CRITICALANALYSIS

What?
CONTENTFirstofallyoumustunderstandwhatthepassageisaboutandwhatthewriterissaying.
1. Read over the passage several times (three?), at least once aloud. Look up all the unfamiliar words and find
meaningincontext.

2. Give the passage a title, if it is a relatively long passage of several paragraphs, give each paragraph a title. This
helpstofocusyourattentiononthemainthesisandsupports.

3. Summarizethepassage;orparaphraseapoem;seethatyouincludeallmainideasbutitmustbeINYOUROWN
WORDS.

Why?
PURPOSE
THEME;THESIS:FOCUS
4. Purpose decide what the primary purpose of the writer is in the passage. It is to (a) entertain, (b) inform (c)
persuade,(d)arouseemotion(e)provideinsight

FocusIfitisexpositoryprose,findthethesis.Ifitisapoem,decideonatheme.Ifitisnarrativeordescription,
decidewhatoveralleffectthewriterisafter;howdoesheorshewantthereadertoreact?

Who?
VOICE
POINTOFVIEW
5. Whatcluesaretheretowhoisspeaking.
Whatkindofpersonisthis?background?personality?
mood?intention?bias?Isitthevoiceofthewriter,orofacharacter?orofanassumedpersona(amaskwhich
thewriterisadopting)?

WhereandWhen
LOCATINGTHEPASSAGE
6. Whatcluesaretheretotheplaceandtimeofthewriting?
Locatethecluesandidentifytimeandplace.Thesemayormaynotbeimportanttotheeffectintendedbythe
writer.Thisisuptoyoutodecide.

How
STYLEThisincludesForm;Style;Tone.
Formtheorganizingprincipleofapieceofwork;theorder,emphasis,andstructureofallitscomponentparts.
Style the manner of expression of a writer; his or her choice of words, sentence structure, imagery figures of
speech;rhythm;patterns.
Tonetheattitudewhichawritertakestowardshisorhersubjectmatter,ortohisorherreaders.Themood
impartedbythestyleofwriting.

7. FormWhatpatternsofstructurecanyouspot?whatistheirintendedeffect?
StyleLookcarefullyatthewords,andtheimagesandthesounds.Whyhasthewriterchosencertainwords,and
certainpatternsofwords?whatkindsofsentencepatternsandlengthsareusedandwhy?Whatsensesdoesheor
sheappealtoandwhy?whatfigurativelanguagedoesheuseandwithwhateffect?
Tone Whatmood comes over? How does he or she achieve that mood? And how does the tone relate to the
writerspurpose.

NOTE:Thedangerinstyleanalysisisthatyoufindandidentifyallthedetailsbutforgettorelateallthedetailstothe
overallpatternandpurposeofthepassage.Sohereyoumustgobacktostepfouragain,andrelateeverythingto
thewriterspurposeandcentralfocus.
 HOWTOREADAPOEM(closestudy)

Step1 Readthepoemthroughthreetimes:
1. silently,forfast:impression
2. ALOUDnotingshiftsinpattern,thought,voice,flow.
3. again,toadjustfirstimpression.
Notethetitle.
WHATisthesinglemostdominantimpressionofthepoem?

Step2 Askyourselfthefollowingquestions;andlocatetheevidenceforyouranswers.

WHATisgoingonhere?Whatisthedramaticsituation?Evidence(howdoyouknow?)
(Look on it as if it were a brief glimpse into a play scene, an overheard conversation, a flash of telepathy into
someonesthoughtsandfeelingsofthemoment)

WHOisspeaking?Thisisknownasthevoice/persona/speaker.
Whatkindofaperson.Whatishisattitudetothesituation?
(TONE)
Whoiss/hespeakingto?attitude?relationship?
Howreliableisthespeaker?Howconsistentisthespeakerwiththesituation?
(IRONY)

Step3 HOWdoesthepoemachievetheeffectofthedominantimpressionEffect?younotedabove?

Lookatthefollowing:

Patterns: Whatdoesthewholestructuredo.Whyisittheshapeitis?
Whyarestanzas,lines,soconstructed?
Listenforrepetitions.
Listentorhythm,meter,rhyme,andsoundpatterns.

Images: Notethatimagesareanyappealtoanyofthesenses:
taste,couch,sight,sound,smell,movement.
WherearethereliteralIMAGES;wherearetheyfigurative(METAPHOR)?Andwhy?

Words: (Diction):
Whythechoiceandpositionofwords?Whatextraimplications,connotation,dimensions,allusions?

Step4 SOWHAT?HowdoallthesecontributetowhatthepoemisDOING?Andhowwelldoesitdowhatitisdoing?

WORDSYOUSHOULDKNOWANDUSE
Persona Tone Irony Symbol Meter
Juxtaposition Rhythm Rhyme Connotation Parallels
Imagery Image Form Stanza Metaphor