Thematic exegesis of a text

 Here is a list of 100 command prompts for performing a rigorous thematic exegesis of a text, categorized by the analytical workflow.

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1. Preparation & Contextual Grounding

1. Define the precise boundaries of the text (pericope) to be analyzed.

2. Analyze the historical and cultural context (Sitz im Leben or "setting in life") of the text's origin.

3. Investigate the author's biography, known worldview, and typical concerns.

4. Identify the text's original intended audience and its potential purpose (e.g., didactic, polemical, entertainment).

5. Determine the text's genre (e.g., epistle, tragedy, parable) and list its formal conventions.

6. Establish the text's place within a larger canon or the author's complete body of work (oeuvre).

7. Survey the history of the text's interpretation (reception history) to identify traditional thematic readings.

8. Define the etymology and semantic range of the text's original key terms (e.g., Greek *agápē*, Hebrew *ḥesed*).

9. Compare multiple translations of the text to spot variations in thematic emphasis.

10. Identify any source texts or traditions (e.g., mythological, philosophical, biblical) the text is in dialogue with.

11. Formulate the central "problem" or "question" the text appears to be addressing.

12. Analyze the text's structure at a macro level (e.g., chiasmus, sonata form, five-act structure).

13. Note your own pre-suppositions or biases regarding the text and its subject matter.

14. Perform a structural analysis to identify the text's major sections and turning points.

15. Identify the text's "telos" (its apparent goal, purpose, or intended end).

2. Initial Observation & Topic Identification

16. Catalog all recurring abstract concepts (e.g., "justice," "faith," "power," "nature").

17. Identify and list all recurring concrete images, objects, or symbols (motifs).

18. Trace all lexical chains (groups of related words, e.g., "blood," "wound," "death").

19. Map the central conflicts (e.g., Character vs. Self, Character vs. Society, Idea vs. Idea).

20. Distinguish between a 'topic' (a subject, e.g., "war") and a 'theme' (a statement about it, e.g., "war is dehumanizing").

21. Formulate a preliminary hypothesis for the text's primary theme.

22. Note the text's beginning and ending to analyze its thematic "framing."

23. Identify moments of heightened rhetorical emphasis (e.g., repetition, intense imagery, direct address).

24. List all explicit "truth statements" or philosophical declarations made by the narrator or characters.

25. Identify the primary "value systems" presented in the text (e.g., religious, secular, hedonistic).

26. Analyze the title of the text and its relationship to the whole.

27. Isolate any paradoxes or apparent contradictions in the text.

28. List the key questions the text forces the reader to ask.

29. Identify the dominant emotions or "moods" (e.g., somber, ironic, joyful) evoked by the text.

30. Highlight any passages that are particularly dense, difficult, or ambiguous.

3. Detailed Tracing & Development

31. Trace the development of [specific theme] from its first appearance to its final resolution.

32. Map the "semantic domain" of the theme (all words and concepts related to it).

33. Analyze how the theme is introduced, complicated, challenged, and ultimately resolved (or left unresolved).

34. Document every passage where the theme is explicitly stated or defined.

35. Document every passage where the theme is implicitly suggested (e.g., through action, symbol, or metaphor).

36. Analyze how the protagonist's journey embodies or tests the central theme.

37. Analyze how the antagonist or a "foil" character represents a counter-theme or a corruption of the theme.

38. Compare how two different characters interact with the same theme (e.g., one embraces it, one rejects it).

39. Analyze how the main plot serves as a vehicle for the theme.

40. Analyze how a specific subplot reinforces, contrasts with, or complicates the main theme.

41. Identify the 'turning point' or climax and analyze its thematic significance.

42. Examine how the theme is developed in moments of dialogue versus moments of narration.

43. Investigate how the resolution of the main conflict delivers the final statement on the theme.

44. Explore how the theme is expressed differently in the text's "public" scenes versus its "private" scenes.

45. Analyze the "voice" of the theme: who in the text speaks for it? Is that voice reliable?

4. Structural & Stylistic Analysis

46. Analyze how the text's narrative structure (e.g., linear, fragmented, cyclical) serves the theme.

47. Investigate the Point of View (e.g., first-person, third-person omniscient) and its effect on the theme's presentation.

48. Analyze the narrator's reliability and its impact on the credibility of the theme.

49. Examine the text's tone (e.g., ironic, satirical, earnest) and its relationship to the theme.

50. Deconstruct a key metaphor and explain its role in building the theme.

51. Analyze the patterns of imagery (e.g., light/dark, nature/city) that support the theme.

52. Identify a central symbol and analyze its layers of meaning (denotation and connotation).

53. Analyze the use of allegory, where characters or events represent abstract concepts.

54. Identify all major allusions (biblical, mythological, historical) and connect them to the theme. 5Example of an allusion

55. Analyze the text's use of irony (dramatic, situational, verbal) to convey a subversive or complex theme.

56. Examine how the physical setting or "world-building" symbolizes the theme.

57. Analyze the text's "negative space": what is left unsaid or omitted about the theme?

58. Examine sentence structure (syntax): do long, complex sentences or short, simple ones deliver the theme?

59. Analyze the text's diction: is the language simple/complex, formal/informal, concrete/abstract?

60. Investigate the use of sound and rhythm (e.g., alliteration, consonance) in thematically-charged passages.

61. Deconstruct a key paradox and explain how it functions as the "knot" of the theme.

62. Analyze how the text's form (e.g., a sonnet's structure, a play's act breaks) paces the theme's revelation.

63. Find a moment where the text's style (the "how") and its content (the "what") merge perfectly.

64. Find a moment where the text's style seems to *contradict* its stated content, and analyze the thematic reason.

65. Analyze how the theme is revealed through repetition and variation.

5. Intertextual & Comparative Analysis

66. Compare the text's treatment of [theme] with another text by the same author.

67. Contrast the text's treatment of [theme] with a contemporary text from a different author.

68. Contrast the text's treatment of [theme] with a text from a different historical period.

69. Analyze how this theme fits into the author's broader body of work (oeuvre).

70. Investigate the philosophical, theological, or political ideas that inform the text's theme.

71. Place the text in dialogue with a text from its source tradition (e.g., analyze a New Testament parable against its Old Testament parallel).

72. Analyze how a specific literary or critical theory (e.g., Feminist, Marxist, Post-colonial) illuminates or challenges the theme.

73. Compare the text's "root metaphor" for the theme with another text's (e.g., "love is a journey" vs. "love is a war").

74. Analyze how an adaptation (e.g., a film) of the text interprets, alters, or omits the central theme.

75. Find a direct "intertextual echo" or quotation and analyze its thematic purpose.

76. Trace the "genealogy" of the theme: where did this idea come from before the author used it?

77. Compare the "explicit theme" (what the text says) with the "implicit theme" (what the text does).

78. Analyze how the text's theme responds to a specific historical event or social problem.

79. Identify the "thematic cluster" (other themes that are inseparable from the main one).

80. Challenge the text's theme: what are its unstated assumptions or logical fallacies?

6. Synthesis & Interpretation

81. Synthesize all findings into a single, concise, and arguable thematic statement.

82. Differentiate between the text's 'intended' meaning (exegesis) and its 'significance' to a modern audience (hermeneutics).

83. Formulate the central paradox or unresolved tension within the theme.

84. Construct an argument for the 'hierarchy' of themes: which one is dominant and which are subordinate?

85. Evaluate the text's internal consistency in presenting the theme.

86. Address any counter-evidence or "problem passages" that seem to contradict the proposed theme.

87. Define the "function" of the theme: is it to console, to critique, to challenge, or to explain?

88. Articulate the text's "ethical argument" or moral vision related to the theme.

89. Explain *why* this theme was important to the author and the original audience.

90. Translate the theme into a universal human question.

91. Determine if the text's theme is descriptive (describing "what is") or prescriptive (proposing "what should be").

92. Identify the "cost" of the theme: what is sacrificed by characters who follow it?

93. Identify the "reward" of the theme: what is gained by characters who follow it?

94. Analyze the "shadow side" of the theme (e.g., how can "justice" become "vengeance"?).

95. Evaluate the overall power, originality, and persuasiveness of the text's thematic argument.

96. Distill the final, "unpacked" meaning of the theme in a single paragraph. 9Example of a single paragraph

97. Propose a new title for the text that encapsulates its central theme.

98. Explain how your thematic analysis differs from traditional or common interpretations.

99. Formulate three "open questions" about the theme that the text leaves for the reader to answer.

100. Write a concise exegesis that leads a reader "out of" the text to understand its central theme.