Close Reading...A guide.

• Analysis questions ask you to think about how the writer is expressing his/her ideas. Remember: Questions will have an A next them to indicate it is an analysis question.

• Analysis questions will deal with aspects of style: - Sentence structure and punctuation; expression and word choice; figures of speech; the structure of the argument; and tone.

• READ THE QUESTION: Find out what it is asking of you. If you are asked to quote, a word or expression will be sufficient. These questions are usually worth one mark. If it doesn’t ask you to quote, use your own words.

E.G.: “Quote the expression that makes it clear...”

Usually you’ll be expected to quote something as well as providing an explanation in your own words. A question on word choice will always require you to quote something and explain in your own words.

E.G.: “Select one expression used to describe this and explain why you find it effective.”

1. Sentence Structure.

• When answering a question on sentence structure, you should describe the main features of the sentence structure AND ALSO explain their effect.

• Sentence Structure is basically the way the sentence is made up and how different parts of the sentence are arranged.

- PUNCTUATION can be helpful in giving you clues to the structure.

STEP ONE: Look at the types of sentence the writer uses:

- Statements - Exclamations

- Questions - Minor Sentences.

- Commands

• Statements – tell you something. They end in a full stop. Most sentences are statements; it is only if other types of sentence are used that you would need to comment on it. Writing that is made up of statements alone may have a calm or impersonal tone.

• Questions – ask something. They always end with a question mark. A writer may use questions to challenge the reader to make them think or show uncertainty in their opinion. Keep an eye out for rhetorical questions which do not expect an answer: “What kind of answer is that?” Such questions aim to stir up strong feelings in the reader; such as anger or sympathy: “What else was I meant to do?” They create an emotive tone. The purpose of such a tone is to stir up feelings or emotions within the reader.

• Commands – tell you to do something: “Think of a number.” They end with either a full stop or an exclamation mark. They are also used in advertisements or where the writer tries to create the effect of talking directly to the reader.

• Exclamations – express excitement or surprise. “What a place!”; “How beautiful it was!”; “Oh my God!” Exclamations do not always contain verbs. They often, but not always, begin with ‘What’ or ‘How’, such as in the first two examples. They will end in either an exclamation mark or a full stop. Exclamations can also be used to create an emotive or dramatic tone.

• Minor Sentences – don’t contain a verb. These sentences are purposely short and are abbreviations of other types of sentence. They may end in either a full stop or a question mark (but not always). “What now?”; “Time for a rest.” Short/minor sentences are very short and are used to create a tense or dramatic mood. They are typical of informal language and may be used in direct speech, notes or diary entries. Such writing without verbs can also be called note form.

Do practice questions on p. 17-18.

Step Two:

• The next step when analysing is to work out whether the sentences are long and complex or short and simple.

Long sentences containing several verbs (and therefore several clauses) are called complex sentences. These are typical of written English and, usually, the more complex the sentence (the more verbs within it), the more formal the language.

E.G.: “It is merely to suspect that physicians marry quality with quantity when they judge how far to intervene.”

Sentences with only one verb are called simple sentences. They are typical of speech and types of language which aim to communicate very quickly and directly. Young children, for example, tend to use simple sentences.

E.G.: “The older generation are a canny bunch.”

Step Three:

• Look at the arrangement of words within the sentence, particularly in longer ones. Some of the following features may be worth commenting on.

WORD ORDER:

The best advise for word order is that anything that looks unusual in a sentence probably deserves a comment. A reversal of the normal word order is called inversion. E.G.: “back we went”, instead of “we went back”. Using inversion throws emphasis on to a particular part of a sentence – in this example it is the word ‘back’ which is stressed.

PARTICULAR PATTERNS IN SENTENCES

Often a pattern in a sentence will be clear to see.

Three patterns are especially common:ListRepetitionClimax

Julius Caesar’s legendary saying “I came, I saw, I conquered” is an example of all three of these techniques at once.

The list of verbs ‘came, saw and conquered; creates a sense of action.

The repetition of the personal pronoun ‘I’ suggests a speaker who is egotistical and dominating.

The verbs in the list have a sense of progress and end with the most powerful, leading to the effect of a climax.

PARTS OF SPEECH

The words which make up a sentence are called parts of speech. There are eight parts of speech in English, which all have different functions:

Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and articles.

For homework, find out definitions of the above parts of speech and do the For Practice task on p.20. You should copy it down first.

For the exam you should be able to understand and comment if any parts of speech are used in an unusual way to create a particular effect.

Conjunctions, which have a linking function, are often worthy of comment. In the case of verbs, recognising the tense can be useful. In most narrative writing, past tense is used. If the present tense is used, or if the tense changes at some point, this may well be worth commenting on.

Be precise when describing the effects. You will get little credit for vague comments such as “the writer uses a lot of adjectives’.

PARENTHESIS

A parenthesis is an extra piece of information inserted into a sentence and enclosed by a pair of commas, brackets or dashes. The plural of this word is parentheses.

A parenthesis may be a single word, a phrase or a whole clause. While the grammar and basic sense of the sentence would remain intact if the parenthesis were removed, it will add something significant. It may make the meaning clearer, by adding an explanation or clarifying detail:

E.G.: ‘A girl, not of her set, called Judith, giggled.’

In this example, from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the first parenthesis implies a reason why the girl was impertinent enough to giggle, while the second makes it clear which girl it was.

Alternatively, a parenthesis may affect the tone by adding a comment, which might be humorous or ironic; for example:

‘On the friendly Greek island of Cephalonia, the Elephtherious (try saying that with a mouthful of moussaka) will welcome you with open arms.’

‘The responsibility of the officer is to look after, to supervise, to lead (whatever that means).’

Do the task on p.21 (‘For Practice’).

FIRST OR THIRD PERSON

Does the text use pronouns such as I, me and we – first person? Or does it use he, she and they – third person? Although this may not be considered strictly a matter of structure, you will often be given credit by making the choice of ‘person’ (first or third) a writer makes.

PUNCTUATION

Commas (,) – separate phrases and clauses within a sentence. A number of commas may well indicate a list.

A colon (:) introduces a quotation or a list; an explanation or elaboration; or a summing up. There will often be a balance between the two parts of the sentence it divides.

A semi-colon (;) finishes off one part of a sentence. It may be used instead of a conjunction to separate two principle clauses in a sentence.

Inverted Commas (‘ ‘) (“ “) mark quotations, indicate direct speech, foreign words or words in an unusual way. (Italics may sometimes be used similarly.)

A dash (–) can function like a colon to introduce a quotation, list, explanation, elaboration or summing up; two dashes can mark off a parenthesis. (In typography, a dash is longer than a hyphen.)

A hyphen (-) joins two words together to make a compound word, or indicates a split word at the end of a line.

(analysis)

Do For Practice, pp.22-26.

2. Expression and word choice

The particular style a writer chooses to write in is called register. This includes grammar, word choice and all aspects of style

Colloquial language:

This is when a writer chooses to write informally, using a style more typical of speaking than writing. Expressions such as ‘well..’, ‘by the way..’, ‘of course’.. And ‘you know..’ are all examples of colloquialisms; as are slang words such as ‘guy’ for man or ‘kid’ for child.

Slang Scots words such as ‘bairn’ can also be classified as being colloquial.

Dialect:

This is a certain style of English spoken by a particular part of the world. Scots would be an example, as would Doric. It may be Standard English words written differently (for example ‘Old’ and ‘Auld’ or completely different like ‘bairn’ or ‘wean.’

Emotive Language.

Is when a writer is writing about something emotionally charged and they want to stir up strong emotions within the reader. Words such as ‘shocking’, ‘horrifying’ and ‘appalling’ express stronger feelings than words such as ‘disturbing’, ‘worrying’, or ‘upsetting’. A writer would use the former words to play on the emotions of the readers.

List of sections

nouns

adjectives

adverbs

pronouns

prepositions

conjunctions

articles

subject //word //

object //verb //

main verbs //sentence //

aspect //voice //

conjunction //clause //

Noun

A noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects, substances, states, events and feelings. Nouns can be a subject or an object of a verb, can be modified by an adjective and can take an article or determiner.

Nouns may be divided into two basic groups:Countable Nouns have plural forms and Uncountable Nouns do not.

Adjective

An adjective modifies a noun. It describes the quality, state or action that a noun refers to.

ADJECTIVE RULES:i) Adjectives can come before nouns: a new carii) Adjectives can come after verbs such as be, become, seem, look, etc.: that car looks fastiii) They can be modified by adverbs: a very expensive cariv) They can be used as complements to a noun: the extras make the car expensive

Adverbs (1/3)Most adverbs in English are formed by adding -ly to an Adjective. An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a Verb; an Adjective; another adverb; a Noun or Noun Phrase; Determiner; a Numeral; a Pronoun; or a Prepositional Phrase and can sometimes be used as a Complement of a Preposition.

ADVERB SPELLING NOTESi) Adjectives ending -l still take -ly; careful-carefully.ii) Adjectives ending -y change to -ily; lucky-luckilyiii) Adjectives ending -ble change to -bly; responsible-responsibly

ADVERB OF MANNERAdverbs of manner modify a verb to describe the way the action is done.EG: She did the work carefully.('Carefully' modifies the verb to describe the way the work was done, as opposed to quickly, carelessly, etc..)

ADVERB OF PLACE or LOCATIONAdverbs of place show where the action is done.EG: They live locally.

Adverbs (2/3)ADVERB OF TIMEAdverbs of time show when an action is done, or the duration or frequency.EG: He did it yesterday. (When)They are permanently busy. (Duration)She never does it. (Frequency)

ADVERB OF DEGREEAdverbs of degree increase or decrease the effect of the verb.EG: I completely agree with you. (This increases the effect of the verb, whereas 'partially' would decrease it.)

ADVERBS MODIFYING ADJECTIVESAn adjective can be modified by an adverb, which precedes the adjective, except 'enough' which comes after.EG: That's really good.It was a terribly difficult time for all of us.It wasn't good enough. ('Enough' comes after the adjective.)

Adverbs (3/3)ADVERBS MODIFYING ADVERBSAn adverb can modify another. As with adjectives, the adverb precedes the one it is modifying with 'enough' being the exception again.EG: She did it really well.He didn't come last night, funnily enough.

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUNSAdverbs can modify nouns to indicate time or place.EG: The concert tomorrowEG: The room upstairs

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUN PHRASESSome adverbs of degree can modify noun phrases.EG: We had quite a good time.They're such good friends.Quite; rather; such; what (What a day!) can be used in this way.

ADVERBS MODIFYING DETERMINERS, NUMERALS & PRONOUNSAdverbs such as almost; nearly; hardly; about, etc., can be used:EG: Almost everybody came in the end.

Pronoun

A pronoun is a word that substitutes a noun or noun phrase. There are a number of different kinds of pronouns in English.

TYPES OF PRONOUN:1 Demonstrative Pronoun - this, that, these, those2 Personal Pronoun - I, you, he, she, etc..3 Possessive Pronoun - mine, yours, his, etc..4 Reflexive Pronoun - myself, yourself, etc..5 Interrogative Pronoun - who, what, where, etc..6 Negative Pronoun - nothing, no, nobody, etc..7 Reciprocal pronoun - each other, etc..8 Relative Clause - who, whose, which, that, etc..9 Quantifier - some, any, something, much, many, little, etc.

Preposition

A preposition is a word that links a noun or pronoun to other words. They can have a variety of meanings:

Direction- He's going TO the shopsLocation- It's IN the boxTime- He left AFTER the lesson had finishedPossession- The Government OF Italy

Some prepositional phrases can function like single word prepositions; next to, in front of, etc., called complex prepositions.

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word like AND, BUT, WHEN, OR, etc., which connects words, phrases or clauses.

Articles

A, AN, and THE are called articles. THE is the Definite Article

A and AN are both used for the Indefinite Article

"The boy" refers to a definite, particular boy, but "A boy" refers to no particular boy; it could be any boy.

When no article is used, it is sometimes referred to as the Zero Article.

Articles belong to a group of words which are known as Determiners; they restrict or specify a noun in some way.

Definite Article

'The' is the definite article is English. It is used to restrict the meaning of a noun to make it refer to something that is known by both the speaker or writer and the listener or reader:

He's gone to the shops. (Here the listener knows which shops I mean)

It can also be used to refer back to something that has already been mentioned:There's a word for that. Now, what is the word?

It can be used to refer forwards to something that is coming:The key to the front door is under the mat.

It can be used to refer to a group:The car has changed our way of living.

Indefinite Articles

There are two indefinite articles in English: 'a' and 'an'. They are used before a singular noun that has a plural form. 'A' is used before a consonant sound and 'an' is used before a vowel sound.

The sound is more important than the spelling; we say 'an umbrella' and 'a union' because the sounds of the first letter are different.

Subject

The subject of a sentence is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that precedes and governs the main verb.

EG. He is a really nice guy. ('He' is the subject of the sentence, controlling the verb and the complement.

My dog attacked the burglar. ('My dog' is the subject, controlling the verb and the rest of the sentence.)

Word

A word is the smallest unit of a language that can exist on its own in either written or spoken language. A morpheme such as -ly, used to create an adverb cannot exist without the adjective it modifies; it is not a word, although the adjective it modifies can exist alone and, therefore, is a word:

The woman was robbed. (4 words- an article a noun an auxiliary verb and a past participle. 'Robbed' consists of the verb 'rob' and the -ed morpheme to show that it is a past participle so the sentence has 5 morphemes.)

Object

The object of a verb is created, affected or altered by the action of a verb, or appreciated or sensed by the subject of the verb.

EG: He wrote the book. ('book' is the object, created by the action of writing)

EG: I saw the film. ('film' is the object, sensed by the subject seeing it)

Verbs

Verbs are one of the major grammatical groups, and all sentences must contain one. Verbs refer to an action (do, break, walk, etc.) or a state (be, like, own).

The verb tense shows the time of the action or state. Aspect shows whether the action or state is completed or not. Voice is used to show relationships between the action and the people affected by it. Mood shows the attitude of the speaker about the verb, whether it is a declaration or an order. Verbs can be affected by person and number to show agreement with the subject.

Main Verbs

The main verb is the most important verb in a sentence; without it, the sentence would not be complete.

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full-stop, exclamation or question mark in written language, containing a main verb.

Aspect

Aspect in a verb shows whether the action or state is complete or not: She's doing a crossword puzzle. (incomplete- progressive aspect)

They've washed up. (complete- perfect aspect)

The progressive aspect is often called 'continuous'.

Voice

Voice shows the relationship between the verb and the noun phrases connected to it. There are two voices in English; the passive and the active.

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word like AND, BUT, WHEN, OR, etc., which connects words, phrases or clauses.

Clause

A Clause is a part of a sentence that usually contains a Subject and a Verb. It is usually connected to the other part of the Sentence by a Conjunction. It is not a complete sentence on its own.