Commenting on Word-Choice and Unpacking Metaphors

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 2 Click to advance presentation

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 3 Commenting on Word-Choice n In close reading, or textual analysis, if asked to comment on word-choice, you have to pick out key words n Next you have to say what effect they have n This means talking about connotations

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 4 For example n “The little girl was only three. She was thin and waif-like; her eyes were very large and blue; and her skin was waxy and pale.” n What impression of the little girl is given by the word-choice?

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 5 First - state general impression n The little girl seems frail and vulnerable.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 6 Next - explain how the word-choice creates this impression. n The word ‘only’ emphasises her youth. n “thin and waif-like” sounds very vulnerable. The word ‘waif-like’ has connotations with (or is associated with) starving children. n “waxy and pale” suggests a person who is ill, perhaps even a dead person.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 7 What are connotations? n They are ideas or images which a particular word calls to mind n A word can have positive or negative connotations n Connotations can be odd, or threatening, or even amusing

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 8 Try commenting on the impression given by the word choice below n “He was not a tall man - no, quite small - with a wispy moustache and curiously slender wrists. But he had a sense of strength about him, something firm and unresisting, a toughness that was hard to pin down but impossible to mistake.”

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 9 First pick out the words you might choose to comment on n “He was not a tall man - no, quite small - with a wispy moustache and curiously slender wrists. But he had a sense of strength about him, something firm and unresisting, a toughness that was hard to pin down but impossible to mistake.”

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 10 Write down your own comments, before comparing them with mine on the next slide. They shouldn’t be identical - but along similar lines. “He was not a tall man - no, quite small - with a wispy moustache and curiously slender wrists. But he had a sense of strength about him, something firm and unresisting, a toughness that was hard to pin down but impossible to mistake.”

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 11 What impression is given? n The writer is at some pains to stress the man is “not a tall man”. He is “quite small”. Other words also emphasise his vulnerability - “wispy” suggests this and so does “curiously slender wrists.” But then his “strength” is emphasised with words like “firm and unresisting” and “toughness”. Here the combination implies a really determined character.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 12 Where imagery is used, it gets slightly more complicated n By ‘imagery’ I mean n Simile (NB spelled like SMILE but with an extra i at the front) n Metaphor n Personification ( a kind of metaphor)

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 13 Quick reminder: what is a simile? n When two things are compared using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ (or sometimes ‘than’) n For example: She was as pleased as punch. n Or: The girl ran faster than the wind to find her master. n Or: The food tasted like heaven

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 14 Quick reminder: what is a metaphor? n When the writer says one thing IS another (but really it is just a comparison) n For example: She was his willing slave. n Or: The girl ran on winged feet to find her master. n Or: The bread was food of the gods.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 15 Quick reminder: what is personification? n When the writer describes a thing (or an animal) as if it’s a person n For example: The wind whispered sweet nothings in her ears. n Or: The ocean opened its huge mouth and swallowed him forever. n Or: The car’s engine coughed at her reproachfully.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 16 How to comment on imagery n First work out what is really being compared with what n Identify the image - metaphor, simile or personification n Note any other language effects present (e.g. alliteration, onomatopoeia) n Think about the effect of the whole thing n [The word choice may have connotations you should mention too]

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 17 Here’s an example. A simile. n He ate like a mad-man, tearing off huge crusts with bared teeth. n Comment? n This simile compares him to a mad person. This suggests he is frantic and strange. The ‘bared teeth’ sound aggressive and intimidating.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 18 Here’s an example of a metaphor. n The woman slithered across the floor, her snake-eyes bright with intent. n Comment? n Comparing the woman metaphorically to a snake has a sinister effect. “Snake- eyes” have unpleasant, dangerous connotations.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 19 And personification? n The lift groaned under the weight. n Comment? n Using the word ‘groaned’ personifies the lift and makes the reader feel almost sorry for it.

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 20 Now some for you to try n She was like a huge lorry, bearing down on them at 100 miles per hour. n Comment?

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 21 And another n The tyres on the car screeched misery as the brakes screamed their last n Comment?

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 22 And another n The house eyed them malevolently, its windows glinting. n Comment?

Higher English Survival Guide Slide 23 If still unsure n go back to the examples and look again n or talk through the examples with a friend n Good luck!