Useful phrases for analysing texts - IFWeblog



Useful phrases for analysing texts

In general: “bedient sich adäquater Mittel der LESERLEITUNG”

= Vor-, Quer- und Rückverweise, e.g.:

- In the following, I’m going to … [= tell your readers what you are about to do]

- As I said before / in the beginning … (etc.)

- I will enlarge upon this later / in the next paragraph … (etc.)

- Concluding one can say / In brief / To put it in a nutshell / From all this follows that … (etc.)

⇨ Make it easy for readers of your text to follow your argumentation!

Task 1:

➢ The text at hand / the given text is [an extract/excerpt from] … [a short story/speech/newspaper article/novel/poem a.s.o.] written by […] [and published in (the New York Times etc.) on [date] / in [year]. It is about / deals with / treats of / describes / is concerned with / presents … [topic = general topic, no details!].

➢ The general/essential/main idea expressed is …

➢ The [author/writer/speaker/poet] starts off by [+ gerund, e.g. stating that …].

➢ He/She goes on by [+ gerund]…

➢ He/She speaks about / discusses / gives his (her) opinion on … / expresses his (her) view concerning … / holds the view that … / comments on … / presents the thesis that … / draws (come) to the conclusion that …

⇨ Use the present tense; don’t quote; use neutral language, i.e. don’t evaluate; use your own words / paraphrase.

Task 2:

➢ In the following, I’m going to … [say what you are about to do, e.g. … characterise Molly while putting special emphasis on the reasons for her behaviour in this excerpt… cf. task!]

When analysing the structure of a text:

➢ The text/story/speech can be divided into / is divided into / falls into / is composed of / contains / consists of […] parts / paragraphs / chapters / sections.

➢ The first / […] / last part / paragraph / sentence constitutes / gives us / comprises the introduction / central problem / principal part / solution.

➢ In the first / […] / last part the author varies the theme / changes the topic / goes into detail / passes from … to …

When characterising:

➢ The author describes the characteristics / outer appearance / intellectual qualities / mood / activities / social and psychological condition / character traits of …

➢ The author gives a realistic / detailed description of / only gives a rough description of ..

➢ The character is described / presented / characterised as …

➢ The basic traits of A’s character are …

➢ One of A’s striking characteristics is …

When analysing rhetorical / stylistic devices:

➢ The author makes use of / employs …

➢ This is done in order to stress / put emphasis on / emphasise / draw attention to / highlight …

➢ The author wants to involve the readers/listeners by [+ gerund] / convince them of …

➢ He/She wants to appeal to (e.g. the readers’ conscience) …

➢ He/She wants to imply / implies that …

➢ He/She wants to arouse interest / simplify / illustrate …

➢ He/She refers to an example

➢ He7She makes use of / employs / uses formal / informal / colloquial words / expression / language.

➢ This word / phrase / expression refers to / underlines / emphasises / means / stands for …

When referring to the text:

➢ As it is written in l./ll.: …

➢ As one can read in l./ll.

➢ This is indicated by l./ll. where it is said that …

➢ This can be proven with l./ll.

➢ L./ll. (…) suggest(s) that … as it is said that …

➢ …

⇨ Don’t forget to sum up your main results.

⇨ Use the present tense in your analysis only; use your own words; always PROVE what you’re claiming by REFERRING to the respective lines.

⇨ Don’t just list rhetorical or stylistic devices, but always explain their function and their effect on the reader/listener.

⇨ Try not to repeat what you’ve already written in task 1.

⇨ ANALYSE doesn’t mean SUMMARISE, i.e. read between the lines.

Task 3:

➢ Task 3 can either be an EVALUATION (i.e. pro- and counter-arguments + own opinion) or a RE-CREATION OF TEXT (e.g. a diary entry).

➢ You usually DON’T quote in task 3, but for a re-creation of text task it might be necessary to refer to the text again (e.g. in case you’re asked to refute an argument etc.)

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