An intertextual topic or question might best be approached by a statement like “Narratives techniques provide a conceptual framework for comparing individual literary works to others, within and across genres”
• If your essay topic specifies a discussion of techniques, conventions, elements of construction and reader response you could say - “An authors’ manipulation and control of narrative techniques/ conventions is used to guide readers to an intended response” - “All texts are constructed to invite a certain response from the reader” - “Reader’s are positioned to identify with characters which the author presents favourably” - “The construction of a text is intrinsically linked to the meanings we make of