Safe Six for Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis Can be Scary  When attempting to analyze literature, it can be difficult to know where to begin and what approach to take.  Fear not!  Remember to practice SAFE SIX

The Safe Six  SYNTAX  IMAGERY  FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE  TONE  Title/Author  DICTION

SYNTAX  Syntax must be examined as to how it contributes to and enhances meaning and effect.  SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION  Sentence classification  Sentence length  Sentence beginnings  Word order  Arrangement of ideas

Sentence Classification  The four basic sentence types:  Declarative - statement  Imperative - command  Interrogative - question  Exclamatory - exclamation  The four basic sentence structures:  Simple – one independent clause  I like dogs.  Compound – two or more independent clauses  I like dogs, and dogs like me.  Complex – one independent + subordinate clause(s)  Although dogs like me, I do not like dog hair on my clothes.  Compound-complex – two or more independent clauses + subordinate clause(s)  When he entered with donuts, Matt walked to the desk while the students applauded, but he did not share his donuts.

Sentence Length  Telegraphic – shorter than 5 words  Does the abrupt nature reflect a tone? Mood? Action? Character? Create or reflect anxiety? Is the author trying to stress a key idea?  Short – approximately 5 to 10 words  Is the author trying to sound objective or factual? Is the author trying to quicken the pace in contrast to longer, more complex ideas?  Long – approx 30+ words  Is the author trying replicate physical movement? Suggest confusion or simulate the rapid flow of ideas? Is the author piling on detail after detail to illustrate the enormity, weight, or extensiveness of something?  Consider: Does the length fit the subject matter? What variety of lengths is present? What is the EFFECT?

Sentence Beginnings  Is there a good variety of sentence beginnings? Or does a pattern emerge?  If there is a pattern, what is emphasized, repeated or stressed? What effect is created by that emphasis/repetition? Rhetorical Questions  A question for which no answer is expected.  Can’t we all just get along?  Is it being used as a transition? For reader response/engagement?

Arrangement of Ideas  As always, analyze how the structure contributes to the overall effect  Loose sentence  Front loaded – makes sense before it ends  We bathed the dog after he played in the pond and rolled in mud.  Periodic sentence  Doesn’t make sense until the end is reached  After he played in the pond and rolled in mud, we bathed the dog.  Parallel structure  Grammatical/structural similarity between sentences or sentence parts where elements are similarly phrased and developed equally.  Wolfhounds know what they want, intend to get it, and will allow nothing to stand in their way.  Natural order  Subject / predicate  My wolfhound pulled the steak off the counter.  Antithesis  Contrasting ideas presented in a balanced format.  My wolfhound neither pulled the steak off the counter nor placed it on the counter.  Inverted/anastrophe  Predicate / subject (like Yoda)  Off the counter, my wolfhound pulled the steak.

Imagery  Imagery is language that makes an appeal to the senses and thereby aids the reader’s imagination to envision characters and scenes more clearly.  The apple was deep red, like the sky moments before the sun comes up.  Imagery often invokes connotations.  The smell of freshly baked cookies permeated the air.  Examine the sound imagery in Keats’ “To the Autumn.” The sounds of nature function like a song. Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft, And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Imagery  When analyzing imagery, ask yourself, “Why would the author use this image to convey a message?”  Examine Shakespeare’s use of light and dark imagery in Act 1, scene 5: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear;  Romeo praises Juliet, saying she is more radiant than the brightly lit torches in the hall. He says that at night, her face glows like a bright jewel shining against dark skin. Through the contrasting images of light and dark, Romeo portrays Juliet’s beauty.

Figurative Language  Figurative language means language in which figures of speech are used to make it effective, persuasive, and impactful. Writers use it to go beyond the real meanings of the words to make a comparison and give the readers a new insight into the content of their works.  Figurative language can appear in multiple forms with the use of different literary and rhetorical devices and has five different forms:  understatement or emphasis  relationship or resemblance  figures of sound  errors and  verbal games

Figurative Language  Figurative language is not meant to convey literal meanings; often it compares one concept with another in order to make the first concept easier to understand.  To analyze the use of figurative language, you must go beyond the “Where’s Waldo” of figurative language. You cannot just FIND the devices, you must discuss WHAT the devices are doing and HOW they contribute to overall meaning and effect.

Figurative Language My love is like a red, red rose That’s newly sprung in June : My love is like the melody That’s sweetly played in tune  Simile  Rhyme  Meter  Alliteration  Repetition  Diacope  Metaphor  Enjambment  What are these devices DOING?

Tone  Tone decides how readers should read a literary piece, whether as serious, comical, distressing, etc.  Tone helps shape literature by creating a mood. And all the trees died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.  The use of the adjectives “dead” and “depressing” sets a gloomy tone in the passage. As trees signify life, their unexpected death from an unknown cause give the passage an unhappy and pessimistic tone.

Tone  Tone gives voice to characters and helps to explicate their personalities.  Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye gives us a glimpse into his personality every time he speaks. Consider:  All morons hate it when you call them morons.  If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late? Nobody.  Catholics are always trying to find out if you’re Catholic.  Holden’s tone is bitterly sarcastic as he criticizes the realities of life. What does that tell you about him?

Title/Author  Examine the title of the poem, essay, etc. Is it a play on words? Does it provide additional information? Does it give you a clue, set up your expectations, or include an allusion?  Notice the author and time period. Those two details can inform you about topic, style, and theme. Do you know other works by that author? What do you know about the time period and literary movement?

Diction  Diction is the author’s word choice  Can often be examined for two characteristics:  Formality  High or Formal: Dignified, elevated, and often impersonal. Elaborate or sophisticated vocabulary. Polysyllabic.  Middle or Neutral: Follows rules of grammar and uses common, unexceptional vocabulary.  Low or Informal: Plain language of everyday use, including slang, jargon, vulgarity, and dialect. Monosyllabic.  Connotation  Denotation - a word’s dictionary meeting  Connotation – the more metaphorical or poetic usage of the word; attached emotion

Additional Aspects of Diction  Abstraction  An author’s language will fall somewhere on a scale between concrete (stuff you can hold in your hands) and abstract (stuff you can only hold in your heads).  The Music  Do the words sound nice? Then you can comment on the euphony of the passage. Are the words harshly strung together? If so, discuss that and relate the harsh nature of the sounds with the meaning of the passage as a whole.