Teaching Input » Resources & Materials

Tutorial for learning

The section will provide resources considered relevant to learn how to analyse literary texts.

Tutorial for beginners . It provides an audio version of a possible procedure that may help students without previous experience. Please, save file on your PC, if you do not want to wait too long a time!
Critical Reading. New!

Common errors

Four basic problems tend to occur when beginning writers try to achieve integration between

questions about the text and their own writing:

oversimplified research-paper proof structure
directed paraphrase
letting the text speak for itself without making any attempt to analyze it
tracing a metaphor, theme, or figure without making something of that tracing.

Analysis is:

1. Paying attention to the language the text uses to say something:

2. Breaking the text into new parts and making something new out of it:

3. Speaking for the text

4. Tracing and telling

Analysing texts: Useful functions

Steps	Functions	*Expressions*
1. Kind of text : What sort of text is it?	The text "(heading)" is a * about (main idea)	*sort of texts: narration, description, advertisement, report, brochure, instruction manual, conversation, dialogue, discussion, interview, song, poem, cartoon, photograph, letter, comic, story, fairy tale, short story
2. Contents: What does the text tell us?	This*is about 1) The 2) tells the (3) about 1) reports on (1) deals with (1)	(1) the question wh.., the problem of ....ing, the statement that.., the idea that , the vision of..., the situation of ..., the advantages and disadvantages of ..., the conflict / the comparison / the relationship between ... and ...., (2) narrator, author, advertiser, reporter, persons, interviewer, song writer, poet, cartoonist, photographer, letter writer, story-teller, 3) the reader, the listener, us, the viewer,
3. Setting: Where and when does the action take place?	The setting of the * is in (4) / near (4) The action takes place in (5) / during the time when (5) in an atmosphere of (6)	places: (4) at a school, in Sydney, in Australia, time: (5) in the morning of a bright day, in July, in 1999, atmosphere: in an atmosphere of (6) peacefulness, calmness, in an unfriendly / friendly / tense / hostile atmosphere, in the .. world of
4. Characters: Who are the main / minor characters?	The main characters are (7) because... X is a person who seems to me to be ... There are some details in the text which show that X is (7) In line ... he/she says/reacts in a (5) way. His/her feelings/reasons/ motives are (8) I don't find X likeable because... I don't think X is very convincing because... His/her behaviour seems to change in the course of the story. The story might have ended differently if X..	(7) clever - stupid, interesting - boring, lazy - hard-working, difficult - simple, honest - dishonest, sensible - careless, strong - weak, fair - unfair, friendly - unfriendly, independent - dependent, happy - unhappy, lucky - unlucky (8) realistic, understandable, hard to understand
5. Plot: Into how many parts can the text be divided? Find a heading to each paragraph. Is there a development (beginning, climax, turning point, ending) ?	The text can be divided into ... parts. The first part is about... The turning point / the climax is reached when The happy ending is (isn't) surprising because.... I find the plot of the story (8) The story is told from ........'s point of view. The story shows some positive/ negative aspects of ......	(8) great, interesting, exciting, terrific, sad, awful, funny, simple, realistic, far-fetched, absurd,
6. Message: (The author's point of view): What are the main points? What's the problem? Which solution is suggested or formulated?	(2) mentions.../ presents.../ attempts to catch.../ voices his/her.. The main points are..... In line .... it says for example that.. The beginning / climax/ ending is (isn't) surprising (at all). Some questions can't be answered for example why ......
7. Your point of view (Your opinion) What do you think about the text? Give reasons.: Which impressions do you have? Give quotations. What's your view of the matter?	I find the * (9) because it reminds me of ... My first impression was that ......., but later .... In my opinion the is right when he/she says that ..... So all in all I liked/enjoyed the because it gave me the idea that I could see the (11) in the same way./So all in all I disliked the * because I would feel, act differently.	(10) good, great, interesting, exciting, terrific, sad, awful, funny, simple, realistic, far-fetched, absurd (11) the question, the problem of ....ing, the statement that.., the idea that ..., the vision of..., the situation of ..., the advantages and disadvantages of ..., the solution to the conflict the relationship between ..

Example

Analysing a text: Example: "Teenagers' talk"(Click here for the text)

1. Kind of text :	What sort of text is it?	The text "Teenagers' talk" is a report about the situation of British teenagers.
2. Contents:	What does the text tell us?	It tells us about the life, the personal facts and the opinion of five different teenagers.
3. Setting:	Where and when does the action take place?	The persons are shown in their everyday situations at home, at school, in their jobs or in their free time.
4. Characters:	Who are the main / minor characters?	The teenagers are three 16 to 17-year-old girls and two boys of 15 and 17. Linda Gibb and John Brodrick still go to school, but John wants to leave school as early as possible. Paul Grey is unemployed and plays the drums in a group while Brenda Wilson is an apprentice in a hairdressing salon and Vivienne Davis an assistant in a big department store.
5. Plot:	Into how many parts can the text be divided? Find a heading to each paragraph.	The text can be divided into ten parts which follow two different lines: First the person is introduced by some personal facts, then he or she states his or her opinion about his or her situation. We can combine every two parts to one paragraph under the heading of the names of the different teenagers.
6. Message: (The author's point of view):	What are the main points? What's the problem? Which solution is suggested or formulated?	The author wants to show us the different points of view teenagers may have. Brenda complaints about her parents' lack of trust; Linda is fed up with her father's criticism and wants to leave home as early as possible; John is upset by his teacher's bad treatment; Paul doesn't go on well with his parents because they disagree with his outfit and his idea of an ideal job for him; at last Vivienne's statement draws the picture of a brave world, in which everyone can get on with each other if only they'll try and follow certain rules like talking together in the right tone with politeness and respect.
7. Your point of view (Your opinion)	What do you think about the text? Give reasons.: Which impressions do you have? Give quotations.	As far as I'm concerned Brenda Wilson's points are those that I can underline. I'm of the opinion that trust is the base of every relationship whether it is the relationship between parents and children or between friends. I think Linda is still a bit childish because she gets upset about her father's criticism. I wonder why she listens to him. It's difficult for me to understand Vivienne's point of view. I can't believe that she is only 16 because I'm convinced that every teenager must fight against adults so that he or she can find himself or herself as an individual of his or her own, different from all parents and teachers. All in all I think that the text is rather realistic and demonstrates some of the conflicts teenagers have.