Textual Analysis Skills Revision

What are the three questions you should ask yourself when looking at a poem for the first time?

• What, How and Why?

• Why, Where and Who?

• Why, Why, Why are we doing this?

• How, Who and Where?

The 4 areas you should focus on when analysing are:

• Imagery, Context, Meaning and Sound

• Word choice, structure, similes and alliteration

• Onomatopoeia, connotations, denotations and repetition

• Word choice, Imagery, Sound and Structure

What is the formula for analysing word choice?

• The word '....' has connotations of ....... This suggests........

• The phrase'..............' links back to the previous topic of. This suggests....

• The word '......' means ......... This tells me......

• The word'.........' has denotations of....... This means........

When we analyse imagery, what is the key thing to establish?

• Using 'like' or 'as'

• What the writer was thinking

• What is being compared to what - the shared point of comparison

• Why the author has brought it in by way of comparison

What should you NOT do when analysing imagery?

• Tell the marker what the image makes you think of in your mind

• State the root of the image

• Explain the shared point of comparison

• Explore why the comparison is effective in this context

What is the formula for Imagery questions?

• Just as... so it follows that....

• Just as... so, too

• Quote and connote

• So too, .... just as

We use 'Just as' to allow us to analyse the...

• main points of the question

• how it is relevant to the context here

• simile or metaphor the author wants us to examine

• root of the image - the thing the author has brought in by way of comaprison

We use 'so, too...' in imagery questions to analyse the...

• root of the image

• how the comparison is effective in this context

• what the author was thinking

• explain the image in your mind

What is NOT a feature of sound you may wish to analyse?

• Onomotopoeia

• Alliteration

• Repetition

• Imagery

If asked to evaluate a poem's conclusion, how many times should you quote and analyse?

• As many as you like

• Twice

• Four times

• None