ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TEXT TWO

Types of text: approaching prose/poetry

When you read a prose text, start thinking about it by asking yourself the following questions.
 How is the story told?  Where is it located?
 Who is telling it?
Next, considering the features of the text will help you to analyse what the writer is doing. These could
include:
 setting  descriptive techniques
 narrative perspective  effect, or how it makes the reader feel
 characterisation  possible interpretation or interpretations
of the text’s implicit meanings.
It is useful to have a series of questions in your mind when approaching any prose text.

When you read a poem, you should also start by considering some questions:
 What is it about?
 How does it make you feel?
 What does it mean to you personally?
Them, consider how the poet communicates meaning and feeling. This could be achieved by:
 imagery  structure and form
 linguistic techniques  possible interpretation or interpretations
 rhythm and rhyme of the text’s implicit meaning

Figurative language is used to create powerful imagery in texts. It can be used by writers or poets to
create atmosphere, mood, tone and emotion, or to add to our understanding of descriptions of
character or setting. Figurative language works by making comparisons between two things. It
therefore provides the reader with a strong visual image to identify with. The most common figurative
techniques are metaphor, simile and personification.
Settings can be used in a text to suggest a mood, ideas or feelings that are important to our wider
reading of a text.

Pathetic fallacy is very similar to personification. It is usually used to make inanimate objects or things
reflect what is going on in the scene.
Use appropriate literary devices to engage your reader in feeling a sense of the place you have
chosen.

Creating characters is not an easy job. Good writers carefully reveal aspects of a character’s
personality through a combination of description, behaviour and dialogue. The introduction of a new
fictional character is a key moment. The language you choose lays the foundations for filling out the
character later. The following prompts help extend your understanding of characters. How they appear
to others:
What kinds of words are used to describe their features, build and clothing?
What does the writer want to suggest to the reader about the character’s behaviour, attitude or
interests?
What they do: What can the reader guess about the characters from their actions and behaviour?
What they say: Does the writer use direct speech? What does this tell us about what the character
thinks, feels or is likely to do?
How they say it: How does the writer make the character speak? Are they always talking about the
same thing? Do they have a particular way of talking, e.g. dialect, tone? What is the writer saying
about their background, feelings or interests? What other characters say or think about them: How are
we made to see them through other people’s eyes? Do other characters like or dislike them, admire or
despise them, trust or distrust them? Do we believe what others say about them?
Understanding character is a critical part of analysing a text. Authors can convey meaning through
characters’ words and actions and how they interact with each other. Characters can also be used to
show how a writer feels about a bigger theme or issue.
SETTING AND ATMOSPHERE
The setting of a text can tell you a lot about the text and helps to create atmosphere. If a novel is set
entirely in one room, it can evoke a tense, claustrophobic feeling. A poem featuring open countryside
under clear skies could suggest feelings of freedom and opportunity.
When approaching a new text, identify the setting and atmosphere more closely by considering the
questions below. Does the writer:
 establish the sense of place, weather, time?
 create a particular atmosphere? For example, is it tense or mysterious?
 give details of the setting? How does this link with the atmosphere created?
 choose specific vocabulary to create mood?
 use images or stage instructions to create effects? Are these linked to a subject or theme? link
setting and mood to the action or characters’ feelings?

NARRATIVE VOICE
When considering a text, it is important to study and discuss the techniques and features of narratives,
including style, plot, character, theme, viewpoint, tone and mood. A useful starting point is to consider
the ‘voice’ which is used to tell the story. Is the story written in the first person (‘I’), or third person
(written from an external perspective from the characters)?
When thinking about the narrative voice, consider these questions.
 Does the writer tell the story from a narrator’s point of view?
 Does the writer give the reader several different points of view?
 What tone is used? For example, is it urgent, anxious, relaxed, excited?
 Do you get a sense of the narrator as a character? What details of their lives are suggested?
 Is the narrator writing the story about themselves?
 Can we trust the narrator? Are there any clues that we should not believe everything that they
say?
 Is a setting and time period established? What kinds of words are used for this?

Second-person narration speaks directly to the reader, usually referring to them as ‘you’. This
technique is not used very often but can make the reader feel part of the story as it invites involvement
or agreement with the narrator

The narrative voice in a text is another key part of a text. The tone can help set the mood and
atmosphere and the choice of first- or third-person narration can help shape how events are reported.
STRUCTURE
Writers often use a variety of interesting structural devices to arrange their prose or poems. In the
exam, you need to be able to write about how the Anthology texts are organised, considering how
structure contributes to your understanding and interpretation of the text.
BEGINNINGS
 Is a setting or time period established? What kinds of words are used for this?
 Is a character (or characters) introduced? Who are they? What do you learn about them?
 Is a theme suggested? What effect does this have on the reader?
 Is there a narrator? Do they speak in a chorus or commentary (first or third person)? What is
their tone of voice like? For example, is it urgent, anxious, relaxed, excited…?
 Is dialogue used? What effect does it have on the reader? For example, is it entertaining, tense,
fast-moving, thoughtful?
 Is there a prevailing tense (past or present)? What effect does this have?
MIDDLES
 Is a problem introduced? How?
 Are all the characters behaving the same way that they did at the beginning? Which ones have
changed?
 Has the setting changed? How does it fit in with the plot? Does it give added interest?
 Are there clear links with earlier parts of the story or poem? What are they? Are they shown
through words or actions?
 Does the writer suggest what is to come? How?
ENDINGS
 Does the story or poem come to a definite end? Does the writer leave the reader to guess what
happens?
 Does the book end as you expected? Or is it a surprise, or even a shock, ending?
 Does the end echo the opening? Do we return to the same theme, setting, characters, for
example?
 Is there a moral or message? Have the characters learned a lesson? Does the author want to
tell the reader something?

When analysing the structure of a text as a whole, consider the following questions.
 Is the structure linear or does it involve time-shifts?
 What narrative links are used to suggest a movement in time?
 Is there a contrast in the tone and mood between two parts of a text when time moves?
 How much is revealed about the characters at any one time? What do you learn about the
characters when time moves?

Some writers create interesting effects by handling time in a more fluid way and not relying on a simple
beginning-middle-end structure. By using the technique of time shift, also known as prolepsis,
narrative can work in a non-linear way. This allows the reader to make connections between widely
separated events. Flashbacks to the past can change the reader’s interpretation of events and shifts
forward can give you a glimpse of the future of the narrative

How a text is structured can influence your understanding of a text and your reaction to it. How and
when information is revealed is important to both the plot and character development