Note that student work varies significantly from one assignment to the next, even within the
same mark range. The intent behind providing samples such as this one is to guide
students in recognizing key criteria of assignments and in assessing their own work.
SAMPLE QUOTATION ANALYSIS – SATISFACTORY
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Strengths:
• Your points for character and theme are valid (application).
• The overall structure of paragraphs is clear (communication).
• The analysis is clearly written in terms of sentence structure and diction
(communication).
Tips for Improvement:
• Greater depth of insight is needed. Quote more segments of the original quotation in
your analysis, and use analytical terminology such as irony, repetition, diction, etc.
(thinking).
• The theme point needs to be qualified in light of the overall irony of the novel. Is the
Director convincing the reader of the truth of his perspective? (thinking)
• Avoid statements such as "this quotation reveals". The quotation does not function as
a character or a circumstance. In this analysis, it is better to state that "the Director
reveals […]", creating a direct link to the point of significance (thinking).
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‘It is better that one should suffer than that many should be
corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will
see that no offense is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behaviour. Murder
kills only the individual – and, after all, what is an individual?’ With a
sweeping gesture he indicated the rows of microscopes, the test-tubes, the
incubators. ‘We can make a new one with the greatest ease – as many as
we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it
strikes at Society itself. Yes, at Society itself,’ he repeated. (133)
The speaker is the Director. He is speaking to Mr. Foster. The Director is
explaining to Mr. Foster why Bernard is such a threat to society.
This quotation reveals the Director's heartlessness. He expresses his opinion that
an individual is of no significance to him. To "murder" and to "kill" are two horrible
crimes, but the Director speaks as if taking a person's life is no offense at all. The
Director's heartlessness is further understood when he continues to describe an individual
as something that can be made. When he points out the different pieces of equipment, the
Director proves his neglect for the well being of individuals by suggesting that human
beings are scientific objects. Furthermore, the Director's heartlessness is shown in the
way he makes harming an individual seem like a positive thing, like protecting society.
Therefore, the Director is heartless.
This quotation also reveals the theme that the good of society is of greater value
than the good of individuals. This is first seen at the beginning of the quotation when the
Director says that "it is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted".
Bernard undergoing suffering is a positive experience because it protects society. The
Director later shows his lack of appreciation of individuals when he questions Mr. Foster.
He suggests that individuals are like cheap factory products. This compares individual
human beings to mass-produced objects. Finally, the Director sees the individual as being
in direct conflict with society. Thus, the theme that the good of society is of greater value
than the good of an individual is revealed.
Work Cited
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994.