Analysing Texts

Suggested approach to this task is S.C.A.S.I

Learn this thoroughly!

Setting / Where and when did it take place? Don’t just think physical location, although that is important too. Also consider
·  Social setting – how people live in that place and at that time
·  Historic setting – when it happens
·  Economic setting – how the characters make a living, and what larger financial forces operate
·  Moral setting – what people of that time think of as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
·  Political setting – how society at large is organised and controlled
·  Philosophical setting – what ideas about life people in the community, or the writer, have
Characters / Write about characters as the creations of someone’s imagination – they’re not real! They’re constructs.
Consider the following about characters:
·  History
·  What others say about them
·  How they say it; tone of voice and use of language
·  Their gestures and the way they move
·  Relationships with other characters
·  Appearance eg age, race, demeanour
·  What they say ie the dialogue; what doe is reveal about them eg values, hopes
Also consider use of ‘persona’ – a character speaking in first person (I, me) as if he’s the writer
Action / What happens … the plot
·  Nature of conflict eg external, internal
·  Orientation, rising complication, climax, resolution, denouement
·  Outside events that are ‘contextual’ eg already taken place, current events in society, predicted events
·  Parallel plotting, linear plots, use of flashback etc
Style / How it is all communicated eg
·  Genre and form of text
·  Use of punctuation
·  Use of imagery and symbolism
·  Sentence structure – short, complicated, non-sentences, enjambment
·  Tone
·  Narration style – 1st, 2nd or 3rd;changes
·  Figurative language eg simile, metaphor, personification
·  Sounds of words eg onomatopoeia, assonance, alliteration, consonance
·  Use of emotive or biased language, positive, negative or neutral
·  Rhyme and rhythm
·  Juxtaposition and contrast
·  Allusions to other literary works, characters, myths etc
·  Use of description, adjectives and appeal to senses
·  Use of argument, expert opinion, statistics and facts, objective language
·  Use of persuasive language – subjective language eg hyperbole, magic realism
·  Use of rhetoric questions, statements, commands
·  Use of humour in its various forms eg sarcasm, wit, puns, oxymorons, irony
·  Think of other things that have been omitted from this list eg repetition. Your turn!!!
Ideas / The conclusions we take away with us at the end.
·  Ideas through a longer piece of writing become themes
·  Lots of ideas can branch out from one main one.
·  All events, all situations have ideas attached to them