Analyse that! Language and structural devices
Objectives
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To be able to identify the linguistic, grammatical and
structural devices that allow us to access the highest
marks in our original writing.
To be able to analyse their effects.
To be able to use these devices in our own original
writing.
Task 1
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Read the short story below.
Complete the analysis in the comment boxes, where
you are encouraged to explore the effect of the
devices used.
In the comment boxes, language devices are green,
structural devices are yellow, and grammatical
devices are blue.
The first four have been done for you.
Pier
Like mould clinging to a moist tablecloth, Teignmouth will always
linger in his memory. In a way, everything Doug will do after he
leaves home will be a vain attempt to scrub the town from his
thoughts.
Even the Craig David beard he grows later will be an evasion, an
aesthetic departure from his past.
He sits in the living room with his parents. Seventeen and already
This simile creates an
unpleasant image that
suggests the place being
describes is not well-liked by
the narrator or character.
Also, the simile is well
chosen, as it relates to the
moist tablecloths of the
cafés described later.
The use of an isolated
sentence as a complete
paragraph creates impact.
The characterization of the
person suggests he’s ‘too
big for the place’, bigger
and better than his
surroundings. The final
subordinate clause
highlighted here acts as a
metaphor to show how out
of place he feels in these
surroundings.
The use of a semi-colon
here links the factual
description of the
character’s back with the
opinions of the character’s
father. The difference
between the reality of the
son’s desires and he
opinions and assumptions of
the father are a major
theme in this short story, and
this sentence reflects this.
his limbs jut out into the room, knock awkwardly against the coffee
table. His shoulders are broad and waist narrow, his back a perfect
The metaphor suggests …
isosceles triangle; his dad says it’s a rower’s back, or a swimmer’s, but
he has no interest in rowing and he can’t swim. The air is damp.
Evening is drawing in and, through the French windows, Doug
The imagery suggests …
watches the sunset caught on the sea, a trail of gold.
Everything in the room is grey: his father’s stubble, his mother’s
apron, even the air itself is swathed in gloom. His father says,
“Thought about where you’re gonna go then son?”
The word choice here is
important because …
For minutes he ignores his father’s question, picturing his town in
the summer: the fountain in the centre spitting onto sodden
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Analyse that! Language and structural devices
flagstones, the moisture caught in the wind sweeping towards
Alliteration here suggests …
crammed cafés, the pier jutting out into the sea on unsteady legs.
Everywhere, he sees pot-bellied women with peeling backs, men in
football shirts, children throwing tantrums: the rehearsed monotony
of tourism.
The personification here
suggests that Teignmouth is
…
Waiting, his father walks to the window, gazes on his car, the vast
bonnet of a jet black Cadillac deflecting fiery sunlight and he smiles.
He picks up the two letters from the window sill and sits back down.
He slowly re-reads them, “Oxford and Cambridge. Well I never.”
This direct speech finally
reveals what the characters
have been discussing. This
structuring information has
the effect of …
The son recalls how the hideous iconography of pier-side
amusements alarmed him as a child: manic clowns and mutilated
angels. He remembers meeting around the two p machine to smoke,
later watching his friends leaping from the end of the pier into the
The response to the father’s
question is delayed because
…
black water. And he remembers having his first teenage romances
beneath the uneven planks, to the throb and clang of the arcade
above and the lapping of the waves against scoured columns. His
childhood was spent by the water.
Another isolated sentence,
and also the technique of
understatement, is used here
to suggest …
The answer bubbles to the surface, “Maybe neither.”
His father lifts his eyes from the letters.
Winter always leaves the town dormant. The shops are closed.
This verb choice is significant
because …
The cafés are shut up for next season, everything inside abandoned –
the tables left set, the counters still cluttered, yellowing August
newspapers stiffening in the sunlight; they look like reconstructions,
Assonance here has the
effect of …
exhibits in a museum. The notice board becomes crowded with
things for sale, personal advertisements, job requests. As the days
shorten and grow dim, the only activity on the street is the nightly
rave of the public houses, pockets of light and sound amid drizzle,
Personification of the town
here suggests …
the lethargic pulse of the town persisting. On the air: the waitresses’
half-forgotten flings with tourists, fantasies of escape, and the sense
Correct use of the
apostrophe here will allow
access to the highest marks.
that the visitors are missed.
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Analyse that! Language and structural devices
The son remembers the summer and winter, season and off season.
The images line up and stretch out infinitely into the past and into
Here there is a summary of
what’s been described,
which helps to …
the future.
His father says, “Never has an Idris gone to University, not for as
long as we can remember. And now … Oxford and Cambridge.
You’ve done really well son. You should be proud of yourself.”
His father hugging him on GCSE results day, his mother weeping
when he won the Entrepreneur of the Year award, he’d always stood
Characternym (where the
character’s name reflects
their personality) is used
here; ‘Idris’ (a Welsh name!)
means ‘impulsive’, and this is
relevant here because …
quietly in the predictability of these moments.
“Your mother and I, we can’t wait to drive you up to whichever
place you choose, settle you in.” His father’s voice suddenly deepens,
“It’ll be strange without you here.”
Drunken nights, afternoons dozing over splayed text books,
Dramatic irony is used. The
father thinks his son will
definitely go, but the reader
knows …
tacking posters on grey brick: this is supposed to be his adventure,
his escape.
He looks at the letters grasped like parchment in his father’s hands,
This final image could be
taken as a metaphor for …
turns away.
Outside, the sun is finally extinguished by the sea.
because …
Task 2
Now re-read the short story, looking for other linguistic, structural and grammatical
techniques used. Highlight them and comment on their effect.
Extension
Look at the grade descriptor and decide what GCSE coursework grade this piece would
get.
Or
Replace all of the highlighted techniques in this text with an alternative of your own.
Or
Experiment with some techniques that could be inserted into your own piece of original
writing later.
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