best place to leave such a note, but I do hope you will take something more from this book than simply how to get a 12 on your SAT essay. Asking the right questions is not merely an aspect of literary analysis, but also critical thinking in general. That is a skill you will use throughout your life. But with that said, let' s get back to literary analysis.

We will look at literary devices even more. In fact, we'll look at them in the very next section! There, you'll encounter a list of literary devices; may you memorize them well.