Comment and Appreciation

Paper 7: PROSE

Comment and Appreciation

• An ability to identify, analyse and evaluate TONE, ATTITUTE, ARGUMENT, CHARACTER, FORM, STRUCTURE and LANGUAGE.

Prose

Points to look for

Structure

• The order of the story / writing / paragraphs – what effect?

• Is it unified / complete / left hanging?

Key Issues / Themes

• Is there a message? Central idea? Meaning in the story.

• Focusing on the characters and events of the story is one good way to identify the themes / key issues.

• TIPS: Pay attention to the TITLE of the story – it helps.

Characterisation

• How does the author present the character?• Look closely at the name of the character as

well.

Narrator

• Should not be confused with the author.• Third person narrator – not participating in

the action of the story; just telling the story.1.Omniscient – an “all knowing” narrator. Can

access into the character’s thought.2.Intrusive – Omniscient, but offers comments

on characters.3.Objective – remains outside of all the

characters.

Narrator

• First person narrator –participates in the action of the story. “I”

• Restricted – can only know the thoughts of one character only.

Setting and environment

• Is the setting symbolic?• Is it related to the theme?

Language

• Look closely – word choice, length of sentence, their structure and tone. (Letts 2000)

• Use of correct literary device / terminology.

Word Choice

• He moved over to the window: a smallish, frail figure, the meagerness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended.

George Orwell1984

Word choice & Length of sentence• His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of

muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion, and straight black lips.

Mary ShelleyFrankenstein

Length of sentence• Short sentence. Why? What is the effect.• How about long sentence?

o “I’m afraid there’s been a terrible mistake. I’m really sorry.”o “What do you mean?”o “We’ve got mixed up with the babies. Your baby is in Cot

No. 13. Can you see a little girl in the pink cot? That’s your baby.”

o The silence was sudden.M. Shanmugalingam

Birthday

Tone

• Suddenly Uma stirs, puts her hand on Lila Aunty’s arm, and asks: ‘The letter – the letter from Oxford – where is it? Did you – did you burn it?’

• Remember that the tone comes through in the way language is used.

Anita Desai (1999)Fasting, Feasting

Classroom Discussion

Animal FarmGEORGE ORWELL

• Structure• Key Issues / Themes• Characterisation• Narrator• Setting and environment• Language - word choice, length of sentence,

their structure and tone.