THE MAGIC SENTENCE: ANALYSING LITERATURE AT LEVELS 1 & 2
WRITER VERB (PHRASE)
 The author
 The director
 Seamus Heaney
 George Orwell
 The persona
 The poet
 The narrator
 Andy and Lana
Wachowski
 The Speaker
 Haruki Murakami
 John Marsden
 Harper Lee
 Edgar Allan Poe
 James Hurst
Adapted from: Ian Gilchrist as printed in English in Aotearoa 71 July 2010
TECHNIQUE PURPOSE THEME
 Uses  Setting  to show us  The changing roles between father and son
 Chooses  Minor characters  to reinforce  The narrator’s connection with his history and
 Manipulates  Symbols / symbolism  to emphasise land.
 Takes the  Motifs  to illustrate  The ability of writing to explore the past.
 Employs  Costume  to epitomise  The development of grief.
 Utilises  High angle shot  to represent  The role of machines in our lives and our
 Changes the  Lighting  to develop dependence on them.
 Develops the  Extreme close up  to explore  The importance of making the right choices.
 Extends the  Foreshadowing  to make us aware of  How people sometimes choose fantasy to avoid
 Blends  Biblical allusion  to deepen our the harshness of reality.
 Intertextual allusion understanding of  The idea of fate and whether or not we decide
 Juxtaposition  to teach us about own future.
 Narrative viewpoint  to contrast  The importance of belief in ourselves.
 Hand-held camera  to make us realise  How reality is found behind apparent reality.
 Non-diegetic music  to make us question  People’s inability to really know each other.
 Silence  to challenge  People’s willingness to follow the crowd.
 Diegetic sound  to highlight  How fear can lead people to be unjust and even
 Onomatopoeia evil.
 Enjambment  How people each have their own struggles in life.
 (extended) metaphor  The power of friendship and communication.
 Alliteration  How words can cross boundaries.
 Rhyme  How knowledge is power and how that power can
 Assonance be abused.
 Sentence structure
 Structure
 Imagery
 Dialogue
 Metaphor
 Simile
 Consonance
 Parallelism

WRITER VERB (PHRASE)
 The author
 The director
 Seamus Heaney
 George Orwell
 The persona
 The poet
 The narrator
 Andy and Lana
Wachowski
 The Speaker
 Haruki Murakami
 John Marsden
 Harper Lee
 Edgar Allan Poe
 James Hurst
Adapted from: Ian Gilchrist as printed in English in Aotearoa 71 July 2010
THE MAGIC SENTENCE: ANALYSING LITERATURE AT LEVELS 1 & 2
TECHNIQUE PURPOSE THEME
 Uses  Setting  to show us  The changing roles between father and son
 Chooses  Minor characters  to reinforce  The narrator’s connection with his history and
 Manipulates  Symbols / symbolism  to emphasise land.
 Takes the  Motifs  to illustrate  The ability of writing to explore the past.
 Employs  Costume  to epitomise  The development of grief.
 Utilises  High angle shot  to represent  The role of machines in our lives and our
 Changes the  Lighting  to develop dependence on them.
 Develops the  Extreme close up  to explore  The importance of making the right choices.
 Extends the  Foreshadowing  to make us aware of  How people sometimes choose fantasy to avoid
 Blends  Biblical allusion  to deepen our the harshness of reality.
 Intertextual allusion understanding of  The idea of fate and whether or not we decide
 Juxtaposition  to teach us about own future.
 Narrative viewpoint  to contrast  The importance of belief in ourselves.
 Hand-held camera  to make us realise  How reality is found behind apparent reality.
 Non-diegetic music  to make us question  People’s inability to really know each other.
 Silence  to challenge  People’s willingness to follow the crowd.
 Diegetic sound  to highlight  How fear can lead people to be unjust and even
 Onomatopoeia evil.
 Enjambment  How people each have their own struggles in life.
 (extended) metaphor  The power of friendship and communication.
 Alliteration  How words can cross boundaries.
 Rhyme  How knowledge is power and how that power can
 Assonance be abused.
 Sentence structure
 Structure
 Imagery
 Dialogue
 Metaphor
 Simile
 Consonance
 Parallelism