Text analysis

LAT winter term

Starting point
• Write down results and your main reasoning.
• Give reasons for your text analysis.
• Read texts several times to test and revise understanding of both the
parts and the whole.
• Start with the assumption that the author makes true statements
and gives sound arguments and go on to test this assumption
(principle of charity).
Preparing a text analysis

• What are the specific goals of your text analysis?

• How much time do you have?
• How detailed should the analysis be?
• Gather basic information about the text.
Basic information about the text - checklist
• Who is the author?
• When was the text first published?
• Where was the text first published?
• Transmission history: In which language was the text written?
• Is there more than one version of it? Is there a critical or a standard edition?
• What is the topic of the text?
• To what text type does it belong? For example: documentation (data compilation), information (scientific
paper), argumentation (essay), advocacy and persuasion (political program), prescription (law), information
dissemination (public media).
• Readership: To whom is the text targeted?
• Context of publication and discussion: In which political and social situation was the text written? To which
discussion should it make a contribution? For or against who or which position was it written? What is the
position of the text in the context of the complete works of the author?
• Impact: Is the text well known? has it been influential?
Reading the text
• Sequential reading: The text is read “from beginning to end”. Sequential
reading is usually necessary if you have to read the entire text.
• Selective reading: Individual passages are read, but not necessarily in the
order of their arrangement in the text.
• Diagonal reading: The text is “scanned” to identify as fast as possible the
most important contents and the main features of its structure.
• Cursory reading: The text is “read through” to grasp its content and structure
quickly and in broad outlines.
• Intensive reading: The text is read meticulously to capture its content and
structure carefully. In this process, you have to mark the text and work in a
written form.
Structuring the text
• Structure the text by dividing it into passages that constitute unity of thought.
• For every passage of text, consider the following questions:
• (a) Extent: Which parts of the text belong to this passage?
• (b) Content: What is this passage about?
• (c) Function: Which function does this passage serve? (e.g., thesis, comment, argument,
example)
• (d) Relation: To which other passages is this passage related?
• Provide every passage with a title that expresses its content and function.
• Represent the structure: use the titles as a starting point for an overview
representing relations between passages and documenting which parts of the text
belong to each passage.
• Useful representations are numbered hierarchies and diagrams.
Understanding the structure of a text
• Start with a rough outline of the text. It is useful to identify a general
scheme, for example:
• introduction – main part – conclusion
• plan – execution – results
• thesis – justification – objections – answers to the objections
• question – answer 1 – critique of answer 1 – answer 2 – … – proposed
solution
• Within these larger parts, look for subparts and sub-subparts and
refine the division step by step.
Sample text - structure
1. Divide the paragraphs into 3 parts: introduction – theses –
conclusion
2. Divide the theses into 2 parts: core thesis (conditions) – additional
theses (measures)
3. Divide the theses concerning measures by topic
4. Provide a detailed stucture analysis, identifying aim, justification,
theses and their components, conclusions.
Structuring – an example
Structuring – going into detail
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Nonfiction passages that are organized chronologically often contain dates. Fiction passages or narratives are
more subtle and are organized chronologically but usually have no dates. A narratives or story is a journey
through time, and all of the events are arranged in order of time; therefore, every story has a beginning, middle,
and end. Even if an author uses flashbacks, flash-forwards, or otherwise manipulates the time in his or her text,
the events still occur along a timeline.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Identifying when the writer is comparing and contrasting is usually not difficult because the speaker will bounce
back and forth between two subjects and this pattern is generally pretty easy to recognize. However, here are
some signal words that may indicate that the text is written using the compare and contrast organizational
pattern: like, unlike, both, neither, similar, and different.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Ideas or steps are prioritized by the writer or speaker according to a hierarchy of value. When using the order
of importance pattern of organization, information can be structured from most important to least important or
least important to most important. Both structures would be considered as the order of importance text
structure.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Sequential order, or process writing as it is sometimes called, is when information in a passage is organized by
the order in which it occurs. This method of organizing text is generally used for instructions or directions, but it
can also be used to explain processes in nature or society. Unlike chronologically ordered texts, information
organized sequentially does not occur at any specific time but, rather, anytime. Signal Words: First, next, before,
lastly, then, etc.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Spatial organization is when information in a passage is organized in order of space or location. If you were to
describe the room in which you were sitting right now, you would be using spatial organization. Spatial
organization may also be called descriptive writing and it is most frequently used when the narrator describes
how something looks. Some signal words that might indicate that the writer or speaker is following the spatial
pattern of organization include a wide array of prepositions, e.g. next to, behind, across from, below that,
above that, to the right of.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Paragraphs structured as cause and effect explain reasons why something happened or the effects of
something. These paragraphs can be ordered as causes and effects or as effects and then causes. The cause and
effect text structure is generally used in expository and persuasive writing modes.
 Other patterns of organizing texts

Problem and Solution is a pattern of organization where information in a passage is expressed as a dilemma or
concerning issue (a problem) and something that was, can be, or should be done to remedy this issue (solution
or attempted solution). There are also a few signal words which may indicate that information in a passage is
ordered in the problem and solution pattern of organization: propose, solution, answer, issue, problem,
problematic, remedy, prevention, and fix.
Text typology - mode
• Language is usually either written or spoken (it is also a system of
gestures, as with facial expressions, body language and sign language).
Speech and writing are known as modes of communication, and they
clearly have some differences, as outlined below.

Mode: a meaning-making system or channel of human communication

Oppositional view vs. speech-writing cline
• This way of categorising texts (the table in previous slide) is known as
the oppositional view.
• Although the oppositional view is a good starting point, many texts do
not fall easily into this kind of distinction. A more nuanced way of
looking at mode then, is to consider a speech–writing cline which
allows for blended-mode texts.
Blended-mode
• Blended-mode: a text which contains conventional elements of both
speech and writing.
Mode
Text typology - genre
• Genre: a way of grouping texts together based on expected shared conventions

• The study of genre is not an exact science. Some texts may belong in more than one genre.
The idea of genre is open to discussion and there is good reason to discuss genre.

• Understanding genre will help you know what to expect from a text based on its genre; it
will also help you notice when an author is playing with your expectations.

• Some consider these to be the main genres of writing: narrative (fiction), non-fiction, and
poetry. Every piece of writing can fall into one of these categories.

• Each main genre has a group of subgenres, each subgenre has as set of characteristics that
identify it.
Genres and subgenres
• Some classifications consider drama - writing that is meant to be
acted on a stage (a play), and folklore - stories handed down through
speech from generation to generation genres in their own right.
• For the purpose of this class, we will adopt the following
classification:
Narrative Non-fiction Poetry
Subgenres: Subgenres: Subgenres:
Adventure Discussion texts Free verse
Mystery Explanatory texts Visual poems
Science Fiction Instructional texts Structured poems
Fantasy Persuasion texts
Historical fiction Non-chronological
Contemporary fiction reports
Dilemma Stories Recounts
Dialogue
Play scripts
Film narratives
Myths
Legends
Fairy tales
Fables
Narrative
• Purpose: The essential purpose of narrative is to tell a story, but the
detailed purpose may vary according to genre. For example, the
purpose of a myth is often to explain a natural phenomenon and a
legend is often intended to pass on cultural traditions or beliefs.
Generic structure
The most common structure is:
• an opening that establishes setting and introduces
characters;
• a complication and resulting events;
• a resolution/ending.
- Effective writers are not constrained by predictable
narrative structure.
- Authors and storytellers often modify or adapt a
generic structure, e.g. changing chronology by not
telling the events in order (time shifts, flashbacks,
backtracking).
Language features
Language features vary in different narrative genres.
Common features:
• presented in spoken or written form;
• may be augmented/supplemented/partly presented
using images (such as illustrations) or interactive/
multimedia elements (such as hypertext/ images/
video/ audio);
• told/written in first or third person (I, we, she, it,
they);
• told/written in past tense (sometimes in present
tense);
• chronological (plot or content have a chronology of
events that happened in a particular order);
• main participants are characters with recognisable
qualities, often stereotypical and contrasting
(hero/villain);
• typical characters, settings and events are used in
each genre;
• connectives are widely used to move the narrative
along and to affect the reader/listener: to signal
time (later that day, once); to move the setting
(meanwhile back at the cave, on the other side of
the forest); to surprise or create suspense
(suddenly, without warning).
Non-fiction – Discussion texts
• Purpose: To present a reasoned and balanced overview of an issue
or controversial topic. Usually aims to provide two or more different
views on an issue, each with elaborations, evidence and/ or examples.
• Discussions contrast with persuasion texts which generally only
develop one viewpoint and may present a biased view, often the
writer’s own.
• Like all text types, discussion texts vary widely and elements of
discussion writing are often found within other text types.
Generic structure Language features

The most common structure includes: - Written in simple present tense.

• a statement of the issues involved and a preview
of the main arguments;
• arguments for, with supporting evidence/examples;
• arguments against or alternative views, with
supporting evidence/examples.
- Generalises the participants and things it refers to
using uncountable noun phrases (some people,
most dogs), nouns that categorise (vehicles,
pollution) and abstract nouns (power).

- Another common structure presents the arguments - Uses connectives (for example, therefore, however).
‘for’ and ‘against’ alternatively.
- Discussion texts usually end with a summary and a - Generic statements are often followed by specific
statement of recommendation or conclusion. The examples (Most vegetarians disagree. Dave Smith,
summary may develop one particular viewpoint a vegetarian for 20 years, finds that ...)
using reasoned judgements based on the evidence
provided. - Sometimes combined with diagrams, illustrations,
moving images and sound to provide additional
information or give evidence.
Non-fiction – Explanatory texts
• Purpose: To explain how or why, e.g. to explain the processes
involved in natural/social phenomena or to explain why something is
the way it is.
• Explanatory texts generally go beyond simple ‘description’ in that they
include information about causes, motives or reasons.
• Like all text types, explanatory texts vary widely and are often found
combined with other text types
Generic structure Language features

• A general statement to introduce the topic being - Written in simple present tense. (Hedgehogs wake
explained. (In the winter some animals hibernate.) up again in the spring.)

• The steps or phases in a process are explained - Use of temporal connectives, e.g. first, then, after
logically, in order. (When the nights get longer ... that, finally.
because the temperature begins to drop ... so the
hedgehog looks for a safe place to hide.) - Use of causal connectives, e.g. so, because of this.
Non-fiction – Instructional/procedural texts
• Purpose: To ensure something is done effectively and/or correctly
with a successful outcome for the participant(s).

• Like all text types, variants of instructions occur and they can be
combined with other text types.

• They may be visual only (e.g. a series of diagrams with an image for
each step in the process) or a combination of words and images.
Generic structure
• Begin by defining the goal or desired outcome.
(How to make a board game.)
• List any material or equipment needed, in order.
• Provide simple, clear instructions.
• If a process is to be undertaken, keep to the order
in which the steps need to be followed to achieve
the stated goal.
• Diagrams or illustrations are often integral and may
even take the place of some text. (Diagram B shows
you how to connect the wires.)
Language features
- Use of imperative verbs (commands), e.g. Cut the
card ... Paint your design ...
- Instructions may include negative commands. (Do
not use any glue at this stage.)
- Additional advice (It’s a good idea to leave it
overnight if you have time. If the mixture
separates...) or suggested alternatives (If you would
like to make a bigger decoration, you could either
double the dimensions of the base or just draw
bigger flowers.).
Non-fiction – Persuasion texts
• Purpose: To argue a case from a particular point of view and to encourage the
reader/listener towards the same way of seeing things.
• Persuasive texts can be written, oral or written to be spoken, e.g. a script for a
television advert or presentation.
• The persuasive intention may be covert and not necessarily recognised by the reader
or listener.
• Texts vary considerably according to context and audience so that persuasion is not
always a distinct text-type that stands alone.
• Elements of persuasive writing are found in many different texts including moving
image texts and digital multimedia texts.
• Some examples may include evidence of bias and opinion being subtly presented as
facts.
Generic structure Language features

• An opening statement (thesis) that sums up the - Written in simple present tense.
viewpoint being presented. (Greentrees Hotel is the - Often refers to generic rather than specific
best in the world. School uniform is a good idea.) participants (Vegetables are good for you. They...).
- Uses logical rather than temporal connectives (This
• Strategically organised information presents and proves that... So it’s clear... Therefore...).
then elaborates on the desired viewpoint. (Vote for - Tends to move from general to specific when key
me because I am very experienced. I have been a points are being presented. (The hotel is
school councillor three times and I have...) comfortable. The beds are soft, the chairs are
specially made to support your back and all rooms
• A closing statement repeats and reinforces the have thick carpet.)
original thesis. (All the evidence shows that ... It’s - Use of rhetorical questions. (Do you want to get
quite clear that... Having seen all that we offer you, left behind in the race to be fashionable? Want to
there can be no doubt that we are the best.) be the most relaxed person in town? So what do you
have to do to?)
- Text is often combined with other media to
emotively enhance an aspect of the argument, e.g.
a photo of a secluded beach, the sound of birds in a
forest
Non-fiction – Non-chronological reports
• Purpose: To provide detailed information about the way things are or were and to help
readers/listeners understand what is being described by organising or categorising
information.
• Non-chronological reports describe things the way they are, so they usually present
information in an objective way. Sometimes, the selection of information by the writer
can result in a biased report.
• As with all text types, variants occur and non-chronological reports can be combined
with other text types.
• A text that is essentially a non-chronological report written in the present tense may
include other text types such as other types of report, e.g. when a specific example is
provided to add detail to a statement. (Sharks are often seen around the coasts of Britain
but they rarely attack people. In 2006, a man was surfing in Cornwall when he was badly
bitten but it was the only incident recorded there for twenty years.)
Generic structure Language features

- In the absence of a temporal (chronological) - Often written in the third person and present tense.
structure where events happen in a particular (They like to build their nests... It is a cold and dangerous
order, non-chronological reports usually have a place to live.) or in the past tense, as in a historical
logical structure. report. (Children as young as seven worked in factories.
- They were poorly fed and clothed and they did dangerous
They tend to group information, often moving from work.)
general to more specific detail and examples or
elaborations. - The passive voice is frequently used to avoid
personalisation, to avoid naming the agent of a verb, to
A common structure includes: add variety to sentences or to maintain an appropriate
• an opening statement, often a general level of formality for the context and purpose of writing.
classification (Sparrows are birds); sometimes (Sparrows are found in... Sharks are hunted... Gold is
followed by a more detailed or technical highly valued ...)
classification (Their Latin name is...);
- Tends to focus on generic subjects (Dogs) rather than
• a description of whatever is the subject of the specific subjects (My dog Ben).
report organised in some way to help the reader - Description is usually an important feature, including the
make sense of the information, e.g. its qualities language of comparison and contrast. (Polar bears are
(Like most birds, sparrows have feathers.); its parts the biggest carnivores of all. They hibernate, just like
and their functions (The beak is small and strong so other bears. A polar bear’s nose is as black as a piece of
that it can...); its habits/behaviour/ uses (Sparrows coal.) Description is generally used for precision rather
nest in...). than to create an emotional response.
Non-fiction - Recounts
• Purpose: The primary purpose of recounts is to retell events. Their most common
intentions are to inform and/or entertain.
• Recounts are sometimes referred to as ‘accounts’.
• They are the most common text type we encounter as readers and listeners, not
least because they are the basic form of many storytelling texts.
• Stories and anecdotes can have a range of purposes, frequently depending on the
genre being used, and they often set out to achieve a deliberate effect on the
reader/listener. In non-fiction texts they are used to provide an account of events.
• Recounts can be combined with other text types, for example, newspaper reports
of an event often consist of a recount that includes elements of explanation.
Generic structure
Structure often includes:
• orientation such as scene-setting or establishing
context (It was the school holidays. I went to the
park...);
• an account of the events that took place, often in
chronological order (The first person to arrive
was...);
• some additional detail about each event (He was
surprised to see me.);
• reorientation, e.g. a closing statement that may
include elaboration. (I hope I can go to the park
again next week. It was fun.)
Structure sometimes reorganises the chronology of
events using techniques such as flashbacks, moving the
focus backwards and forwards in time, but these
strategies are more often used in fiction recounts.
Language features
- Usually written in the past tense. Some forms may
use present tense, e.g. informal anecdotal
storytelling (Just imagine – I’m in the park and I
suddenly see a giant bat flying towards me!).
- Events being recounted have a chronological order
so temporal connectives are common (then, next,
first, afterwards, just before that, at last,
meanwhile).
- The subject of a recount tends to focus on
individual or group participants (third person: they
all shouted, she crept out, it looked like an animal of
some kind).
- Personal recounts are common (first person: I was
on my way to school... We got on the bus).
Poetry
• Purpose: Poems can have many different purposes, e.g. to amuse, to entertain, to reflect,
to convey information, to tell a story, to share knowledge or to pass on cultural heritage.
• Some forms of poetry are associated with certain purposes, e.g. prayers to thank,
celebrate, praise; advertising jingles to persuade; limericks to amuse.
• Poetry is a very wide-ranging type of text and has many purposes and forms. Often
written or spoken for an intended reader, it may also be composed for a personal
outcome because the concise and powerful nature of poetry conveys emotion particularly
well.
• Like oral storytelling, poetry has strong social and historical links with cultures and
communities.
• Features of other text types are frequently used as the basis for a poem, e.g. lists,
dialogue, questions and answers.
Generic structure Language features

• Themes: Poetry selections or anthologies often Poems use the same language features as other text
group poems by their content or subject matter and types but each feature is often used more intensively
include different examples of structures. to achieve a concentrated effect, e.g. of mood,
humour, musicality: frequent alliteration, use of
• Structure: Poetry has an extremely wide range of imagery or repetitive rhythm.
structural variety, from poems that follow a rigid
textual structure to those that have only a visual or - Rhyme is used almost exclusively by poetic texts.
graphic basis. The most common structures include
patterns of rhyme (e.g. ABABCC) or metre. - Different poetic forms tend to use different
Structures based on syllable counts (such as haiku language features. The most common are rhyme,
and some versions of cinquains) are also common. metre and imagery.
Other structures rely on repetition of grammatical
patterns rather than rhythm. For example, some list
poems, dialogue poems and question and answer
poems follow a specific structure even though they
don’t include rhyme or follow a pattern of line
length.
Poetry – rhyme
Rhyme: many traditional forms use particular rhyme patterns which are
usually described using an alphabetic system.
• AABBA is the usual rhyme pattern of a limerick. Other common
patterns in poetry are AABB and ABABCC for each verse.
• The usual order of clauses or words is sometimes deliberately
rearranged to create a rhyme at the end of a line, e.g. Did he smile his
work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee? (William Blake
‘The Tyger’.)
Poetry – meter, imagery and other features
Metre: rhythm, stress patterns (e.g. dum-de, dum-de or de-dum, de-dum) syllable
patterns (e.g. 5, 7, 5 syllables in the three lines of a haiku).
Imagery: e.g. simile, metaphor, personification.
Rich vocabulary: powerful nouns, verbs, adjectives, invented words and unusual
word combinations.
Sound effects: alliteration, assonance (repetition of the same vowel phoneme in
the middle of a word, especially where rhyme is absent: cool/food) onomatopoeia
(where the sound of a word suggests its meaning: hiss, splutter).

When a poem does not use rhyme at all, it is often the distinct combination of
metre, imagery and vocabulary that distinguishes it from prose.
Intertextuality
• Intertextuality: a process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a
specific purpose and effect.

• As is the case for mode, texts do not always fit neatly into a single category. Take for example the
extract from The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater. In this, the text producer draws on the food
writing and diary genres to create a text that relies heavily on intertextuality. The resulting effect
is one of intimate, private writing (a typical feature of the diary genre) that is shared with a mass
audience and has an instructional purpose (a typical feature of the food writing genre).

 Recreating genre: The Kitchen Diaries

In no more than 200 words, rewrite the text removing the intertextual connections, so that it
fits neatly into either the food writing genre or the diary genre. Alternatively, rewrite it to
include more intertextual links – for example, making it into a radio script, a poem, a love letter, a
menu, etc. Once you have finished, provide a short analysis of your own writing, explaining your
linguistic choices and how you have manipulated generic conventions and intertextual
connections to create a new text.
Register: formality
• When creating a text, a text producer will make their language choices appropriate for the context. In
doing so, they are showing awareness of register.

• Register is determined by its situation of use (context and discourse), as well as by generic
conventions (the typical and expected linguistic and structural characteristics of a genre), e.g. the
language used between an employer and an employee in an offie is likely to use a different register to
a conversation on social media between two friends.
•
• Spoken language in the workplace might involve a specific occupational register: for example, it will
incorporate words taken from the field of work, and might use more formal grammatical structures;

• Formality is a key aspect of register, and it is important to remember that texts don’t always fall easily
into ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ categories. Instead, it’s more accurate to think about formality existing on a
cline:
Formality
Look at the following pairs of sentences. In each case the second sentence is an alternative way of
expressing the first sentence. What differences do you notice between each pair of sentences?
Comment on the use of nouns and verbs.

• Smithey makes reference to the • Smithey mentions indirectly the

anti-immunization trend.
• Such journeys into the unknown
often require a leap of faith.
fact that they were generally
against immunizing people.
• When you set off like this and
put yourself into new situations,
you often have to believe that
things will get better, even
though you can’t be sure of this.
Formality
CONTRACTIONS
• Informal: The improvements can’t be made due to budget cuts.
• Formal: Improvements cannot be made due to budget restrictions.
PHRASAL VERBS
• The ballon was blown up for the experiment.
• The ballon was inflated for the experiment
SLANG/COLLOQUIALISM
• Professors still count on students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.
• Professors expect students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.
FIRST PERSON PRONOUNS AND ACTIVE VS PASSIVE VOICE
• I considered various research methods for the study.
• Various research methods were considered for the study.
• During the interview we asked the applicants for a personal reference.
• During the interview applicants were asked to provide a personal reference.