Analysing Poetry and Prose

Methods for the UnseenMr Adrian ChanRaffles Institution 2007

Things to Note Before We Begin

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

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?

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?

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?

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?

Attitude/ Tone/ Diction

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?

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?

Personal Response

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

1. www.brocku.ca/english/criticalreading.html

2. www.norton.com/introlit/glossary_a.htm

3. www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm

4. www.mala.bc.ca/~lanes/english/literms.htm