ANALYSING LITERARY TEXTS

FIRST STEP:

Consider the title and see what expectation it give: the possible content of the poem.

Just considering the title I expect the poem to be about something at reading opening probably when spring has just started (early spring).

SECOND STEP:

Read the poem at list twice in order to be sure to had understood what it is about:

•-         look for the new words;

•-         be able to translate each line;

•-         try to find some connection between the content of the poem and the title.

THIRD STEP:

Write the denotative analysis of the poem (in your homeword say what the poem is about).

Example: the poem is express, by the speaking poet, in first person. At first he heard the notes of nature while he was sitting in a grove the speaking voice was in a good mode thinking of something pleasure, when suddenly his mind was cross by some sad thought.

FOURTH STEP:

Structure analysis: you describe the component part of the text and said what the function of each part is.

Example: the poem consist of (is made up of/is arranged into/it is organized of) six quatrain where the poet at first provide the reader with the description of the pleasant spring, and, in the last part, invites him to reflect on the relationship between man and nature.

There for the poem is partly descriptive and partly reflective.

The reflection invited is anticipated in the refrain of the second stanza (what man has made of man).

FIFTH STEP:

Connotative analysis, which consist in:

•A)   Phonological level (all that concern sound device):

•-         rhyme scheme

•-         assonances and alliteration

•-         pauses and punctuation

•-         run of lines (enjambement) and stopped lines

explain what' s the effect they produce and EXPLAIN HOW THE CHOICES MADE ADD MEANING TO THE TEXT.

•B)   Semantic level, consider:

•-         word choice

•-         Latinate or anglosaxon word

•-         Semantic field

•-         Metaphorical use of words

•-         What verb tenses are uses

Explain what the effect they produce.

C) Syntactical level: construction of the phrases