Analyzing Literary Text: Historical Context

Question 1

What is historical context?

Answer 1

the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions that characterize a specific time and place

Question 2

Why is it important when analyzing a literary text from an earlier period, to consider the historical context in which it was written?

Answer 2

What seems odd from today’s perspective may have been commonplace when the piece was written. Understanding the historical context—including social, political, economic, and cultural conditions—can help you better understand the form, style, and point of view of the text and the motivations and actions of the characters.

Question 3

What is satirize?

Answer 3

to use humor, irony, or exaggeration to ridicule human nature or society

Question 4

What is social custom?

Answer 4

an accepted or expected pattern of behavior that is considered characteristic of a particular culture or society

Question 5

The following are steps for analyzing the influence of historical context on a text:

Answer 5

• Determine when and where the text was written and by whom.
• Read the text, looking for references to events or social customs.
• If you are unfamiliar with any events or social customs described in the text, research the topics.
• Note the author’s and the characters’ attitudes toward the events or social customs and the consequences for the plot.
• Use what you discover to analyze the impact of historical context on the text.

Question 6

Have you ever told someone they are “on the ball”? You do not mean they are standing on a ball. Instead, you mean they are doing a good job. “On the ball” is a what?

Answer 6

an idiom

Question 7

What is an idiom?

Answer 7

a widely used and understood expression that has a figurative meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the individual words; In an idiom, the phrase means something different than the literal meaning of the individual words.

Question 8

Idioms are a type of what?

Answer 8

figurative language

Question 9

What is figurative language?

Answer 9

a way of expressing information in nonliteral ways using figures of speech

Question 10

Writers use figurative language to do what?

Answer 10

Writers use figurative language to create pictures in a reader’s mind, make their writing more memorable, and provide deeper meanings.

Question 11

What is a simile

Answer 11

a figure of speech that compares two unlike things by saying something is like something else

Question 12

What is a metaphor?

Answer 12

a figure of speech that compares two unlike things by saying something is something else

Question 13

What is personification?

Answer 13

giving human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects, ideas, or forces of nature

Question 14

What is a hyperbole?

Answer 14

intentional exaggeration

Question 15

What is theme?

Answer 15

a central, unifying idea an author is trying to convey in a piece of literature

Question 16

What does cultural values mean?

Answer 16

the core practices and beliefs that are considered right, good, and just in a society

Question 17

What is a custom?

Answer 17

a traditional or widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a culture or group