TheLiteraryClub

Literature Discussion Topics

What was your reading experience?; What did the author say?; What did the author mean?; How true is it?; Was it worth saying?
Title: What was the significance of the title?; What does it mean?; Was there a double meaning?
Epigraph: Often a book begins with a quotation that sets forth the theme or tone of the book.; Epigraph may appear before the title page.; What did the epigraph set forth?
Characters: Were the characters believable?; Which characters did you like, hate or admire?; Were the characters exercising their free will or were they being acted upon by Fate?; Who was the narrator of the story?; Is the story told in the present or the past?
Motivation: What was the motivation of the author?; What are the most important relationships in the book?; What are the most important events and milestones in those relationships?
Plot: Was the plot believable?; Was the resolution believable and satisfying?; What are the main confrontations, conflicts or tensions of the plot?; Was the setting important to the plot and/or characters?; What was the effect of the location on the characters' choices and attitudes?; Does the setting function almost as a character in the book or is it relatively unimportant?
Writing Style: What sort of imagery and language does the author use?; Is the story told in chronological order or through flashbacks?; Did the author use foreshadowing of certain scenes early in the book that are later developed?; Was the language stark, verbose, flowery or straight-foreword?; Were there many descriptions of the setting?; Was there anything strikingly different about this author's writing style?
Framing Scenes: How does the book open?; How does the book end?; Were these scenes effective?
Themes: What is the book about? (As opposed to the plot, which is "what happens" in the book); What is the main idea that drives the action and the characters?
Flaws: Did the book have problems?; What were they?; What changes could be made to make an even more effective book?

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