CAPITOL UNIVERSITY

Cagayan de Oro City

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Reading and Analyzing Literary Texts

Part 1.
Guidelines in Approaching a Literary Text:

1. Read the piece.

2. Re-read using the ‘literary lens’.
3. Annotate your observations, tentative analysis, or questions in the printed copy of
the text.
4. Write a thesis statement, or identify the theme.
5. Back up with evidence from the text.
6. Comment on how the piece reflects or not reflects reality.
7. Evaluate the piece’s significance to the reader, the society, and the world.

In analyzing a piece of literature, you should be able to identify the techniques, devices, forms
used by the author so you can sufficiently annotate a text. Read the following concepts.

The Literary Lens

1. Form

Prose and poetry are the two common forms of literature; wherein prose is written work,
which contains sentences and paragraphs, and does not have any metrical structure. As against,
poetry is a genre of literature which is based on a particular form, that creates a rhyme.

2. Theme
Theme is:
• the central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work of literature.
• the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject—the writer’s view of the world or
a revelation about human nature.

Theme is NOT:
• expressed in a single word
• the purpose of a work
• the moral
• the conflict

Identifying the Theme in Five Steps

To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified the story’s plot, the way the
story uses characterization, and the primary conflict in the story.

Use these steps to determine the theme for a work:

1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence description for the exposition, the conflict, the
rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
2. Identify the subject of the work.
3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the subject.
 • How did the protagonist change?
• What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution of the conflict?
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth about the subject.
5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that state what was learned and how
it was learned.

Theme Litmus Test

• Is the theme supported by evidence from the work itself?
• Are all the author’s choices of plot, character, conflict, and tone controlled by this
theme?

e.g. In the movie Godzilla, the theme can be something like this: “Nature is a powerful force to
be reckoned with.”

3. Repetition
A. Repetition of Words
My dreams are dreams of thee, fair maid. -Rural Maid
B. Repetition of Sentences or Phrases
I dream that one day our voices will be heard
I dream that one day our hope becomes worth. – Paraiso

4. Devices
A. Flashback is the writer’s use of interruption of the chronological sequence of a story to go
back to related incidents which occurred prior to the beginning of the story.

e.g. Carolyn Forché’s poem Blue Hour. Blue Hour begins in the present:

The moon slips from its cerement, and my son, already disappearing into a man, moves
toward his bed for the night, wrapped in a towel of lake scent.

In the next section of the poem, we are launched into the past with a flashback. We
know this because her son, now a man, is just being born:

My son rows toward me against the wind. For thirty-six years, he rows. In 1986, he is born
in Paris.
B. Foreshadowing is the writer’s use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur later in
the story. The use of this technique both creates suspense and prepares the reader for
what is to come.

e.g. Some of the most famous examples of foreshadowing in literature can be found in
Shakespeare’s works. Romeo and Juliet is brimming with lines that foreshadow future
events in the play. For example, in the famous balcony scene, Romeo expresses that he
wouldn’t mind being caught by Juliet’s guards, stating that,

life were better ended by their hate, / Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.

In simple terms, Romeo would rather die than live his life without Juliet’s love. His words
foreshadow Romeo and Juliet’s suicides, and the family conflict that precedes their
deaths.
 C. Juxtaposition is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out
their differences. Imagine a man walking a well-groomed dog on a pink leash on one
hand and a rough Rottweiler on a spiked collar on the other hand. The juxtaposition could
be shocking, humorous, or just plain strange. Regardless, this literary term calls attention to
two distinctly different things by placing them right beside one another, or juxtaposing
them.

e.g. Here are some proverbs that are examples of juxtapositions:

All’s fair in love and war: Even though love and war are opposites, this proverb says that
they have one similarity. It says that anything can happen in love and war. This
juxtaposition shows that the two words may be more similar than they are.

Making a mountain out of a molehill: This juxtaposition signifies extent and size. A
molehill is almost invisible in front of the size of a mountain. This proverb tells us not to
intensify a problem that is not such a big deal.

D. Symbol is an image that becomes so suggestive that it takes on much more meaning than
its descriptive value. It urges the reader to look beyond the literal significance of the
poem’s statement of action: the connotations of the words, repetition, placement, or other
indications of emphasis. It is considered as the richest and at the same time the most
difficult of all the poetical figures.

e.g. In Greek mythology, the Gods are all symbols for forces of nature – for example,
Poseidon is a symbol for the sea. He is extremely powerful, but also wrathful and
unpredictable. By telling stories of Poseidon’s vengeful fury, the Greeks (who were not
great shipbuilders) symbolically delivered a message about how dangerous the sea
can be.

Let’s Explore!

When studying poetry, you need to be able to analyze it. The best way to do this is by reading
it several times and by annotating it. The most effective way to annotate a poem is by writing all over
the poem - the old-fashioned way with a pen!

(see next page for a sample)

Sample Annotation:

(end of part 1)
Part 2.
E. Imagery is the use of sensory details or descriptions that appeal tone or more of the five senses:
sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; senses of the mind

• Visual Imagery - this the most frequent type of imagery used to recreate a certain image.

e.g. The crimson liquid spilled from the neck of the white dove, staining and matting its pure,
white feathers.

• Auditory Imagery - this is the mental representation of any sound and it is vital in imagining
and feeling a situation.

e.g. "Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar

Of trees and crack of branches, common things, But nothing so like beating on a box"
(From 'An Old Man's Winter Night' by Robert Frost)

• Kinesthetic Imagery - it is a broader term used to describe the sense of movement or

tension.

e.g. "The clay oozed between Jeremy's fingers as he let out a squeal of pure glee."
e.g. "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (from 'Daffodils' by W. Wordsworth)

• Olfactory Imagery - it is related to smell and this imagery helps summon and deliver the
smells to the reader.

e.g. "I was awakened by the strong smell of a freshly brewed coffee."

• Tactile imagery - it appeals to the sense of touch by presenting attributes like hardness,
softness or hot and cold sensations.

e.g. 'The bed linens might just as well be ice and the clothes snow.' From Robert Frost's "The
Witch of Coos"

• Gustatory imagery - it illustrates and recreates the tastes of food or many other things.
e.g. "I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving
for breakfast. Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold" (From the poem "This Is
Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams)

(end of part 2)

Part 3.
5. Figures of Speech - a phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. It conveys
meaning by identifying or comparing one thing to another, which has connotation or meaning
familiar to the audience. That is why it is helpful in creating vivid rhetorical effect.

Types of Figures of Speech

A. Allusion - a figure of speech that makes a reference to or a representation of people,

places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.
 e.g. “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” – “Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s
Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and Juliet”.
e.g. The rise of poverty will unlock Pandora's box of crimes.

B. Anaphora - a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the

beginning of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis.

e.g. “Buying nappies for the baby, feeding the baby, playing with the baby: This is what
your life is when you have a baby.”
e.g. “She looked to the left, she looked to the right, she looked straight ahead.”

C. Antithesis - a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or
clauses. An antithesis is used when the writer employs two sentences of contrasting meanings in
close proximity to one another. The purpose of using an antithesis in literature is to create a
balance between opposite qualities and lend a greater insight into the subject.

e.g. “All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the
misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.” –Shantiva

e.g. “…ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My
fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can
do for the freedom of man”. –John F. Kennedy

D. Apostrophe - a figure of speech in which some absent or non-existent person or thing is

addressed as if present and capable of understanding or replying.

e.g. “Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me,
crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and
leave me in darkness.” – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818

E. Hyperbole - involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.

e.g. I am dying of shame.

e.g. She shed a flood of tears.

F. Irony - refers to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not as it would actually
seem. Many times, it is the exact opposite of what it appears to be. This discrepancy between
expectation and reality occurs in three forms.

1. Situational Irony, where a situation features a discrepancy between what is expected and
what is actualized;
2. Dramatic Irony, where a character is unaware of pivotal information already revealed to the
audience (the discrepancy here lies in the two levels of awareness between the character and
the audience); and
3. Verbal Irony, where one states one thing while meaning another. The difference between
verbal irony and sarcasm is exquisitely subtle and often contested. Verbal irony is often
sarcastic.

e.g. I enjoyed the movie as much as getting a root canal.

e.g. Exclaiming “oh great” after failing an exam.

G. Litotes - a figure of speech consisting of an ironical understatement in which affirmative is

expressed by the negation of the opposite. In this figure of speech, the usages are intentional,
ironical and provide emphasis to the words. This is mainly done through double negatives. To
put it in simple terms, in litotes, instead of saying that something is attractive, you say it is not
attractive.

e.g. “Not too bad” for “very good” confirms a positive idea by negating the opposite.
e.g. Einstein is not a bad mathematician.

H. Metaphor - an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something
important in common.

e.g. The world’s a stage.

e.g. He has a lion in battle.

I. Metonymy- a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with
which it is closely associated.; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by
referring to things around it.

e.g. “The pen is mightier than the sword”. (Pen stands for thought and reason, while the
sword represents physical warfare.)
e.g. Malacanang will be announcing the decision around noon today. (Malacanang- in
place of the president)

(end of topic)