Key Idea: This topic is about how a text is built, not just the words in it. Four things to spot: narrative perspective (who tells the story and how much they let you see), characterisation & dialogue (how a person is built, and how their speech gives them away), structure & sequencing (the order — where it starts, jumps, speeds up or ends), and sound devices (how the sound of the words creates feeling). Most students only analyse individual words, so naming these build-choices — and what they do — is a strong Paper 1 move.
🗝️ The techniques to know
| Technique | What it means | Quick example |
|---|---|---|
| First person | The narrator is inside the story (‘I’) — close, but only their view | ‘I smiled, but I knew he was lying’ |
| Third person | The narrator stands outside (‘she / he / they’) | ‘She locked the door, telling herself she wasn't afraid’ |
| Unreliable narrator | A teller we doubt — they misread or hide things | ‘He was only being friendly, I'm sure of it’ |
| Characterisation | Building a person through looks, actions and choices | ‘She paid in exact coins, counted twice’ = careful, anxious |
| Dialogue | What a character says — and how — reveals them | ‘Fine. Great. Perfect,’ through gritted teeth = anger |
| Structure / sequencing | The order: opening, time shifts, pacing, ending | Starting on the funeral, then jumping back in time |
| Sound devices | The sound of words — repeated letters, vowels, rhythm, rhyme | ‘soft silk slipped’ hisses gently |
🔍 The one move that scores
Every point uses the same move: name the choice (the perspective, a line of dialogue, a time shift, a repeated sound), say its effect, then the so what — what it makes the reader feel, whose side it puts them on, or what it hides. Don't just label ‘first person’ or ‘it uses a flashback’ — say what that choice does to the reader.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — perspective and dialogue
Analyse: “‘Everything's under control,’ I told them, my hands steady. If anyone saw the smoke behind me, they were too polite to say.”
Step by step:
Name the perspective: first person — ‘I told them’, ‘my hands steady’ — so we only get this one person's version.
Spot the gap: the calm dialogue ‘everything's under control’ sits right next to ‘the smoke behind me’.
So what: the clash makes us doubt the narrator and read past them to see the real danger they're playing down.
The first-person voice draws us in close, but the calm words clash with the smoke, so we stop trusting the narrator and read past them — the gap between what they claim and what's really happening is the whole effect.
IB-style question — structure and sequencing
Analyse the structure: “The funeral was on Tuesday. To understand it, go back to that spring, when everything still looked fine. It looked fine right up until the Tuesday.”
Step by step:
The opening drops us on the ending — ‘The funeral was on Tuesday’ — so we know the worst first.
Then it jumps back in time: ‘go back to that spring’ — an out-of-order structure.
So what: because we already know how it ends, every ‘fine’ moment feels loaded with dread; the repeated ‘looked fine’ reminds us it wasn't.
Opening on the death and then jumping back makes the reader read the calm spring unable to relax — the out-of-order structure turns ordinary ‘fine’ moments into quiet dread, always waiting for the Tuesday.
IB-style question — sound devices
Analyse the sound: “The waves whispered and washed, then withdrew — a slow, soft hush against the sand.”
Step by step:
Alliteration: the repeated soft ‘w’ — ‘waves whispered and washed… withdrew’ — sounds like water going in and out.
The soft ‘s’ and ‘h’ in ‘slow, soft hush against the sand’ hiss quietly, like the sea on the beach.
So what: the gentle sounds make the whole line feel calm and sleepy — you almost hear the tide.
The soft repeated ‘w’ and hissing ‘s’ and ‘h’ sounds imitate the wash of the sea, so the line feels calm and sleepy — the sound itself, not just the meaning, builds the peaceful mood.
Important: Don't stop at the label (‘first person’, ‘it uses a flashback’, ‘alliteration’). Always add what the choice does: what the perspective lets you see or hides, what a line of dialogue shows about the character (the reveal, not ‘he is controlling’), what the order makes the reader feel, and what a repeated sound feels like — soft, harsh, slow.
Tap each card to check yourself.
How do you analyse perspective? Name first or third person, then say what it lets us see or hides — and whether the teller can be trusted.
How does dialogue build character? Quote a line and say what it shows about the speaker — watch for a gap between what they say and what they do.
Why analyse structure? Where a text starts, jumps, races or ends is a choice — say what that order makes the reader feel.
A story ending on its opening scene — what is it? Circular structure — an ending that echoes the opening is almost always deliberate; say what's changed.
How do you analyse a sound device? Name it, quote where you hear it, then match the sound to a feeling — soft soothes, hard hits, long vowels slow.
Exam Tips
- Name the perspective (first or third) and say how much it lets you see — one head, or everyone's.
- Look past looks — a small action or a line of dialogue reveals a character best.
- Read for the order: does it start at the beginning, jump in time, or echo its opening at the end?
- Read a line in your head — name the sound device, then match the sound to a feeling.
- Never stop at a label — every point needs the effect and the ‘so what’.