Final answer:
The answer to the student's question is 'a) Culture,' which refers to the set of beliefs and practices that characterize a people's way of life and is crucial for understanding literary texts in context.
Step-by-step explanation:
One important part of context that a literary critic can study is culture, or the set of beliefs and practices of a people. The correct answer to the student's question is a) Culture. Culture encompasses various aspects of a people's way of life, including beliefs, laws, customs, habits, language, and arts, which define them as a group. It is vital for rhetorical analysis and literary criticism to consider cultural context as it helps in understanding the values, norms, and rules that are recognized and enforced by a group, providing deeper insights into the text being studied.