In addition to the literary text itself, be sure to consider:

• Literary approach or theory that you'll use in your analysis
• Background context of both events in the work and when it was created
• Information about the creator
• Thoughts from other scholars (best to consult once you've created your own initial thoughts on a work)

The following are some things to keep in mind when reading a literary text:

• A text has more than one meaning and these meanings can grow over time as the text is considered from different perspectives
• The text of the work is one of the main sources for generating possible meanings of the work, and the wording used and feelings invoked may or may not be intentional
• There are innumerable, overlapping contexts surrounding a text that help inform and create different meanings. These contexts include: the historical context, cultural context, religious context, political context, reader response, process of publication and distribution, history of subject matter, etc.
• Form, such as literary devices, shapes meanings and readers' experiences with the text and is just as important as what is written
• Actively reading (asking questions, making connections) a text is making meaning in and of itself

This list are just a few of the points made in the article "Threshold Concepts in Literary Studies" by Paul T. Corrigan (2019) where Corrigan discusses moving from the commonsense understanding of looking at literary text into the disciplinary understanding.