SIFTA Literary Analysis Method

SIFT Method• Symbol: examine the text and title for

symbolism• Images: identify images and sensory details• Figures of Speech: analyze figurative

language and other devices• Tone and Theme: discuss how all devices

reveal tone and theme

I. Symbols: Signs of Something More

• Our everyday lives are heaped with symbols:

These commonly accepted symbols are called public symbols

Symbols in Literature• Writers create new, personal symbols in their

work.• In literature: a symbol is:– an object– a setting, – an event, – an animal, – a person that functions in the story the way you’d

expect it to,– but it also stands for something more than itself,

usually something abstract.

EXAMPLE: Moby Dick

• The white whale in Moby Dick is a very real white whale in the novel, and Captain Ahab spends the whole book chasing it.

• BUT- certain passages let the readers know that the whale is ASSOCIATED with the mystery of evil in the world.

• Symbols work by ASSOCIATION!

What it isn’t…

• A sign with just one meaning: the picture of a cigarette in a circle with a line drawn through it is a sign meaning precisely and specifically, “No Smoking”

• The white whale does not mean, precisely and specifically, “the mystery of evil”

• Associations suggested by the writer, made by the characters in the story, and ultimately made by the reader evoke images of evil, suggests aspects of the darker side of life, and hint at possible ways of seeing and thinking about events portrayed.

Is it a symbol?• Guidelines to follow…– Symbols are often visual.

– When some event or object or setting is used as a symbol in the story, you will usually find that the writer has given it a great deal of emphasis. Often it reappears throughout the story.

– A symbol in literature is a form of figurative language (i. e. Like a metaphor, a symbol is something that is identified with something else that is very different from it, but that shares some quality).

– A symbol usually has something to do with a story’s theme.

II. (SIFT) Images

• Identify images and sensory details.• Imagery helps to promote mood and tone.– What do I see, hear, taste, smell or feel?– What effect is the author trying to convey with

these images?

Tone & Mood• Tone: The attitude that an AUTHOR takes toward

the audience, subject, or the character. • Tone is conveyed through the author’s word and

details.• angry-challenging-sarcastic-outraged-humorous

• Mood: The emotions that the READER feels while reading; the atmosphere of the story.• Mood is conveyed through character emotions, setting and other elements.• Mood can be romantic, gloomy, optimistic, sad, hopeful, etc.

III. (SIFT) Figures of Speech• Analyze figurative language and other

devices.• Writers form images by using figures of

speech such as simile, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification.

• Other devices can include: irony, allusion

Simile

• A direct comparison of two things, usually using the words like or as.– “He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.” Tennyson– “Hell is a city much like London/

A populous and smoky city.” Shelley– My heart is like an apple tree whose boughs

are bent with thickest fruit.” Christina Raced

Metaphor

• An IMPLIED comparison in which one thing is spoken in terms of something else. Metaphors are extremely valuable in making an abstract idea clearer by associating the idea with something concrete that relates to one or more of the senses.– “And merry larks are ploughman’s clocks.”

Shakespeare– “Entangled in the cobweb of the schools.” Cowper– “Time let me hail and climb

Golden in the heydays of his eyes.” Thomas

Hyperbole

• The use of exaggeration or overstatement to make a point. It may be used for emphasis, for humor, or for poetic intensity.– “Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard around the world.”Emerson

It is used freely in sports broadcasting and news articles…

“…slaughtered their opponents on the basket ball court.”

Personification

• A comparison that treats objects or things as if they were capable of the actions and feelings of people.– “…Sea that bears her bosom to the moon”

Wordsworth– “The dirty nurse, Experience.” Tennyson– “Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry.” Auden

Irony• An expression in which the author’s

meaning is quite different (often the opposite) from what is literally said. Irony, as a matter of tone, occurs most frequently in prose as a technique for comedy, tragedy, suspense or horror.

• Three types of irony:– Verbal– Situational– Dramatic

IV. (SIFT) Theme and Tone

• Theme: central, underlying, and controlling idea of a literary work.

• Abstract concept represented by a character, by actions, or by images in the literary work.

• A generalization about human conduct.• Ordinarily expressed in a full sentence and it

may even require a full paragraph.

Theme = What it is NOT!

• Cannot be expressed in a single word.• Not the purpose of the work (entertainment

or instruction)• Man versus nature is not a theme, it is a

conflict.• Unlike a moral or fable, the theme is seldom,

if ever, stated.• It is never a cliché.

How Do I Figure Out the Theme?

• You must first understand the plot, the characterization and conflict, the imagery, and the author’s tone.

• Identify the subject in one word…• Then, explain in one or two sentences what

the author says about the subject.• NOTE: Many stories/novels have more than

one theme and there is seldom just one “right” answer!

For Example…

• Literature: To Kill A Mockingbird• Subject: Racism• Possible Theme: Justice is often withheld

from economically deprived racial minorities.

Tone and Theme• Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject (the

beginnings of theme)• Tone is revealed through the words he or she

chooses. (Diction)• In literature, the reader does not have the benefit of

voice inflection- even a dog understands the tone of his master’s voice!

• So, the reader must understand the author’s word choice, details, imagery and language in order to understand the tone.

More on Tone…

• To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret meaning (THEME)

• If you miss irony or sarcasm, for example, you may misread the meaning of an entire passage!

Shift in Tone

• Good authors rarely use only one tone!• A speaker’s attitude may be complex…• An author might have one attitude

toward the audience and another attitude toward the subject.

How to analyze Tone:

• Diction: the connotation of word choice• Images: Imagery that appeals to the senses• Details: Facts and details that the author has

included (does not appeal to the senses)• Language: Formal? Cliché? Jargon? Figurative

Language?• Sentence Structure: Long or short sentences?

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