Analysing a literary extract
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Flip to reveal answersWhat is the goal of analysing a literary extract?
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Question
What is the goal of analysing a literary extract?
Answer
To say what the passage MEANS and HOW the writer achieves that meaning, then link it to the whole work — not to retell the plot.
Question
Summary vs analysis?
Answer
Summary retells what happens; analysis explains what the passage means and how the writer's choices create that meaning and its effect.
Question
What should you annotate in an extract?
Answer
Key images (and their feelings), shifts in mood or voice, who is speaking and how, and repeated words or ideas.
Question
What is a 'shift' and why mark it?
Answer
A change in mood, tense, or point of view. Shifts almost always carry meaning, so they are worth analysing.
Question
The 'what + how' method?
Answer
First the content (what the passage is about), then the technique (how it is written) — always tied to the effect on the reader.
Question
Name four techniques to comment on.
Answer
Voice (who narrates and their tone), imagery (the pictures/senses), diction (word choice), and structure (how the passage is arranged).
Question
What must every analytical point end with?
Answer
The EFFECT on the reader. Naming a technique with no effect ('there is a metaphor') earns nothing.
Question
How do you structure a spoken extract analysis?
Answer
Place the extract (where it sits, what is happening), analyse two or three deep points with quotation, then link it to the whole work.
Question
Name three common pitfalls in extract analysis.
Answer
Retelling the plot instead of analysing; naming devices with no effect; forgetting to link the extract to the whole work.
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Topic 8.2 hub
The literary individual oral
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English B exam skills
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