Says-Does Analysis
A new way of looking at texts
Intro to Says-Does Analysis
• S-D analysis helps train us to discuss how
authors make arguments in texts
• “Says” analysis – a simple summary of the
text’s content – what the text “says”
• “Does” analysis – a description of the text’s
techniques – what the text “does”
– no references to the content, only to the author’s
techniques of statement, argument, explanation,
comparison, example, etc.
– based on a “does” analysis of a text, you should have
no idea what the text is about
What a Text Might “Do”
Common Terms in “Does” Analyses
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Describes
States a proposition
Narrates
Provides history
Lists
Categorizes
Itemizes
Predicts
Explains
Makes a generalization
Compares
Traces
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Illustrates
Provides an example
Evaluates
Synthesizes
Cites
Elaborates
Exemplifies
Deepens
Develops
Offers a hypothesis
Supports
Contrasts
– The Gettysburg Address –
“Says” Analysis
Four score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth on this continent
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
Lincoln recalls the founding of the United
States and highlights liberty and equality
as the founding principles most relevant
to his topic.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of
that war. We have come to dedicate a portion
of that field, as a final resting place for those
who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
Lincoln refers to the ongoing Civil War and notes
that its outcome will determine whether a nation
founded on liberty and equality can survive. He
cites this struggle as the reason for the
memorial’s existence, and he declares the
battlefield an appropriate memorial to those who
died there.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow
-- this ground. The brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note,
nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here. It is
for us the living, rather, to be dedicated
here to the unfinished work which they
who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced.
He backtracks and claims that the memorial and his
speech are actually insignificant compared with the
soldiers’ sacrifice. He urges rededication to the ideals
(liberty & equality) that the soldiers died defending.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us -- that from
these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave
the last full measure of devotion -- that we
here highly resolve that these dead shall not
have died in vain -- that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and
that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.
He points out the task ahead: to ensure that
everyone shares the soldiers’ devotion to liberty
and equality, to justify their sacrifice, to seek to
expand freedom within the U.S., and to
guarantee the survival of the American form of
government.
– The Gettysburg Address –
“Does” Analysis
Four score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth on this continent
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
In paragraph 1, Lincoln makes a historical
reference and emphasizes two central
ideas.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of
that war. We have come to dedicate a portion
of that field, as a final resting place for those
who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
In paragraph 2, he updates the reference to the
present by introducing an abstract conflict, which
he relates to the time and place of the speech.
The next sentences relate the conflict to current
events, and evaluates the events that are about to
take place.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note,
nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here. It is
for us the living, rather, to be dedicated
here to the unfinished work which they
who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced.
The author acknowledges that his argument is invalid on
the larger scale, and justifies his reasoning. He draws a
contrast, then introduces a new proposition.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us -- that from
these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave
the last full measure of devotion -- that we
here highly resolve that these dead shall not
have died in vain -- that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and
that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.
He restates the new proposition, breaking it
down into four distinct components and closing
with the broadest of the four.