Techniques and Analysis for Exam Preparation

Techniques in Analysis

• Avoid using rhetorical questions or similes just for the sake of using them. Focus on quotes and analysis instead.
• Techniques should support the answer and relate to the responder and how they are positioned to feel.

Composer, Text, Audience

• Pay attention to the question's direction.
• When a question asks how something is represented, focus on the reader.
• If the question asks how you are positioned, use a personal voice.
• Example: "The composer positions us to reconsider our perspectives…"
• Be mindful of the verb used in the question.

Analyzing vs. Explaining

• Always analyze, regardless of the verb in the question.
• Analyzing is more than just explaining cause and effect.
• Explaining retells cause and effect.

Verbs: Compare and Evaluate

• Compare: Focuses on similarities and differences between texts. Requires synthesizing the discussion.
• Evaluate: Requires making a judgment on how effective or skillful something is.

Types of Texts

• Prose texts: Fictional extracts, novels, short stories.

Narrative Point of View

• Consider the relevance of first, second, or third person narration.
• Is the narrative voice intrusive or limited?

Characterization

• Describe the type of characterization: vulnerable, strong, independent, etc.

Dialogue

• Dialogue is when two characters are speaking.
• Internal monologue: A character talking to themselves; not a conversation.

Speech, Emotive Language, Tone, and Lexical Choice

• These are fallback techniques, but broaden your scope.

Imagery

• Imagery is not confined to the senses; any descriptor will do.
• Use descriptors like natural, astronomical, or grotesque imagery.

Figurative Language

• Examples: metaphors, similes, analogies, symbolism.

Basic Features of Language

• Negative adjectives can be significant.
• Superlatives: Words at their most extreme (e.g., amazing, wonderful, spectacular).

Syntax

• Sentence length is often overlooked but significant.
• Short, sharp sentences are punchy and impactful.
• Long sentences can pad details.
• Modality: High or low.

Structure

• Consider flashbacks, nonlinear narratives, and anecdotal reflections.
• Candid Narration: Honest, reflective voice often found in opinion pieces or memoirs.

Poetry

• End stop line: A line stopped with punctuation (full stop, comma, etc.).
• Enjambment: Lines that run on without punctuation.
• Apostrophe: A reference to something not in the scene.
• Disjunction: Use of the word "but" to shift the tone.
• Volta: A dramatic shift in tone or perspective (only in poetry).
• Asyndeton: Without conjunctions. Example: Comma, eggs, comma, bread.
• Polysyndeton: Via conjunctions. Example: I bought milk and eggs and bread.
• Allusion: A reference to something.

Visual Texts

• Salience: The most noticeable image.
• Framing: Arrangement in three-dimensional space (foreground, midground, background).
• Vectors: Lines that direct the eye.
• Symbolism: Use of symbols to represent ideas.
• Color: Discuss macroscopically.
• Subtext: Any text on a visual.
• Facts, statistics, quotes.

Nonfiction Texts

• Address the argument fully.
• Look at all parts of the argument.
• Use appropriate terminology.
• Techniques include analogies, anecdotes, references to experts, facts, and statistics.
• Avoid using logos, pathos, ethos; instead, use the techniques that evoke them.
• Consider verdict language or inclusion of facts/statistics.
• Allusion: A reference, even if naming something.
• Intertextuality: Deliberate quoting of another work.

Example Analysis

• Analyze the image and its message about suffering.
• Consider the visual and language features in your analysis.
• Address both visual and language aspects in your QTEs (quote, technique, explanation).