Second Step to Analysis: Focusing the Reading on a Broad Theme

Now that you have an established method of annotation, it’s time to narrow into a specific theme that interests you. There are limitless themes that you can come across in a well-written novel so focusing on an important theme that interests you makes your job easier when you narrow down a question for later.

Broad topics that you will come across in Water Ghosts are identity, gender role shifts, history, hauntings, and more. You will notice as you read the novel that you will start to connect the dots and ask questions like what the author suggests by portraying a character in a certain way. I would recommend very carefully reading the first few chapters of the novel until you notice a strong pattern about which you feel you have a lot to say.

After that point, focus on the theme that interests you and mark specific facts from the novel that support an angle of the specific theme you choose because the novel is going to be your main source. I recommend using a bright color to annotate details and because you decided on your theme after you began the novel, be sure to return to annotate details you missed. Using a bright color helps you grab your attention when you return after finishing the novel for the rest of the literary research process.

After reading a few chapters in the novel, I chose the theme of gender role definition. This is a theme that I thought were very important to the structure of the novel and its true meaning. The beginning passages that I marked involving my theme were focused on defining what certain characters’ roles were in their community and household. Then the remaining annotations usually mark changes to the role that came with the arrival of the boat women. The next three posts are going to include observations involving these two themes focused on certain characters.