Introduction to Analysing Texts

Agenda

• Finish of sentence functions• Introduction to Analysing texts• Textual variations and representations• Any questions on Paper 1

Sentence FunctionsIn use, clauses ad sentences have one of four functions:1. Forming statements (e.g. I read a ghost story.)2. Forming questions (e.g. Did you read that ghost

story?)3. Giving commands (e.g. Read that ghost story!)4. Making exclamations (e.g.What a scary ghost

story!)

Which function is demonstrated in the image?

How about these?

Statement

Question

Command

Exclamation

What a rash!I have a rash.

Sentence Functions continued…These functions tend to be associated with a particular grammatical form, although there are of course many exceptions to this. Statements tend to have a straightforward subject-verb-object/complement structure; questions begin with primary or modal auxiliaries or wh- words; commands start with a verb phrase and have no subject; while exclamations usually start with a wh- word and then a noun phrase.

I have a rash.What should I do?See the doctor.What a rash!

Sentence Functions continued…Sometimes there is tension between a sentence’s grammatical form and its actual function. For example, think of all the ways that you might ask someone to shut a door that has been left open.What are the grammatical forms for each of these?Which are direct/indirect? Possibly sarcastic?1. Shut the door.2. Can you shut the door?3. The door is open.4. What a terrible draught!

Why is there not always a straight forward relationship between form and function?

CommandQuestion

StatementExclamation

Grammar SummaryFill in the blanks using the words below.

The study of grammar can be divided into looking at word formation (morphology) and looking at larger structures.The linguistic rank scale offers a way of explaining how larger elements are built out of smaller ones.Text producers often manipulate and shape grammatical forms for specific effects.

grammargrammatical forms

morphologylinguistic rank scale

larger smaller

structuresproducers

Grammar SummaryFill in the blanks using the words below.

The study of grammar can be divided into looking at word formation (morphology) and looking at larger structures.The linguistic rank scale offers a way of explaining how larger elements are built out of smaller ones.Text producers often manipulate and shape grammatical forms for specific effects.

Introduction to Analysing Texts

Key Terms –note these down as we go…TextText meaningLevels of languageConnotationsAlliterationColloquialContraction

What is a text?

A text is any ‘passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole’ (Halliday & Hasan, 1976).It could be as small as:Stop.Or, as long as ‘The Mahabharata’, a 1,800,000 word long poem.

In reality, most texts, written or spoken, will be somewhere in between these extremes.

= a unified piece of speech or writing

What is text meaning?

Two frameworks are often used for textual analysis are:

Larger-scale conceptsText meaningGenrePurposeAudienceMode and context

Smaller-scale conceptsFeatures of discourseLexis and semanticsPragmaticsGrammarPhonetics/Phonology/ProsodicsGraphologyLanguage features are the specific characteristics of

the language that is used in a text. One effective method of textual analysis consists of finding connections between smaller and larger linguistics concepts.

= what a text means overall

Language features and Levels of LanguageLanguage features belong to particular levels of language. These levels reflect the fact that it is possible to study discourse, lexis, grammar etc. as separate subjects.

= linguistics divide language into relatively discrete layers of sub-topics so that these can be understood and studied separately.

Skills for writing effective essays

1. You will need to develop your skills staying focused on the question you are asked.

E.g. If writing about how a text achieves its purpose then the language features you identify need to connect to the issue of purpose. It can be easy to get distracted by an interesting feature of language but if your points don’t address the question, you won’t get credit for it.

Skills for writing effective essays

2. You need to develop your ability to write about language in an analytical way

E.g. When working out the meaning of words/phrases explore their connotations or explain how a text’s reader/listener might respond to a word/phrase.

= the overtones associated with a word or phrase.

Skills for writing effective essays

3. You need to go beyond just recording impressions or intuitive ideas.

E.g. You might start with an overview of the whole text (thus showing your larger-scale linguistic understanding) the develop each point by relating it to one or more of the smaller features.Another way to loot at this – ask yourself how you got your impression of the text and how its language helped you create that impression.

Skills for writing effective essays

4. Explore effects in depth and in detail.

E.g. Sometimes this might mean explaining why you think a particular adjective or phrase was effective, or how a noun evoked a feeling. Beware that it’s not just words/phrases but also grammatical constructions that create effects. You will need to identify these too and explain how the effects are achieved.

Skills for writing effective essays

5. Use quotations from the text to support your point.

E.g. Try to find subtler and more sophisticated ways of integrating quotes by putting them into context and explaining why they are significant. You might start with a longer quote but as you get more skilled, you can focus on the really relevant part of a quote (single words).

Introduction to Analysing Texts

Can you remember the 5 tips for writing analytically?

1. You will need to develop your skills staying focused on the question you are asked.2. You need to develop your ability to write about language in an analytical way3. You need to go beyond just recording impressions or intuitive ideas.4. Explore effects in depth and in detail.5. Use quotations from the text to support your point.

And now, can you remember the command sentence functions we came up with?

An example of textual analysis

Let’s study an example now. The following proverb is a text that could be either written or spoken.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

1. Identify how the text fits in with larger-scale linguistic concepts such as text meaning, audience, purposes, genre, mode and context.

Identify how the text fits in with larger-scale linguistic concepts

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Text meaning = You shouldn’t retaliate.Genre = proverbs share features in common, for example capturing a lot of wisdom in a few words using simple but powerful language.Audience = addressed to people generally but appeals to their moral consciences against their desire for retribution.Purpose = originally, to make a general observation about life but its actual function in a real-life discourse event might be to persuade them not to harm someone who has hurt them.Mode = written or spoken, depending on context.

Identify how the text fits in with larger-scale linguistic concepts

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Mode = written or spoken, depending on context.Context = if written it could be in the ‘Thought for the Day’ space in a foyer of a school. If spoken, it might be that someone was about to say something harmful and a friend intervened.

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

2. We can also identify smaller-scale language features o this proverb and link them to larger concepts.

There is a contrast between two noun phrases ‘Two wrongs’ and ‘a right’, a matter of lexis and semantics. In this case wrong means two things? What?Also, ‘a right’ doesn’t have its usual sense of entitlement but means something like ‘doing the right thing’. The reader can understand these special meanings because the words are placed or spoken close to each other.

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

2. We can also identify smaller-scale language features o this proverb and link them to larger concepts.

The contrasting noun phrases are balance around the verb phase ‘don’t make’. This is a common pattern in proverbs e.g. ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’, ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner’. This grammatical feature helps us identify the text as part of the genre of proverbs.

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

2. We can also identify smaller-scale language features o this proverb and link them to larger concepts.

The phonological feature of alliteration is used to emphasise a contrast or a relationship between words in all three example proverbs. This helps to create the feeling that the two words are balanced, an illusion that is contradicted by the negatives ‘n’t/never’, in each of the verb phrases.= repeated phonemes at the

beginnings of words

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

2. We can also identify smaller-scale language features o this proverb and link them to larger concepts.

If these proverbs were written, for example in the context of a children’s book, then the matching initial letters in each proverb might be made the same colour to emphasise the similarity in sound, thus using graphology to help convey the proverb’s meaning to a younger audience.

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

2. We can also identify smaller-scale language features o this proverb and link them to larger concepts.

The colloquial contraction in ‘don’t suggests that this text is usually used in spoken rather than written mode, which means pragmatically when it is used in a discourse event its primary purpose is to offer advice to someone, or possibly to criticise them. However, it may be written, so it could also serve as a reminder of a general moral principle, that we shouldn’t react to malicious actions by hitting back.

= omission of a letter in a word, often replaced by an apostrophe

= an informal style of the kind used in ordinary speech

An example of textual analysis contd.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

We have seen that there are some quite complex connections between this text’s language features and some larger-scale language concepts. These connections have been brought out in a number of ways:Making the text meaning explicitLinking the text to other similar textsConsidering effects of language features on the reader/listenerSpeculating about alternative ways of presenting the textLooking in detail at how language features are used to achieve textual purposes.

More proverbs to help practice

1. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

2. Great oaks from little acorns grow.

3. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.

Text meaningGenreAudiencePurposeMode Context

In summary

1. A text is a unified segment of language. It can be written or spoken and it can be of any length.

2. You need to develop a range of skills to be able to write essays that analyse texts.

3. Larger-scale linguistic concepts and smaller features can be used to analyse texts.

Next chapter

Textual representations and representations