Using Critical Thinking To Write About Literature

For this assignment, we are using critical thinking questions to determine to what extent two stories meet the criteria of their genres as well as how they might compare and/or contrast. 

The first is a work of literary fiction. A story such as Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is an example of what is called “Literary Fiction.”  The second story we will use is “Return to Paradise” by Eliza Riley. (available in the attachment)  This story is an example of “Commercial Fiction,” here a sub-genre of “Romance Fiction.”

Using researched criteria for the two genres and critical thinking questions, discuss what makes one work “literary” and the other “commercial.”