Analysis in critical reading
The following is a mind map charting areas for analysis in critical reading.
Themes
Theme is not a technique as such, but rather the central idea or ideas explored and developed
in the text.
Most texts will explore more than one theme, although they might not all be as significant as
each other. Themes are developed through techniques.
For example, the themes explored in Macbeth include guilt, order/disorder and false
appearance.
Plot and structure
Plot refers to the deliberate sequencing of events in the text while the 'story' is simply an
account of what happens.
Writers may play about with time scales, so a plot sequence may not be chronological (as it
happens in real time). You should always ask yourself why a writer might have structured a
story in sections. How does it add to your understanding of the story or themes?
Part of good storytelling is ensuring readers want to find out what happens next. Writers use
different devices to maintain the reader's focus and attention.
Examples of common storytelling devices you might come across:

Cliffhangers are deliberate breaks in the story at points of heightened tension.

Turning points are moments that have an important effect on the characters and/or the unfolding of
the plot.

Final resolution depends on what the writer has decided will happen to the characters at the end.
What questions are answered or raised?
Texts have a 'shape'. Think of the structure of a poem, play or novel as being like an
architect's plan. The words are the bricks, but underlying them is an overall shape or design.
Structure refers to how a text is divided up. Acts, scenes and chapters usually indicate
structure and are deliberately used to divide up the text in a meaningful way.
Characterisation
Characterisation is the way a writer creates a fictional character. Understanding
characterisation is central to analysing fiction.
A writer might develop a character through:

narrative voice

appearance

behaviour/actions

other characters' comments

other characters' actions
By showing us the motivations, feelings, actions, regrets, limitations, aspirations and
experiences of their characters, writers can give us an understanding of the themes they are
dealing with.
Setting can also be used to tell us something about the characters, as well as representing the
broader themes within a text.
Narrative
Most narratives are written in either the first or the third person.
First person narrative is where the 'voice' telling the story uses the word 'I'. This can have an
intimate, believable confessional feel.
Third person narrative is where the author uses 'he', 'she', 'they' or 'it'. A voice refers to
actions, events and circumstances dissociated from both the narrator and the reader. The
narrator can be either omniscient (all-knowing) or can merely function to report events as
they take place.
Writers will often alternate between these modes. It is not uncommon for the narrative to shift
from third to first person. This can help us to understand the characters from different
perspectives - first a detached and objective view, then more personal and intimate.
It is important to note that third person narrators are not always totally detached. Sometimes
they favour the opinions and point of view of one particular character. Although the narrative
may be in the third person it gives a special insight into the consciousness of one or more
characters.
Second person narratives, where the author tells the story using 'you' are more unusual. In this
kind of narrative the reader is addressed directly and is involved as part of the story. There is
often a sense of discovery or reveal with this kind of narrative voice.
The narrative point of view is, then, crucial in revealing and telling us about characters - and
also in helping the story to be told in an exciting, structured and significant way.
Language
You should be able to write about key language features used in novels, short stories, plays
and poems. Here's a reminder of what they are and how they work:
Alliteration
This is where the first letter of a word is repeated in words that follow. For example, the cold,
crisp, crust of clean, clear ice.
Assonance
This is where the same vowel sound is repeated but the consonants are different. For
example, he passed her a sharp, dark glance, she shot a cool, foolish look across the room.
Colloquial language
This is language used in speech with an informal meaning. For example, chill, out of this
world, take a rain check
Dialect
This is a version of a language spoken by people in a particular geographical area.
Dialogue
This is a conversation between two people - sometimes an imagined conversation between
the narrator and the reader. Dialogue is important in drama and can show conflict through a
series of statements and challenges, or intimacy where characters mirror the content and style
of each other's speech. It can also be found in the conversational style of a poem.
Dissonance
This is discordant combinations of sounds. For example, the clash, spew and slow pang of
grinding waves against the quay.
Enjambment
This is device used in poetry where a sentence continues beyond the end of the line or verse.
This technique is often used to maintain a sense of continuation from one stanza to another.
Hyperbole
This is exaggerating for a purpose – it is not meant to be taken literally. For example, we
gorged on the banquet of beans on toast.
Imagery
This is where strong pictures or ideas are created in the mind of the reader. Similes,
metaphors and personification can all be used to achieve this - they all compare something
'real' with something 'imagined'.
Irony
This is where words or ideas are used humorously or sarcastically, to imply the opposite of
what they mean.
Metaphor
This is where a word or phrase is used to imply figurative resemblance, not a literal or 'actual'
one. For example, he flew into the room.
Monologue
An uninterrupted monologue can show a character's importance or state of mind. Monologue
can be in speech form, delivered in front of other characters and having great thematic
importance, or as a soliloquy where we see the character laying bare their soul and thinking
aloud.
Onomatopoeia
This is a word that sounds like the noise it is describing. For example,splash, bang, pop, hiss.
Oxymoron
This is where two words normally not associated are brought together. For example, cold
heat, bitter sweet.
Pathos
This is language that evokes feelings of pity or sorrow.
Personification
This is where a human quality is attributed to a thing or idea. For example, the moon calls me
to her darkened world.
Repetition
This is where a word or phrase is repeated to achieve a particular effect.
Rhyme
Poems often have a fixed rhyme scheme. For example, sonnets have 14 lines with the fixed
rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Try to comment on what contribution the rhyme
scheme is making to the text as a whole. Why do you think the poet has chosen it? Does it
add control or perhaps imitate the ideas in the poem in some way?
Rhythm
Many poems contain a repetitive beat or metre. Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shalott uses a
strong internal rhythm to build up the sense of unrelenting monotony in the poem.
There she weaves by night and day/A magic web with colours gay./She has heard a
whisper say,/A curse is on her if she stay/To look down to Camelot./She knows not
what the curse may be,/And so she weaveth steadily,/And little other care hath
she,/The Lady of Shalott."
Simile
This is where a phrase establishes similarity between two things. Similes usually involve the
words 'like' or 'as'- he is as quick as an arrow in flight, as white as snow, like a burning star.
Symbolism
Objects, colours, sounds and places may work as symbols. They can sometimes give us an
insight into the themes. So, snakes are often symbols of temptation as in the story of Adam
and Eve, white usually symbolises innocence and a ringing bell can be a symbol for
impending doom.
Tone
Tone is the creation of mood in a text, such as sadness, gloom, celebration, joy, anxiety,
dissatisfaction, regret or anger. Different elements of writing can help to create these moods.
For example, long sentences or verses, with assonance, tend to create a sad, melancholic
mood. But short syllabic, alliterative lines can create an upbeat and pacy atmosphere.
Word choice
This can also be referred to as 'register'. It refers to an author's choice of language. Authors
may use words commonly associated with a certain subject, experience or state of mind.
Structure of a critical essay
There is no single 'right' way to approach a critical essay but the following pointers will give
you guidance.
Introductory paragraph
The introduction should not be too long and detailed and it should focus on the question right
from the start.
You should:

identify the author and text

use words from the task

indicate the topics/aspects that the rest of the essay will discuss in depth
In a sense, the introduction should be a summary of the whole essay – later paragraphs should
not change the direction of the argument or introduce new and unexpected topics.
Here is an example of an opening paragraph for an essay question.
QQuestion
Write an essay on Macbeth, focusing on conflict.
AA play in which a central character experiences both inner conflict and conflict with other
characters is Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Macbeth’s inner conflict arises from his desire to
kill Duncan, King of Scotland, and seize the throne for himself - an ambition that his conscience
tells him is wrong. This conflict is the key to Macbeth’s character development and it leads him to
clash with other characters, notably Macduff, with whom he fights in the play’s dramatic
conclusion.
Peer approach
Ensure you make frequent links back to the key phrases from the question, not only in the
introduction, but also in topic sentences at the start of paragraphs.
For example:
The importance of Macbeth’s inner conflict to the development of his character becomes
clear in his soliloquy in Act One Scene Seven.
The main body of the essay should be developed with both statements and evidence.
Many people recommend the PEER structure:

Point (topic sentence)

Example (often a quotation)

Explanation/analysis

Respond in a way that is Relevant to the task
Applying the PEER method
Here is an example of how to use this in a poetry essay:
Choose a poet who reflects on the idea of change. Show how the poet explores the
subject in one or more of his/her poems, and explain to what extent your appreciation
of the subject is deepened.
This question suits Seamus Heaney’s poem Blackberry Picking well, as Heaney uses the
poem as a means to reflect on how growing up naturally changes how we see the world.
His experience of childhood summers spent picking fruit - only for the vast amount of it to
rot - serves as a metaphor for life in general, where optimism and the focus on immediate
pleasure are replaced by a natural conservatism and pessimism.
There is a clear theme of change in the poem, as Heaney looks back on his younger self
through the eyes of an adult, to see how life has changed.
Here is an example paragraph using the PEER structure that deals with the imagery in the
poem:

(P) Heaney is convincing in his use of the extended metaphor, which brings to life his observation
that childhood innocence must give way to adult realism. Just as the berries inevitably rot when
picked from the bushes, we cannot escape the changes we go through when growing up.

(E) After wildly picking every berry in sight, the persona and his friends return to the byre the next
day, only to find the glossy purple berries have been transformed by a rat-grey fungus. It becomes
apparent in that moment the berries are rotting and in the children’s lust for picking they have failed
to consider what might happen to the fruit.

(E) By his use of the word lust, Heaney is suggesting the children pick the berries with a wild sense
of abandon and their desire to collect them in as vast a quantity as possible is almost uncontrollable.
The berries have been transformed from glossy purple - indicating life, vitality and freshness, to - ratgrey – a colour associated ultimately with decay and death. In the context of the poem, this
experience highlights the human condition itself, which can be summed up as the passage from
innocence to experience.

(R) It is only when the children have seen what has happened as a result of their efforts that they
accept life isn’t always fair. Heaney leaves the reader pondering the fact that change – whether in
terms of the berries or life in general - is inevitable, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.