Literary essay skills, Year 10: language, structure and Shakespeare's verse

AO2

HintIt comes between the objective for response and evidence and the one for context.

The whyAO2 asks you to analyse how the writer creates meanings and effects, using subject terms where they help.

The effect: what the metaphor suggests and why the writer chose it

HintNaming is only the first step.

The whySpotting techniques without explaining them is often called feature-spotting. The explanation is what the analysis marks are for.

Its connotations

HintThe term starts with con-.

The whyAnalysing language usually means asking what a chosen word suggests beyond its plain meaning, and why a near-synonym would not do the same job.

Yes: explaining precisely what the words suggest is what matters

HintThe objective says terminology should be used “where appropriate”.

The whyA correct term helps when it makes your point clearer. A clear explanation with no label is better than a label with no explanation.

The second treats the character as something the writer made, so it points to the writer's choices

HintOne sentence has an extra person in it.

The whyCharacters are not real people. Keeping the writer in your sentences keeps you analysing methods and purposes instead of retelling the story.

Form

HintIt is the kind of text something is.

The whyForm is the type of text and the conventions that come with it. Structure is how the parts of one particular text are ordered and arranged.

The turning point

HintA two-word term; the first word is what a road does at a bend.

The whyAsking where it falls, and why the writer put it there, is one of the most useful structure questions for any text.

A circular (or cyclical) structure

HintThink of a shape with no beginning or end.

The whyThe return invites the reader to compare the two moments and notice what is different.

Juxtaposition

HintA long word from Latin; its first part means “next to”.

The whyWriters set a generous character beside a mean one, or a calm scene before a violent one, so the contrast does the work.

A downfall, usually ending in death

HintIt does not finish happily.

The whyBecause the audience expects the fall, the interest lies in how and why it happens. Knowing a form's conventions lets you comment on what a writer does with them.

Blank verse

HintThe first word of the term can also mean empty.

The whyIt keeps a regular beat without rhyme, so it can sound close to natural speech while still being verse.

10

HintTap out the beats in a line of Shakespeare's verse on your fingers.

The why“Penta” means five: five iambs, each of two syllables.

The second

HintSay the word “because” aloud and listen.

The whyThe rhythm is often compared to a heartbeat. When a line breaks the pattern, it is worth asking what the writer wanted to stress.

Servants and comic characters

HintVerse was the grander way of speaking.

The whyThis is a tendency, not a rule. Nobles also speak prose in letters, in relaxed talk or when their minds are disturbed, and that is when the switch is worth commenting on.

An aside

HintThe term suggests words spoken to one side.

The whyAsides let the audience know what a character really thinks while a scene with others carries on.

What a character privately thinks and feels

HintNobody else is there to be deceived.

The whyBy convention a character alone on stage speaks the truth as they see it, so the audience can compare it with what they say to others.