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 – EXCELLENT
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Strengths:
• The discussion of tone is most insightful (thinking).
Tips for Improvement:
• The transition to the symbolism point could be smoothed over by adding some context
(knowledge).
• The generalization, "good fortune did not come upon many individuals", found in the last
paragraph, needs qualification. Did not most soldiers survive the war, relatively intact?
(thinking).
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"The water was full of squishy little jellyfish about the size of a man's hand. Millions of
them. In the centre of each of them was a green design exactly like a four-leafed clover. The
good-luck emblem. Sure. Hell, yes." (357)
This description is given early in the descriptive essay, "On the Road to Berlin", by Ernie
Pyle, an American war correspondent. He describes the American invasion of Normandy during
World War II as he walks along the beach and gives an account of his sights and thoughts from a
first-person point of view.
The jellyfish metaphor serves to describe the soldiers' predicament. The water in which
the jellyfish lie represents the many places where war took place, may it be battlefields, bodies of
water, or the open sky. In all these places people fought – millions of soldiers, just like the
"millions" of jellyfish. They inhabited the land, the sky, the water, just as the jellyfish call the
water their home. His reference, "squishy little jellyfish", portrays some of the characteristics of
the men who fought, looking at them as a group and as individuals. The use of the word,
"squishy", implies that the structure in question is moldable, yet only in the hands of another.
Linking that idea with the description that they were "about the size of a man's hand", this can be
thought of as an implication that the soldiers were moldable beings in the hands of fate. They did
not have much influence or say in their futures or if there would even be a future for them. All
this was left to luck. The jellyfish were small in the scheme of things, leaving room for so many
to occupy the water. Similarly, the soldiers were small in the scheme of life and of the world at
that point. Although they were many, they could only have a limited impact.
The luck motif is symbolized when Pyle states, "In the centre of each of them was a
green design exactly like a four-leafed clover." The symbol of a four-leafed clover is widely
known as a symbol of luck and good fortune. The fact that the design in the centre of each
jellyfish meant such a thing is both ironic and meaningful. Firstly, that luckiness and good
fortune could be associated with the war in any way does not make much sense. The majority of
those involved were not lucky, and good fortune did not come upon many individuals as a result.
But as mentioned earlier, most still had hope that they would be one of the lucky few. The
position of the four-leafed design on the jellyfish, right in the centre, can also be transferred to
the idea of the soldier. The reason they kept going was on the basis of hope, and luck was what
their central goal was. The very last part of the paragraph, "Sure. Hell, yes", supports the irony
of the good-luck emblem, as well as providing a shred of insight on his view of the war. Those
words convey a distinct sense of sarcasm, of unbelief, as if as soon as he noticed the clover
design and its meaning, he turned around and scoffed at the thought. His essay continues on this
note, based on the tone this paragraph, short yet important, sets.
Work Cited
Pyle, Ernie. "On the Road to Berlin." Echoes 12: Fiction, Media and Non-Fiction. Ed.
Francine Artichuk et al. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2002. 357. Print.