How to approach an IGCSE Text Analysis



How to approach an IGCSE Text Analysis

Look at the following example of a text analysis question on Lord of the Flies:

|Re-read the beginning of the novel to p.13 “What’s your name?” |

|How does this opening prepare the reader for the rest of the novel? |

|Support your ideas with details from the writing. |

1. Read the question carefully and underline the key points.

2. Personal Response. Re-read the extract given. You cannot underline or write in your book but you should have a piece of rough paper ready to write notes as you re-read. Spend 5 minutes reading and writing down your first responses. What can you picture in your mind as you read? What do you learn about character or setting? What themes are introduced? What were your feelings about what you read?

Don’t worry about making correct sentences, just note down ideas.

3. Developing your response. Now go back and look at the extract and make more detailed notes on the following:

|A) Structure and Viewpoint |

|How is the extract structured? How many paragraphs are there? Is there dialogue? What type of narration is used? Briefly summarize the |

|different parts of the extract. What effect does this structure have on the reader?How does it prepare us for the rest of the novel? |

|B) Use of tenses |

|Can you identify the tenses in the extract? What effect does this have on the reader? Does the author use flashback in this extract? |

|C) Chains of words/Lexical fields |

|Look for any ‘chains’ of words that run through the extract. |

|e.g. Scar-jungle-undergrowth-lagoon-rocks-tree trunk-creeper |

|These words create an image of the setting and help the reader visualise the island. |

|D) Types of words |

|What kind of words are used and why? Think about why certain adjectives and verbs are used? |

|e.g. He was clambering heavily...By using the verb ‘to clamber’ we are given the impression that the undergrowth prevents the character |

|from walking easily and so helps us visualise the situation.... |

|E) Images |

|Look out for images such as similes and metaphors |

|Also look for examples of personification, hyperbole, alliteration, assonance etc and comment on the effect of these techniques |

|F) Other Ideas??? |

|Are there any other language techniques that have been used which you find interesting? |

|Onomatopoeia, use of sensory images, colour etc |

4. Organising your text analysis

You have now made notes on lots of interesting points in the extract. Now you need to re-read the original question and work out how to structure your work effectively.

The question asks you: How does this opening prepare the reader for the rest of the novel?

Looking back at your notes on A) Structure and viewpoint, what are the three main ideas that are introduced in this extract?

Organise your notes into these three sections – think of all the points you will make under the sub-headings character,setting and theme. You could use a table like this to help organise your ideas, although you may not have time to do this in the exam..

|Character |Setting |Theme |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

5. Writing your analysis.

Your analysis will have three parts – character, setting and theme. You will also need a short introduction and conclusion.

In the IGCSE Literature exam you will have 45 mins to plan and answer the question. This is not long and once you have allowed time for planning and checking your finished work it will mean that you have approx. 30 mins to actually write the analysis. If you choose to do a text analysis as a coursework task you will obviously have much longer and so can spend more time planning your work carefully.

|Writing an Introduction: |

|Introduce the novel, include a brief summary of novel and place the extract in context. Identify the major themes / important elements |

|of the text. The text might also be divided up into movements/parts – in this case, character, setting, theme. |

|Example: |

|This is an extract taken from the novel Lord of the Flies written by the British writer William Golding. The novel is set in the |

|twentieth century on an island and tells the story of .......... The story also deals with / depicts / describes ................. This|

|extract is actually the opening of the novel where we are first introduced to two of the main characters, Piggy and Ralph. We are told |

|about / learn about the setting of the island and also introduced to the themes of the novel. |

Point-Quote-Comment (PQC)

The question you are asked states ‘Support your ideas with details from the writing’. You are being asked to re-read a particular extract which you have in front of you. Why are you being asked to do this? So that you can find particular words/expressions which you find interesting and which help create an effective opening. For every point you make, you MUST quote examples from the text and comment on them if you want to get a grade C or above

|Writing a Conclusion: |

|Briefly sum up the points you have made about character, setting and theme and how language is used to illustrate these points. Include |

|a personal response by commenting on how effective you feel the opening is and how it prepares readers for what is to come. |

|To conclude, To sum up, In conclusion, this extract is a particularly effective opening to the novel |

|as............................................. We learn ........................................................ |

Useful Vocabulary

When writing your analysis use some of the following expressions:

|It made me think about ………………… because …………………………….. |

|I could sympathise with ………………… because ……………………………. |

|I could understand …………………………….. |

|It made me see ……………… by …………………………………………….. |

|It made me feel ………………………………………………………………… |

|The author shows us what ………………………. Is like through her/his descriptions of ………. |

|For example, she/he shows us …………………………………………………. |

|It tells us that……………., because …………………………………………… |

|For example, when ……………… |

|This word/phrase tells me that ………………., because ……………………….. |

|Another way in which she/he shows ……………………….. |

|The phrase/words which give that impression is/are ……………….., because ……………….. |

|The viewpoint she/he gives us ………… |

|The pronoun gives us the impression that …………………………………….. |

|The adjectives/verbs/details tell us that ……………….. |

|The use of the past tense/present tense/past perfect creates the sense of …………………… |

|The effect of the sentence structure is to make us feel …………………………………….. |

|The use of dialect / slang / Igbo language gives the impression that ………………………… |

|In this metaphor / simile she/he compares …….. with …. They are similar because ……….. |

|This suggest that ……………. |

|Another similarity is …………….. In contrast, ………………………. |

|This is different from …………. Because …………………………… |

|However, ………… But ……… Although ………… Another difference is …………….. |

|This contrasts with ………………………………………………. |

Now LEARN this approach for writing an IGCSE text analysis as you can adapt it to any question you may be asked on a novel, poem or play extract.

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