1. When I think about the things that probably influence my attitudes toward what I read, they mainly are

my immediate friends and family.

a host of factors such as my gender, class, nationality, training, background.

my individual thoughts and feelings alone.

 
2. In order for me to identify with a character or narrator, that person has to be pretty much like me in gender, age, race and nationality.

Yes, that is true.

No, I enjoy identifying with characters who are not at all like me.

Not all of these factors are important, but if the person does not match me at all, I would not relate well.

3. If I don't know differently, I will assume a work is written by a contemporary white European male.

I probably would not think about it enough to assume anything.

I will try to spot clues in the writer's point of view that would indicate the writer's gender, background or life style.

Sure, because those are best the odds, right?

 4. I know such things as African American, Native American, or Gay Literature exist and I --?-- seek out these works to read. (What word fills in the blank for you?)

Sometimes

Never

Often

5. I enjoy it when reading a work asks me to see some of my assumptions about the way the world works as actually cultural preferences or even biases.

Yes

It depends on the "assumption."

No

  6. All good literature affirms universal values (like love) that are the same the world over.

Yes

Maybe. I am not sure since I do not know about all the world's values.

No

 7. Sometimes when I read a story about a man and a woman told from the male point of view, I will reverse the narration in my head and ask what would this be like if a woman told this story.

If the story seemed unfair in some way, I might do that.

Yes, shifting points of view can reveal some of the assumptions about people that are part of the story's repertoire.

No I would not do that for the story is what it is and has its own meaning as a work of art to be understood.

8. Even though the work might not mention race or class or gender or sexual orientation in an explicit way, I think these factors still affect how elements such as the plot, characterization, or tone, for example, are constructed.

Maybe

Yes, definitely

If the work does not mention these things, they are not relevant.

9. As I read a play or poem or novel, I sometimes think how I would respond if I lived in a different time or culture, or if I were different gender or a different race or nationality.

Yes, it makes sense to me to say I usually read "like a man" or "like a woman" so I sometimes resist that way in favor of another.

I think people are people and we all respond pretty much alike so I don't see the point in thinking about it.

I am what I am and can't change how I respond.

10. It seems pretty clear that some types of literature are better than others (poetry for example is more elevated than prose) and that well-educated people with class and taste know how to appreciate these types while less educated people tend to read less refined things, and hardly ever poetry.

I think people read pretty much what they want to read no matter how educated they are.

This is essentially what I was taught, but I am a skeptic about anyone really liking poetry as a rule.

This is one of many cultural beliefs about literature, but it is not so. If one looks, one will find poetry everywhere and appreciated by all types of people.