I'm doing an analysis on a class text and a self chosen related text and one of the things the sheet says to do is to identify and define the context of my related text. What does this mean?

Answer 1

The word "context" has a whole bunch of meanings, but they are not always clear and easily understandable. The first answer on this message board seems to be the best and most complete. (Don't bother reading the following ones!)

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/general-language-discussions/15388-just-how-would-you-define-context.html

I would say you should look at the publication dates for each text you are using and then work on finding what different things were going on in society at those particular publication dates and places.