Guidelines for Reading and Analyzing Unseen Prose

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Guidelines for Reading and Analyzing Unseen Prose

• http//www.ferrum.edu/thanlon/StudyQ/Litguide.htm

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What is tested?

Response to new material detailed analysis
Of content
Interpretation
Of viewpoints of author

• Inference from language
• To interpret character and thought

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Character

• Who is the character? What is the characters
  status or identity?
• What actions and what kinds of action does the
  character perform in the passage? From this
  evidence, what are the characters traits,
  qualities, beliefs and values?

4
Character

• Identify characters physical appearance and
  condition
• Try to judge the way the character speaks and
  what this tells you about the characters state
  of mind. Pay attention to
• Kind of vocab the character uses
• The characters tone of voice

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Character

• Try to recognize the way a character thinks. If
  the character is telling the story, then you will
  be reading the thought process, feelings and what
  the character did
• Or you may be directly told/ reach judgments
  about how a character thinks and feels based on
  what the character does

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Setting

• What is the setting of the work? Is there more
  than one?
• Consider historical, period, season, time of day,
  geographical place, exterior and interior, urban
  and rural settings

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Setting

• Why has the author chosen to emphasize certain
  details of the setting?
• Does the setting simply provide a realistic
  backdrop or does it contain symbolic details?

8
Setting

• Are the social class and occupation of the
  characters significant? Does the economic,
  social, political or religious environment affect
  the lives of characters and help to shape the
  theme of work?
• What mood or atmosphere is created by details of
  setting? (gloomy, tense, cheerful etc)

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Images and Symbols

• What images are used in this work? Literal or
  figurative?
• Are there repeated images or groups of related
  images in the work? Significance of these
  patterns?
• Does any image or action suggest such complex
  abstract meanings beyond itself that it functions
  as a symbol in this work?

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What is Style?
THEME
VOCABULARY
STYLE
RHYTHM
SOUND
IMAGERY
SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
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Style and Language

• How would you describe the choice of words and
  their arrangement in this work? Does the author
  call attention to the way he or she uses words or
  is this style inconspicuous?
• What are the various connotations of key words
  in this work?

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Style and Language

• If dialect or colloquial speech is used, what is
  its effect? Is the level of language appropriate
  for speaker or characters?
• Are there any ironic statements?
• Is the style consistent throughout or does it
  shift to a different style?

13
Style and Language

• Is the style suitable for the subject or theme?
  Does it contribute to the meaning of the whole or
  hinder the readers understanding?