Transcript Analysing Poetry and Prose

Analysing Poetry
and Prose
Methods for the Unseen
Mr Adrian Chan
Raffles Institution 2007
Things to Note Before We Begin
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A piece of unseen prose or poetry often has
layers of meaning
You have to identify these layers, interpret their
significance (What to Why to So What)
For instance explain how he uses imagery and
the effects created by it
Annotation- a useful skill to deconstruct text and
organise information in a meaningful unit; draw
out patterns for easy reference
All literary texts must be annotated before you
start writing the essay response
How to Begin? What to Focus on?
You would be given the literary concept or
element to focus on eg. Discuss the
writer’s attitude, Discuss the writer’s
choice of imagery and evaluate their
effectiveness
 For set texts, we need to develop a clear
framework for analysis to cover the major
literary concepts and elements
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Setting/Situation/Mood
What is happening in the prose/poem?
 Where is it taking place?
 When is it taking place?
 Why is it happening?
 What is the mood of the text?
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Form/Structure
How is the work structured? Is it
continuous narrative or as several bits of
information?
 Into what genre and period does the text
fall into?
 Can you detect patterns in the text?
 Are there rhyme or word patterns you can
identify?
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Narrative Voice/Persona
Who is telling the story?
 How is the persona/narrator
characterised? By action or description?
 Is the narrator observing, reflecting or
involved in the action of the text?
 Is the same persona and writer the same
person?
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Character
Who are the characters?
 If there is more than one character, how
do they respond to each other?
 How do dialogue,description,action, tone,
feelings, thoughts reveal a character’s
personality traits?
 What is the character’s motivation?
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Attitude/ Tone/ Diction
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What is writer/persona’s attitude towards the
subject?
What is tone like?
Does the text make use of any imagery?
What figures of speech do the writer use and
what effects are achieved?
How are their attitudes toward the subject matter
the same or different?
How does the writer use diction to convey
meaning effectively?
Attitude/ Tone/ Diction
Does the writer use words denotatively or
connotatively? What do the words plainly
mean or do we have to examine their
associative meanings?
 How does the language relate to the world
beyond the text eg. irony, propaganda,
social commentary?
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World View and Ideology
What are the basic ideas about the world
that are expressed?
 What areas of human experience are seen
as important and what is valuable about
them?
 What areas of human experience or
classes of people are ignored or
denigrated?
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Personal Response
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What are your feelings about the given
poem/prose?
What can you say about the difference between
your culture’s views of the world and your own
experiences versus those of the character and
his/her culture?
Is it possible that your interpretation and
enjoyment of the piece may be different from
theirs because of your particular social and
historical context e.g. gender, race, class?
Web References
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www.brocku.ca/english/criticalreading.html
www.norton.com/introlit/glossary_a.htm
www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm
www.mala.bc.ca/~lanes/english/literms.htm