How to analyse?

Essay skills

What is analysing?

Analysing is about exploring the text in a deeper way

How many things do you need to think about when you are analysing?

There are 4 things you need to remember

What is the first thing you need to think about when you are analysing?

What does the character symbolise and what do they represent?

What is the second thing you need to think about when you are analysing?

What ideas are re - current (what ideas continue over and over again)

What is the third thing you need to think about when you are analysing?

What the writer is intending to do in their writing

What are they trying to do?

How are they writing it with intended purpose?

What is the fourth thing you need to think about when you are analysing?

What do we know about the writer

How many steps are there to remember when you are analysing?

There are 4 steps to remember

What is step 1?

Technique

Refer to the technique sheet for the range of techniques you can pick when looking at a quote

What is step 2?

Say what it does

Say the effect of the technique and what it does

You must think about if the technique : emphasises, draw attention to an idea, build, trust or highlight an idea

Look at the technique sheet and look at the effect of each technique

What is step 3?

Say what it shows

What does the technique further show?

If it is a connotation for example, and a connotation of a ‘’fire’’ is ‘’hell’’ this could show that there will be hellish consequences of… (explain the idea)

Use the word you said for ‘what it does’ and then explain what it shows

For example, if you say the alliteration on a phrase creates a repetitive tone (this is your what it does), you could say that this reinforces that (whatever the idea is) is repeated (this is your say what it shows) and then you would explain this

What is step 4?

Why?

Why have said it shows this?

Use words such as ‘because’ and ‘as’ to say why

Link it back to what you said the effect of the technique was earlier

When it says ‘technique’ this means I…

Pick out a technique I am confident I know the effect of

To really push yourself you should try comment on what the character…

Symbolises/represents/is a microcosm of

Symbolise - think about what they represent and what the deeper meaning/purpose is of the character

Microcosm - when a small idea represents a bigger picture or idea