Analysis of a non-fictional text

In an analysis of a non-fictional text you usually have to examine an author’s

attitude towards a topic and especially how certain feelings are created when
reading a text.
First, you summarize the author’s text and/or his/her arguments. Then, the
second task is most often to analyze its stylistic devices, its language etc. So, it’s
mainly about the following question:

How does the author try to convince the reader of his/her opinion? Of course,
you have to refer to the original text when analyzing a text by quoting or
reformulating it.

First of all, you should start with an introductory sentence e.g.

The given text “London nots - one year on“, written by Charles Jackson in 2012
tries to convince the reader of the author’s opinion that the riots were mainly
caused by police injustice. The author uses a certain line of argument and second-
hand experience to prove his point which is going to be analyzed in more detail
in the following.

Aspects to analyze:

1) Various / General
- Line of argument: Analyze the order of the arguments. Does the author
start with less persuasive arguments and end with less persuasive
arguments? Does he/she give counterarguments, and does he/she
disapprove them?

- Examples: They make the author’s opinion more lively

- Personal/second-hand experiences: It can help the reader to identify with

the author and his/her position and makes it more personal

- Statistical data/surveys/quotes from experts: You might not believe or

trust the author, but what if he quotes surveys or experts? Certainly, this
will make him/her and his/her text more reliable and trustworthy.
2) Language

- Choice of words: Of course, this influences the reader’s opinion on a topic:

Watch out for adjectives. If something is described as a horrible, brutal,
unfair and mean thing this gives you a different idea than something is
described as mind-blowing, fantastic, surreal and amazing, right? Nouns
obviously can do that, too.

- Register: Is the language of the text rather formal or informal, meaning

colloquial or even rude?

- Tone: Is the text rather angry or accusing? Or does it try to be humorous?

Often non-fictional texts work with sarcasm and irony to prove a point.

3) Stylistic devices

- Alliteration – repetition of the first letter (“Bold, bright and beautiful

British bastard”)
- Anaphora – the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of
subsequent sentences (“I didn’t like her hair, I didn’t like her clothes and I
didn’t like her behavior”)
- Enumeration – ordered listing of more than on item (“grey, old,
desperate”)
- Hyperbole – use of exaggeration as rhetorical device or figure of speech
(“She was the best teacher the world has ever seen. Better than anyone
who would ever come.”)
- Irony – the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its
real meaning (“You’re very clever. Aren’t you?”)
- Personification “assigns human characteristics to an abstract concept
(“The city that never sleeps.”)
- Metaphor – an imaginative way of describing something by referring to
something else which is the same in a particular way (“She has a heart of
stone.”)
- Repetition – the simple repetition of a word within a short period of time
(“it is important that you study for your exams. You have to study, study,
study”)
- Rhetorical question – a question asked to make a point rather than to be
answered (“Did you hear me?”)
- Simile – directly compares two things (“He was strong like a lion.”)
Important to remember: Don’t just say what kind of rhetorical device the author
uses. Explain, why it is used! If somebody calls the monarchy an old hat, there is
meaning behind that. Explain it!

Step 1: What rhetorical devices can you find in the text?

- “She has a heart of a stone” (l.38).

Step 2: Explain it!

- Stone is cold, hard and has a negative connotation.

Step 3: Say why it is used (usually to prove a point, emphasize the meaning of
something and/or to convince the reader of the author’s opinion)

- He wants to emphasize that she is cold-hearted, strict and does not

show feelings at all.

In the end of the analysis you should obviously have a conclusion which sums up
what you found out about the text.