Analyze the Impact of the Author's Choices Regarding How to Develop and Relate Elements of a Story or Drama

For as long as stories have existed, audiences have wondered why a tale grips them or leaves them cold. The answer almost always traces back to the author's choices—the deliberate decisions a writer makes about which characters to create, how to structure events, where to set the action, and from whose perspective the story unfolds. Literary scholars have spent centuries developing frameworks for understanding these choices, and the resulting tradition gives us powerful tools to read more deeply and think more critically about any text we encounter.

Throughout this long literary history, one question remains central: Why did the author make this specific choice, and how does it shape the reader's experience? This lesson will equip you with the vocabulary, frameworks, and practice to answer that question with precision and confidence.

When we talk about analyzing author's choices, we are examining how a writer selects and arranges the fundamental building blocks of fiction or drama. These building blocks—character, setting, plot structure, and point of view—do not exist in isolation. An author's power lies in how these elements interact and reinforce each other to produce a unified effect on the reader.

The diagram below illustrates how the four major elements of a story or drama—character, setting, plot, and point of view—all radiate from the author's central purpose and connect to one another through specific craft decisions. Notice that arrows flow in multiple directions: setting influences character, character drives plot, and point of view filters all of it for the reader.

As you study a text, trace these connections. Ask yourself: did the author choose a first-person narrator because limiting the reader's knowledge increases suspense in the plot? Did the author place the story in a war zone because the setting forces the protagonist to change? These causal questions move you beyond simple identification into genuine analysis of impact.

Character Development Choices

Authors decide when to reveal key information about a character, and that timing profoundly affects the reader. Consider a protagonist whose traumatic backstory is withheld until the final chapter versus one whose backstory is disclosed on the first page. In the first case, the author creates a revelation effect—the reader must reinterpret everything they've read. In the second case, the author builds dramatic irony, allowing the reader to understand the character's actions from the start while other characters remain unaware.

Setting as an Active Force

Setting is far more than a stage. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the contrast between East Egg and West Egg is not mere geography—it embodies the social stratification that defines every character relationship. An author chooses setting details to externalize internal conflicts. A crumbling mansion might mirror a family's decline; a pristine suburban neighborhood might mask hidden dysfunction. When you analyze setting, look for how the physical world of the story reflects or contrasts with the emotional world of the characters.

Plot Arrangement & Pacing

Authors choose between chronological order and non-linear structures for strategic reasons. A flashback at a story's midpoint can recontextualize the protagonist's motivations. A frame narrative—a story within a story—can add layers of perspective. Meanwhile, pacing controls the reader's emotional rhythm: long descriptive passages slow the reader down, forcing reflection, while short, clipped sentences during an action scene accelerate the heartbeat. The key analytical question is always: what effect does this structural choice produce?

Point of View & Reliability

Point of view is arguably the most consequential choice an author makes because it determines the reader's entire relationship with the story. A first-person narrator creates intimacy and immediacy but limits the reader to one character's perceptions and biases. A third-person omniscient narrator can move between characters' minds, offering a godlike view that allows the author to build irony and juxtapose perspectives. An unreliable narrator—one whose account the reader has reason to doubt—transforms the reading experience into a detective game, forcing the audience to sift truth from distortion.

To analyze effectively, you need a clear vocabulary for the types of choices authors make and the effects those choices produce. The diagram below organizes common authorial choices by element and maps them to their typical effects on the reader. Use it as a reference when writing analytical essays.

Let's walk through a full analysis of authorial choice using F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. We will identify a specific choice, consider the alternative, and explain the impact on meaning and reader experience.

Like any analytical skill, analyzing authorial choices has powerful strengths but also common pitfalls that students should be aware of. The table below contrasts effective analytical moves with frequent mistakes, so you can refine your own practice.

The skill of analyzing authorial choices is the foundation for more advanced critical approaches you'll encounter in AP Literature, college seminars, and beyond. The table below shows how this core skill connects to broader schools of literary theory.

You don't need to master these advanced theories right now, but recognizing their existence helps you see that the analytical skill you're building in this lesson—asking why did the author choose this, and what is its effect?—is the starting point for every form of serious literary scholarship. The more precisely you can articulate the relationship between choice and impact, the stronger your foundation for whatever critical approach you choose to pursue.