As we approach the coursework deadline for
the 2500 word coursework essay I'll try and post some last minute points to
help improve your essays.
Here is one.
Analyse don’t describe.
Here is a quotation from a Heaney poem.
‘pry[ing] into
roots, to finger slime.’
And here are some integrated language
features that you can use to analyse the quotation.
elemental - lexis
sensuous - lexis
verbs, - grammar
connotations, - lexis
nouns, - grammar
rhyming, - poetic – phonetic techniques
onomatopoeic, - poetic – phonetic techniques
fricatives, - spoken language
metaphorical, - imagery
octosyllabic
verse, - poetic form structure
rhythm - poetic – phonetic techniques
comparative pair – rhetorical device
Note the quotation is made up of 6 words.
However there are at least 12 language features to comment on
Now you have the freedom to do some or all of
the following; link your analyse to the topic you are writing about, the effect
of the language feature on a generalised reader, compare it to another text,
refer to contextual factors, the narrative voice and attitudes and assumptions.
Here is an example of some of the above. This is an example of the final part of an analytical paragraph. It's a bit over the top of course. Realistically you might refer to 3 - 5 integrated analytical features and then compare them with a second text.
Heaney uses sensuous and elemental
language to evoke a powerful experience of the natural world. The verb
‘pry’ brings out connotations of secrecy and a forbidden activity. Also the verbs
‘pry’ and ‘finger’ are used to emphasise an intimacy and close up view of
nature. The noun ‘slime’ is used to focus on the texture of the material.
The rhyming
of ‘pry’ and ‘slime’ helps create emphasis and a sense of pleasure in the
experience. The noun ‘slime’ sounds onomatopoeic, however the long fricatives
‘sl’ and’im’ help give an impression of the texture of slime. There is of
course something metaphorical in the concrete noun ‘roots’. The poem is
about exploration and discovery of Heaney’s place in the physical world – but
also we realise as with other poems Heaney is writing about family and
tradition – referred to as roots. This line is made up of octosyllabic verse combined with the first phrase
repeated in the second phrase. This creates a rhythm – which again is
pleasing and satisfying to the ear.
