ANALYZING THEMES

& TECHNIQUES USED

IN A PARTICULAR
TEXT
 LEARNING
COMPETENCIES
• Analyze and interpret the theme and techniques
used in a particular text/ HUMSS_CNF11/12-Ia-3
• Create samples of the different literary elements
based on one’s experience (e.g. metaphor to
describe an emotion)/ HUMSS_CNF11/12-Ib-d-4
 CAN YOU GUESS THE
LITERARY ELEMENTS
DESCRIBED BELOW?

SET A
They are the events that happen in
a story.
It is the struggle that occurs
between forces in the narrative.
They can be people, animals, or
even things that live in the story.
It is the underlying truth that is
conveyed by a literary work.
It is the perspective from which
the story is told.
It basically refers to the time and
place of the narrative.
 CAN YOU GUESS THE
LITERARY ELEMENTS
DESCRIBED BELOW?

SET B
It is the occurrence of the same
sounds at the end of each line in
poetry.
It is the pattern that is created by
the rhyming words in poetry.
It is the term used to refer to the
lines in poetry.
It is the term which refers to a
group of verses.
It is the pattern created by stressed
and unstressed syllables or words.
PEERING THROUGH THE LITERARY LENSES
LITERARY
LITERARY STRUCTURE/
CONTENT/ FOCUS TECHNIQUES/
GENRE FORMAT
DEVICES
expression of
POETRY lines, stanzas Poetic devices
feelings/ ideas
Basic
PROSE grammatical storytelling Elements of Fiction
structure
Dramatic Conventions
portrayal of (performance,
DRAMA acts, scenes
characters technical, literary
elements)
LITERARY
ANALYSIS
 LITERARY ANALYSIS
• is not merely summary
• an argument about the work that expresses a writer’s personal
perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of
the work
• done by examining the literary devices, word choices, or
writing structures the author uses within the work
• Its purpose is to demonstrate why the author used specific
ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or her
message
HOW TO DO THE
ANALYSIS
1. READ THE TEXT CLOSELY SEVERAL
TIMES
• Focus on the ideas being presented
• Think about the character’s development and
the author’s writing technique
• What might be considered interesting,
unusual, or important?
2. HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT PASSAGES IN THE
TEXT AND TAKE NOTES ON THE PASSAGES

• Begin the examination of literature with a “who, what,

when, where, how?” approach
• When you put these answers together, you can begin to
figure out the theme, and you will have a solid
foundation on which to base your analysis
 SETTING
• What aspects make up the setting? (geography, weather,
time of day, social conditions)
• What role does the setting play in the story? Is it an
important part of the plot or theme? Or is it just a
backdrop against which the action takes place?
 CHARACTERS AND
CHARACTERIZATION
• How does the author describe the characters?
• Are the characters symbolic representatives of some
universal quality?
 PLOT AND STRUCTURE
• What are the most important events?
• Hos is the plot structured? Is it linear and chronological
or does it move back and forth?
 NARRATOR AND POINT OF
VIEW
• Who is the narrator or speaker in the story?
• Is the narrator the main character?
• Does the author speak through one of the characters?
 CONFLICT
• How would you describe the main conflict?
• Is it internal?
• Is it external, caused by the surroundings or
environment the main character finds himself in?
 THEME
• How does the theme shine through in the story?
• Are any elements repeated that may suggest a theme?
• What other themes are there?
 WHAT IS A LITERARY
THEME?
• A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning
a writer explores in a novel, short story, or other literary
work.
• The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters,
setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of these
elements.
6 COMMON THEMES IN LITERATURE
1. Good vs. evil
2. Love
3. Redemption
4. Courage and perseverance
5. Coming of age
6. Revenge
 THEME: GOOD VS. EVIL
• The classic battle between light and dark, altruism and
antagonism, the theme of good versus evil stretches
beyond even Biblical times
• The theme of good versus evil may be explored through
the external actions and dialogues of the characters, via
their internal struggle to do the right thing when faced
with temptation
 THEME: LOVE
• One of the most universal themes in literature
• Different flavors of love as a literary theme include
• Forbidden love- yearning and disapproval collide here
• Family love- stories about the love between parents and
children or siblings
• Unrequited love- the pain of loving someone who does not
return your affection
• Friendship- the power of friendship to carry people through
hard times and change them
 THEME: REDEMPTION
• Characters see the errors of their ways and strive to right
the wrongs they’ve committed, making for an uplifting
tale
• Stories of redemption often involve a reformed character
sacrificing his or her freedom or life
 THEME: COURAGE AND
PERSEVERANCE
• The triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity
• Characters in stories with this type of theme endure
difficult circumstances or impossible odds, persevering
through sheer determination, grit, and gall
 THEME: COMING OF
AGE
• Also known as bildungsroman
• Follows one or more characters during their journey of
growing up into adulthood
• These characters may experience everything from a loss
of innocence to an awakening or self-awareness before
finally reaching maturity
 THEME: REVENGE
• Sets up a conflict between one or more character and his
or her enemies as he or she journeys to avenge wrongs
done to them
 STYLE
• The author’s style has to do with the author’s
vocabulary, use of imagery, tone, or feeling of the story.
• Is the text full of figurative language?
• What images are used?
 DIALOGUE
• What is the purpose of the dialogue?
• Is the dialogue appropriate in terms of word choice or sentence
length?
• How does the dialogue impact the characterization?
• How does the author use the dialogue to show the mood of the
characters?
• How does this aid the author’s message?
 3. WRITE A WORKING THESIS
• Thesis that states a writer’s perspective that is debatable
• For example:
• Pride and Prejudice is about five sisters and their journey to find love.
(incorrect)
• Pride and Prejudice is about Elizabeth Bennet’s effort to overcome her
own proud behavior and discrimination towards Mr. Darcy, as well as
how her family is affected by the haughtiness and preconceptions of the
society around them.
 4. MAKE AN EXTENDED LIST OF
EVIDENCE AND INTERPRET IT
• Find more evidence from the text to support the working
thesis
• Make sure to express your own personal interpretation
of the work
• Remember, it should not be a summary
SILENT READING:
FOOTNOTE TO
YOUTH
He used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, Lion) as pen
name
considered as one of the finest contemporary
poets regardless of race or language
introduced the reversed consonance rhyme
scheme; comma poems
Footnote to Youth
 The Five-Frame Story
Rising Falling
Exposition Climax Denouement
Action Action
 THESIS:
___________________________________
LITERARY PASSAGE/S FROM ANALYSIS/
TECHNIQUES THE TEXT INTERPRETATION
CHARACTERS AND
CHARACTERIZATION
SETTING
PLOT AND
STRUCTURE
CONFLICT
POINT OF VIEW
DIALOGUE/S
TONE AND STYLE
THEME
A well-known poet, fictionist, critic, and
nonfiction writer
 After receiving a writing fellowship at the

International Writing Program at the

University of Iowa, he received an
honorary degree and was the only Filipino
to be honored there
Being spotted in the color of skin,
Why I take care in San Francisco,
waiting for the bus to Iowa.
They say racial prejudice is
strong,
 Negros and not whites kawawa,
and because of this they will
revolt.
I shiver and shiver from fear and
hunger
because I just landed from Tokyo.
 A Negro came into the
station—
naka-African hairdo; he
holds a small
whip: it’s scary to look, so
I did not look at him.
Kumakalansing
the metal on the strings of his shoes
and he shouts, “Peace, brothers!”
Smiled showing
white teeth. Looked at me—
maybe he laughed at what he saw—
 a tiny dayuhan,dark and
from
some lupalop. Upside down
my insides went in fright and
pulled
a cigarette so the redness of
my face
 wouldn’t show. I nahalata
that the Whites there were too quiet
so quiet, unable to speak in front
of that Negro. Only when he left
returned
the normalcy in the station—others
read again, neighbors gossiped
again,
laughter, the janitor sweeped again.
After a while, that Negro passed
again
two white Americanas on each arm,
blonde, their beauty with no equal.
The janitor stopped sweeping.
I thought, “So this is racial
prejudice.”
Discovering what a poem is often
involves identifying what it contains
To analyze is to break something down

into its parts to discover what they are

and how they function in or relate to
the whole
To understand the organic unity of a
poem, use the process of close reading
Close reading is a way to analyze the

poem by carefully reading and

rereading a text until you have found
its interpretation
C HECK VOCABULARY

L OOK FOR LEVELS OF MEANING

O BSERVE TEXT
FEATURES/ELEMENTS

S TUDY TEXT STRUCTURES

E XAMINE LITERARY DEVICES

PERSONA
•POEMS ARE PERSONAL
•POEMS COME TO US AS THE EXPRESSION OF A HUMAN
VOICE—AN INDIVIDUAL VOICE
•POETS SOMETIMES CREATE A “CHARACTER”—A PERSON
WHO SPEAKS FOR THEM INDIRECTLY
For Keeps
WE HAD A TUG OF WAR TODAY
OLD MARCH WIND AND I.
HE TRIED TO STEAL MY NEW RED KITE
THAT DADDY HELPED ME FLY.
HE HUFFED AND PUFFED.
I PULLED SO HARD
AND HELD THAT STRING SO TIGHT
OLD MARCH WIND GAVE UP AT LAST
AND LET ME KEEP MY KITE.

BY JEAN CONDER SOULE

Barefoot Days by Rachel Field
In the morning, very early,
That’s the time I love to go
Barefoot where the fern grows curly
And grass is cool between each toe,
On a summer morning-O!
On a summer morning!
That is when the birds go by
Up the sunny slopes of air, The mood in this poem is
And each rose has a butterfly
happy. What clues in the
Or a golden bee to wear;
And I am glad in every toe – poem can you use to
Such a summer morning-O! determine the mood?
Such a summer morning!
64
Something is There
Something is there
there on the stair
coming down
coming down
stepping with care.
Coming down
coming down
slinkety-sly.
The mood in this
Something is coming and wants to get by.
poem is fearful. What
By Lilian Moore clues in the poem can
you use to determine
65
the mood?
 IMAGERY
 Imagery is the use of words to
create pictures, or images, in your
mind.
Five Senses
 Appeals to the five senses: smell,
sight, hearing, taste and touch.
 Details about smells, sounds,
colors, and taste create strong
images.
 IMAGERY
WHAT WORDS HERE
TRIGGER YOUR SENSES?
SOUND DEVICES
•TOOLS OR RESOURCES USED
BY POETS TO CONVEY AND
REINFORCE THE MEANING OR
EXPERIENCE OF POETRY
THROUGH THE SKILLFUL USE
OF SOUND
 RHYME
•RHYMES ARE WORDS THAT END
WITH THE SAME SOUND. (HAT,
CAT AND BAT RHYME.)
•RHYMING SOUNDS DON’T HAVE
TO BE SPELLED THE SAME WAY.
(CLOUD AND ALLOWED
RHYME.)
•RHYME IS THE MOST COMMON
SOUND DEVICE IN POETRY.
END RHYME
INTERNAL RHYME
ALTERNATE RHYME
 REPETITION

•REPEATING WORDS,
PHRASES, OR LINES
FOR EFFECT
ALLITERATION
CONSONANCE
ASSONANCE
ONOMATOPOEIA
M E A N IN G
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
POETIC DEVICES EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATION

PERSONA
SUBJECT AND THEME
TONE AND MOOD
VOCABULARY AND DICTION/WORD
CHOICE
SOUND DEVICES
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USED
IMAGERY
SYMBOLISMS
OVERALL MEANING OF THE POEM