Heart Lake by Rudrapriya Rathora

This is the link for story: https://joylandmagazine.com/fiction/heart-lake/ "Heart Lake" by Rudrapriya Rathora. As you read this story, consider what ideas the author is trying to explore, what meaning she is creating. Is this a story about survival (in the tradition of Canadian literature?) Are there any other issues or topics that are being explored? Any messages about those topics the writer is trying to convey?

PLOT

 

1. How would you describe the conflict that develops?

2. What is the climax or turning point of the story?

3. Is the conflict resolved?  If so, how is it resolved

 

 

NARRATION

 

1. Is the story narrated in the present tense or past tense?  Does this affect your reading?

2. Is the narrator’s vocabulary or tone distinctive?  Or is the narrator’s language standard?

3. Is the narrator omniscient, objective, or unreliable?  How do you know this?  (Consider as a reader: do you know what every character is thinking?  Do you perceive the story in the same way as the narrator and/or the character

 

 

CHARACTER

 

1. How would you describe the protagonist(s)?  What motivates them?  What their  conflict?

2. Which details and moments reveal the most about this character?

3. Which of the characters do we, as readers, sympathize with?

4. Does our view of any characters change through the story as a result of the events of their actions?

 

SETTING

 

1. How significant is the setting in relation to understanding the story?

2. Does the setting create or shape conflict?

3. Does the setting affect characters’ personalities and/or actions?

 

 

SYMBOLISM AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

 

1. Are there any details that appear to have exceptional significance?  Look for names, repeated actions/statements, strange places, allusions or other figures of speech.

2. Consider your claims about the symbol or figurative language and cite 3 passages from the story that will help your reader understand the symbol’s significance.

 

THEME

 

1. Does the title suggest a central topic(s) or a clue to the theme?

2. Are there any recurring images, especially those that hint at abstract concepts (love, honour, etc.)?

3. Does a character change over the course of the story?  If so, what truth or insight does he or she appear to discover?  

 

 

COMMON PERSPECTIVE:

 

1. Are there any common elements between two or more stories, from those we have read so far?