Transcript - Deans Community High School

Close Reading
Analysis
Analysis
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Think about how the writer is
expressing his ideas.
Analysis is not understanding,
so don’t explain what is being
said but rather how it is said.
Analysis questions deal with…
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Style:
Sentence structure
Punctuation
Expression
Word choice
Figures of speech
The structure of the argument
Tone
Sentence Structure
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The ‘structure of a sentence’
means the way in which it is
made up and how various
elements are arranged.
The punctuation can be helpful
in giving clues to the structure.
Describe the main features of
sentence structure AND explain
their effect.
Step One
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Look out for the types of
sentence the writer uses.
Here are the main types and the
effect each type is likely to
have…..
Statements
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Tells you something.
Ends in a full stop.
Writing which is made up of
statements alone may have a
calm or impersonal tone.
Most sentences are statements.
Questions
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Asks something, always ending with
a question mark.
Can challenge the reader or show
uncertainty in the writer.
Rhetorical questions do not expect
an answer, e.g. ‘What kind of
question is that?’
Such questions aim to stir up strong
feelings in the reader.
They create an emotive tone.
Commands
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Tell you to do something.
They end with either a full stop
or an exclamation mark.
They are often used when the
writer tries to create the effect of
talking directly to the reader.
Exclamations
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Express excitement or surprise.
Do not always contain verbs.
Often begin with ‘what’ or ‘how’,
e.g. ‘How beautiful it was!’ or
‘What a place!’.
End in either a full stop or
exclamation mark.
May also create an emotive or
dramatic tone.
Minor Sentences
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Don’t contain a verb.
Short and may create a tense or
dramatic mood.
Typical of informal language.
May be used in direct speech,
notes or diary entries.
E.g. ‘Time for a rest’, ‘What
now?’
Practice – what type of
sentences are these?
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What time does the match start?
Give me the money.
What an ordeal my interview turned out to
be!
What do people care nowadays?
The dance will begin at nine o’clock.
Eleven thirty. Still no sign of anyone!
Come in!
Why is she so upset?
Quite right!
He came here many years ago.
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You will never be asked to
simply identify types of
sentences, you must explain the
effect of choosing particular
types.
This is only possible when you
know the full context.
Complex
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Long sentences containing
several verbs and clauses are
called complex.
Usually, the more complex the
sentence, the more formal the
language.
Simple
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Sentences with only one verb
are called simple.
These are typical of speech and
types of language which aim to
communicate very quickly and
directly.
Arrangement of words
- Sentence Structure
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It is important to look at how the
words are arranged within
sentences.
Consider:
Word order
Patterns
Parts of speech
Parenthesis
First or third person
Punctuation
Word Order
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The best advice is that anything unusual
probable deserves a comment!
A reversal of the normal word order is
known as inversion. There are examples
of this in ‘The Crucible’. Other famous
examples of inversion come from a little,
wise green man.
Using inversion emphasises a particular
part of the sentence.
E.g. ‘Back we went’ instead of ‘We went
back’. The emphasis is placed on BACK.
Patterns
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Often a pattern will be clear to see in a
sentence.
There are three common patterns: lists,
repetition, climax.
‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ is an example
of all 3.
The list of verbs creates a sense of action.
The repetition of ‘I’ suggests an egotistical
and dominating speaker.
The verbs have a sense of progress and
end with the most powerful, leading to the
effect of a climax.
Parts of speech
The words which make up a
sentence are called parts of
speech. There are 8 in English
and they all have different
functions.
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Pronouns
- Prepositions
- Conjunctions
- Articles
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The meaning of these words
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Noun: a word used to name or
identify a person, place or thing.
Verb: a word used to indicate an
action. There has to be a verb in
every sentence for it to make sense.
Adjective: A describing word.
Adverb: Mostly formed by adding ‘ly’
to an adjective. Adverbs can modify
the meaning of other words.
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Pronouns: Substitutes a noun, e.g. I,
myself, he, her.
Prepositions: Links a noun or
pronoun to other words, often
referring to time, location,
possession and direction. E.g. he’s
going to the shops, it’s in the box.
Conjunctions: A word which connects
words, phrases or clauses e.g. and,
but, when.
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Articles: A, an and the are
articles.
THE is the definite article.
 A/AN is the indefinite article.
‘The boy’ refers to a definite,
particular boy.
‘A boy’ refers to no particular boy.
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Clauses
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A clause is a part of a sentence that
usually contains a subject and a
verb. It is usually connected to the
other part of the sentence by a
conjunction. It is not a complete
sentence on its own.
The subject of a sentence is the
noun/pronoun which is in front of and
controls the main verb of the
sentence. E.g. My dog attacked the
man. What is the subject?
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Conjunctions have a linking function.
Recognising the tense of verbs can
be useful. In most narrative writing
the past tense is used. If the present
tense is used, or if the tense
changes at some point, this may well
be worth commenting on.
Be precise in describing the effects.
You will get little credit for vague
comments such as, ‘The writer uses
lots of adjectives.’
For practice
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Complete the task on page 20,
individually.
Parenthesis/Parentheses (pl)
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A parenthesis is an extra piece of
information inserted into a sentence and
enclosed by a pair of commas, brackets or
dashes.
A parenthesis may be a single word, a
phrase or a whole clause.
A parenthesis may add significant detail or
make something more clear.
A parenthesis may affect the tone by
adding a comment, which might be
humorous or ironic.
If a parenthesis were removed from the
sentence, it would still make sense.
For practice
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Complete the task on page 21,
individually.
1st/3rd person
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First person – uses pronouns
such as I, me and we.
Third person – uses pronouns
such as he, she, they.
Although this may not be
considered ‘structure’, you may
be given credit for commenting
on the choice of ‘person’ a writer
makes.
Punctuation
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Punctuation is very useful in
making clear the sentence
structure.
So, it is worth learning the
functions of different punctuation
marks to enable you to
comment on them.
Punctuation
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Commas (,): separate clauses and
phrases within a sentence. A
number of commas may indicate a
list.
Colon (:): Introduces a quotation or a
list; an explanation or elaboration; or
a summing up.
Semi-colon (;): finishes off one part
of a sentence. It may be used
instead of a conjunction to separate
two principal clauses in a sentence.
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Inverted commas (‘ ’ or “ ”): mark
quotations, direct speech, foreign
words or words used in an unusual
way. (Italics may be used similarly)
Dash (--): can function like a colon.
Two dashes can mark off a
parenthesis.
Hyphen (-): joins two words to make
a compound word, or indicates a
split word at the end of a line.
For Practice
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Complete the task starting on
page 22, individually.
Expression and Word Choice
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Questions relating to expression and
WC look at the effect created by the
particular choices of the writer.
The writer’s tone will depend on
these choices.
The particular style a writer chooses
is known as the register. This
includes grammar, word choice and
all aspects of style.
Colloquial Language
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When a writer chooses to write
informally using a style more
typical of speaking than writing.
E.g. ‘by the way’, ‘you know’
Also slang words, e.g. ‘guy’ for
man and ‘kid’ for child.
Look at page 27 for an example.
Dialect
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The style of language spoken in a
particular area, e.g. Scots is spoken in
Scotland.
You may be asked to compare dialect with
Standard English (the term you should
use for the style of English that is
understood everywhere).
Dialect forms may be SE words
pronounced differently, e.g. auld=old, or
completely different words, e.g. ‘bairn’for
child.
Dialects may be used by the writer as they
feel it is more natural, expressive and
lively.
Word choice to create
atmosphere
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A writer will try to create a
particular effect by using many
words which have the same sort
of meaning.
E.g. Travel brochures specialise
in trying to make their resorts
sound appealing.
Look at page 35 for an example.
Emotive Language
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Emotive language: words which stir
up strong emotions.
Used if a writer is talking about
something tragic.
E.g. ‘shocking’, ‘horrifying’ and
‘appalling’ express stronger feelings
than ‘worrying’ or ‘upsetting’.
Emotive language plays on the
emotions of his readers.
Look at page 39 for an example.
Jargon
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Technical, formal language.
Specific to a profession or
occupation.
Used if someone perhaps wants
to appear impressively
knowledgeable.
See page 40 for an example.
Archaisms
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Old fashioned words used to
create a setting in a past age.
E.g. ‘good morrow’ for ‘good
morning’ or ‘farewell’ instead of
‘goodbye’.
See page 40 for an example.
Figures of Speech
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An elaborate way of saying
something.
You will never be asked to
simply identify a figure of
speech, you will always be
asked to explain the effect it
has!
Literal / Figurative Language
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Literal: the actual meaning.
Figurative: something suggested
by the figure of speech.
‘The audience were glued to
their seats.’ LITERAL or
FIGURATIVE?
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Simile: a comparison using the
words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Metaphor: a comparison which does
not use the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Personification: employing human
like qualities into an inanimate
object.
Image: the term used to describe the
thing that the subject is being
compared to.
See page 43 for examples.
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Alliteration: repetition of
consonant sounds, often used to
increase the impact of a phrase.
Focus on the actual sound being
created and the effect the writer
is trying to achieve.
Assonance: the term for a
similar repetition of vowel
sounds.
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Onomatopoeia: words which imitate
the sounds they make, e.g. ‘bang’ or
‘hiss’.
Hyperbole: deliberate and elaborate
exaggeration, often used for comic
effect or emphasis.
Understatement: The opposite of
hyperbole, achieving its effect in an
ironic way. This may be humorous
or contribute to suspense.
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Euphemism: a way of
expressing something in a
gentler way than the harsh truth,
e.g. ‘my old dog was put to
sleep’ is a soft way of saying he
was killed!
Structure of a Text
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The word ‘structure’ suggests a
building, so the ‘structure of a
text’ is all about how it is built.
The structure of a text consists
of an introduction, a main text
and a conclusion.
The various parts of a text will
be linked by words, phrases and
sentences.
Introductions
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Purpose: to give the reader a
general idea of the topic which is to
be explored.
Sometimes the topic can be
introduced in a straight forward
manner.
Writers may also begin the text with
an anecdote (short story) which
illustrates the topic or with a piece of
conversation.
A question or series of questions
may be posed to start the reader
thinking.
Linkage
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Various ‘markers’ will link the stages of the
argument.
E.g. conjunctions or phrases such as ‘but’,
‘yet’ or ‘on the other hand’. These mark a
change in the argument’s direction.
Expressions such as ‘furthermore’,
‘moreover’, ‘in addition’ and ‘a further
advantage’ imply that the argument is
being strengthened and supported by
further information.
Sometimes a whole sentence will be used
to mark a turning point.
See page 49/50 for an example.
Tone
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The tone of a piece of writing
reflects the attitudes of the writer
to his subject.
To decide on the tone, it can be
helpful to try to decide what the
writer’s purpose is.
Is he trying to be funny, serious,
stir up some emotion, persuade
the reader etc?
Examples of Tone
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Humorous/Light-hearted: may be
expressed by making jokes, using
techniques such as hyperbole etc.
Its purpose is to amuse the reader.
The writer may make fun of himself
as well as his subject.
Ironic/Tongue-in-cheek: used to
criticise or mock something in a
humorous way. Often done by
saying the opposite of what is really
meant.
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Emotive: aims to stir up emotions,
e.g. anger, pity or sympathy. Strong,
emotional words are used to express
extremes of feelings.
Colloquial/Chatty: the writer uses
slang, abbreviations and short
sentences as if he is chatting to the
reader. Often personal comments
will be included.
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Persuasive/ Argumentative: very
positive expressions are typical
of advertisements persuading
you to buy. Emotive language
may be used. Rhetorical
questions and the use of the 1st
person are common techniques
employed when an opinion is
being put forward.
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Now move on to the Evaluation
Power Point!