The College Board lists the following as skill students should develop through reading and thinking about a longer prose work:

Identify and describe what specific textual details reveal about a character, that character's perspective, and that character's motivation.
Explain the function of a character changing or remaining unchanged.
Identify and describe specific textual details that convey or reveal a sense of setting.
Explain the function of a significant event or related set of significant events in a plot.
Explain the function of conflict in a plot.
Literary argumentation:
- develop a paragraph that includes 1) a claim that requires defense with evidence from the text and 2) the evidence itself.
- develop a thesis statement that conveys a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and that may establish a line of reasoning.
- develop commentary that establishes and explains relationships among textual evidence, the line of reasoning, and the thesis.
- select and use relevant and sufficient evidence to both develop and support a line of reasoning.
- demonstrate control over the elements of composition to communicate clearly.