recognizing themes in a story isn't pretentious academic high brow nonsense it's literally basic reading level competency kids understand Aesop stories just fine but I worry for some adults who will inevitably over-analyze if foxes don't, in fact, eat grapes as their default diet

usually critically analyzing if a story was badly made or doesn't make sense, you analyze it like an essay Did the story accomplish its thesis? How were the supporting arguments, were they cheap or well explained or distracting? Did it 100p negate its own premise? Do I agree with its perspective?