SCHEME OF ANALYSIS (1st term, 3rd course)
1. The information about the author
2. The Genre and the style
3. The form of narration
4. The type of narration
5. The setting
6. The main idea
7. The types of conflicts
8. Summary
9. The composition
10. The author’s tone
11. Character drawing
12. Choice of words
13. Appraisal part
1. Introduce the information about the
author (his creative works, the main problems passing through his literary
works).
2. Define genre to which the story under study belong (a detective story, science fiction, historical,
fantasy, documentary, a social/ psychological short story).
- social-
studies the effect of social conditions at a given time and place upon
human life and conduct
- psychological
- is concerned mainly with the mental and emotional lives of the characters.
Define the style of the story (a novel).
-
the belles- lettres style (poetry, drama, emotive prose).
3. Speak on the form of narration.
- the story is wholly a narrative (a narration), a description,
a dialogue, an interior monologue, digression,
mostly a dialogue and partially
narrative (an interior monologue), stream
of consciousness.
- it’s mostly narrative, but there
are the elements of a description/digression.
- digression consists of an insertion of material that has no
immediate relation to the theme or action. It may be critical, philosophical,
lyrical etc.
4. Speak on the type of the narration
3-rd person narration (omniscient 3-rd person narrator
(who knows everything about all events and characters including their thoughts
and feelings), limited 3-rd person narrator (who knows only certain events and
thoughts and feelings of certain characters) and 3rd-person objective point of
view has a neutral narrator that is not privy to characters’ thoughts or
feelings; the narrator presents the story with an observational tone)) 3-rd
person narrator doesn’t impose his views on the reader;
first-person narration (an
observer – an narrator, who presents the events of the story from the
first-person perspective, from his point of view and may participate in the
events of the story).
5. Setting - the description of the physical background - the place and time of the
story, the significant items surrounding the actions and characters. The global setting of the story (e.g.
New York, the Riviera) can be subdivided into numerous subsettings, or local
settings (e.g. in the office, at home, etc.).
6. The main idea of a literary work – The main idea of a story is the central idea or concept that the author wants to portray through the narrative, characters, and settings. The main idea can either be explicit, which means it's directly stated in the story, or it can be implied, which means it's not directly stated in the story.
7. The central conflict, which the writer intends to present in his work - Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story.Conflict is the problem that the characters must overcome. Conflict is solved positevely or negatively fot the character.
What are the 5 main types of conflict in writing?
- Man vs Self. This type of conflict is usually caused by something external — but the battle itself takes place within.
- Man vs Man
- Man vs Nature
- Man vs Society
- Man vs Supernatural
8. Summary (5-8 sentences). A good summary should be comprehensive, concise, coherent, and independent. These qualities
are explained below:
A summary must be comprehensive:
You should isolate all the important points in the original passage and note
them down in a list. Review all the ideas on your list, and include in your
summary all the ones that are indispensable to the author's development of
her/his thesis or main idea.
A summary must be concise:
Eliminate repetitions in your list, even if the author restates the same
points. Your summary should be considerably shorter than the source. You are
hoping to create an overview; therefore, you need not include every repetition
of a point or every supporting detail.
A summary must be coherent: It
should make sense as a piece of writing in its own right; it should not merely
be taken directly from your list of notes or sound like a disjointed collection
of points.
A summary must be independent:
You are not being asked to imitate the author of the text you are writing
about. On the contrary, you are expected to maintain your own voice throughout
the summary. Don't simply quote the author; instead use your own words to
express your understanding of what you have read. After all, your summary is
based on your interpretation of the writer's points or ideas. However, you
should be careful not to create any misrepresentation or distortion by
introducing comments or criticisms of your own.
9. The plot can be linear (or straightforward –
following the chronological order) or non-linear
(elastic
– in which the storyline is told out of chronological order; that can
take many forms: by using flashforwards,
flashbacks (retrospection), dream sequences, or foreshadowing, non-linear plotlines can mimic the recall of human
memory, or weave in fantastical elements like time travel or clairvoyance).
The composition of the story consists of the exposition (завязка), complication (события, которые ведут к кульминации), climax
(кульминация), denouement (развязка), ending (surprise ending).
Define the climax - the crucial moment. The decisive point on which the
fate of the character & the final action depend (the narration comes to
climax when…).
denouement – развязка - positive, negative,
ending – in the end of the story ... (clear cut),
surprise ending – an unexpected turn of the
plot not made clear until the end of the story.
10. The author’s tone – his attitude to what he is presenting, to his
characters (ironic, humorous, dramatic,
neutral, logic, pessimistic, optimistic, sarcastic, expecting, nervous,
worrying, suspensive, touching off the spirit of the reader ...). The tone
is not even in the text – define the tones of each part of the story when
analyzing the composition of the text and give the overall (general) tone.
11. Character drawing.
You must take into account the
following questions:
a.
Does the author give a psychological insight into the
characters?
b.
With what main problem is the character faced?
с. Do the characters change in the course of the story as a result of their
personal experience and because of the influence of other characters? (a
flat, static character – who doesn’t change, a round, dynamic character
– we observe the development of the character)
d.
Does the author reveal the thoughts and feelings of his characters directly
or indirectly?
e. Does the author sympathize with his
characters?
Distinguish the protagonist
(the main character) and the antagonist (a character in a story
who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist) of the story, and the contradiction
between them.
12. Choice of words. Define the style of the
language in the text (bookish, colloquial, neutral), implicit level, connotation
of words (negative/positive). How does the word choice help reveal the main
idea of the text?
13. Appraisal part - where you are to express
your general impression of the whole idea of the text, on the text in general,
on the author’s style, on the characters introduced.
