WRITING AN ANALYSIS   LANG AND LIT

Write an analysis on one of the following texts. Include comments on the significance of context, audience, purpose, and formal and stylistic features.

: Before you begin your analysis, make sure you have memorized the list that follows. No, it is not that bad. Make an acronym that will make it easy for you to remember the headings on the list  Before you attempt to write your analysis , write down this list. WARNING: If you don’t list all these aspects before you start writing, your wild brain will be galloping off into the West and forget half of the headings, resulting in an incomplete effort

Read passage through at least three times, interacting with the passage as you go along – this means highlighting, scribbling notes, questions in the margins etc Look at your list: identify the aspects of the analysis passage that fit in with the headings Prepare a plan by deciding which elements of the passage you wish to deal with in detail and in which order

As you write, tick off on your list the aspects of writing you have dealt with so you know what still needs to be covered. In some cases, depending on the nature of the analysis, you may need to spend a full paragraph on one of the headings, in other cases you may be able to link three or four headings that relate to each other and deal with them more quickly. Style Setting Structure Syntax Irony Mood Impact

Always provide examples of the techniques employed by the author from the passage for each of the points you make. In brackets, quote the line numbers, which are always provided. Your opening paragraph should provide a brief overview of the contents of the passage. This will give you the starting point you need.

An analysis is not a garage inventory of spare parts An analysis is not a garage inventory of spare parts. You cannot just list all the techniques in a mechanical way and expect to produce a piece of fluent, sophisticated writing, just as a jumble of car parts does not make a motor car

You must assemble all the parts that make up the analysis together in the right place to produce a smooth, sophisticated, elegant synthesized piece of prose  Refer to the passage as: “the passage”, “the extract”,” the text” – definitely not as “the story” Avoid the formulaic response – eg. Starting each paragraph with : “In this passage” or phrases like: “we see in paragraph 3”. An analysis should be a fluent, lively and rigorous analysis of an extract of an author’s work, demonstrating that you understand the techniques available to authors

The big implicit question to answer is always HOW: “the mood is languid” (HOW does the author achieve this) “the tone is bitter (HOW does the author convey this) “the character is sly (HOW is this implied by the author) “the relationship between the characters is intense and strained (HOW is this demonstrated)

Non - Fiction Purpose – Why a text has been written: Inform – to communicate knowledge or facts;to tell the reader something useful Persuade -to get the reader to do or think something specific Argue – to put forward a structured point of view, with facts and opinions to support it Describe – to give a detailed account of how something looks/acts/sounds Explain – to make the meaning of something clear/ give an account of a process

Forms (the type of text it is) Adverts Newspaper pages Advice leaflets Travel guidebooks Cookbooks Charity appeals Leaflets Web pages Magazine articles Information texts

Skills (what you need to be able to do..) Analyse – Look at a text in close detail and explain how it is put together Interpret – explain the implied or deeper meaning in a text Evaluate – Judge the effectiveness of a text; what works well and what doesn’t

Describing the writer’s language Colloquial (chatty) Formal / Informal Simple Threatening Biased Descriptive Sensual Profane Emotive Figurative Humorous Sensuous Poetic Ironic/sarcastic Literal

Lexis Here are a range of words from the same lexical field (words closely related…)

First Person Narrative Pre planned, fictional or autobiographical writing Structured, usually to entertain the reader Fluent, punctuated and paragraphed Literary, with a plot, themes, imagery etc to enhance reading Written and published to be read, a fixed text Controls the flow of information to the reader, who is influenced as the narrative is read

THE LIST! Point of View (Perspective) Punctuation Pace Diction Development   Style Syntax Symbols Structure   Setting Sentence Construction Imagery Impact Intention of Author Characterisation Tone Themes Humour Irony Relationships Literary devices Mood /Atmosphere