Literary criticism in German follows a fixed register and analytical method that the Goethe-Zertifikat C1 and TestDaF exams expect when they ask you to comment on a short literary text or poem. The first step is always identifying the literary genre, die Gattung: is the text Prosa (a novel, short story, Novelle), Lyrik (poetry), or Drama (a play)? This classification is not a formality — each genre calls for different analytical tools: in narrative prose you analyze die Handlung (the plot) and the Erzählperspektive (narrative perspective); in poetry you analyze Strophen (stanzas), Reim (rhyme), and Metrum (meter); in drama you analyze Dialog and Regieanweisungen (stage directions).
After classification comes structural analysis: who narrates events, der Erzähler? Is the narrator a participant in the story (Ich-Erzähler) or an all-knowing external voice (auktorialer Erzähler)? What is the plot, die Handlung, and where is its climax, der Höhepunkt? Then comes symbolic reading: which metaphors (Metaphern) and symbols (Symbole) does the author use, and what recurring idea, das Motiv, ties the whole text together?
Here lies a point that often catches learners off guard: when narrating the events of a novel or story, German uses the historical present, Präsens historicum, even when the events are set in the past within the story itself. You say "Der Protagonist verliebt sich in..." rather than "verliebte sich," because a literary work is treated as present at every new reading. This strict rule trips up many advanced learners because they carry over the habit, common across many languages, of narrating past events in the past tense without a second thought.
In addition, you may be asked to situate a work in its historical context by knowing the major German literary periods — Aufklärung, Romantik, Realismus, Expressionismus, and others — and connecting an author to their era and intellectual current, much as one situates any writer within a period and movement. The difference is that the German exam expects specific names and dates, not a general impression.