A truly high-quality literary work, like any other work of art, is an integral complex, a unity of philosophical, ethical, social, historical, aesthetic, etc. issues ( and very rarely - answers), which the author formulated in his own language. As soon as you begin to pull this plexus apart into separate parts, it collapses and ceases to be a fact of art. Remember, Pushkin’s lines are Salieri’s confession: “Having killed the sounds, I disintegrated the music like a corpse. I trusted harmony with algebra...” Therefore, such vandalism as " analysis", it is better not to do it on your own initiative. But to be able to think about it in the text, adequately reflect it is absolutely necessary.
But if circumstances still require this from you, then you need to prepare for a long time. Starting from first grade. But in primary school You are introduced to didactic and educational texts. For example: " What is good and what is bad"Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.
Only in the 9th grade do they begin to teach how to read literary texts for real. And you need to start reading this much earlier. At least with " The captain's daughter ", "Dubrovsky", "Taras Bulba"Many girls like Masha Troekurova. But for some reason rare girl thinks about the question: why does Masha herself refuse her savior in the finale? And if they thought about it, they would understand Tatyana Larina, Anna Karenina, and Katyusha Maslova much more clearly - the whole endless series of wonderful Russian women with difficult fates that classical Russian literature tells about.
Certainly. we need to start with understanding goals such an analysis. If this is an exam essay, and most likely they ask about this, then you need to adjust your work to the standards of this genre. But at the same time, you need to know that real literature, and these are the books that are studied in school, is in no way limited to such concepts as " subject" And " idea"Great authors don't set goals for themselves." open your eyes"to their reader. They, peering and listening into life, see problem and try to convey this vision to the reader. This is exactly what M.Yu. Lermontov writes about in the introduction to " To the hero of our time". They themselves do not know the answer or solution, but they encourage us to think about this or that phenomenon. Most often, this is precisely what the so-called " author's position ". At least in Russian classical XIX literature century. And if, during your analysis, in addition to the ideological, thematic and literary content (composition, language, figurative system etc.) You will be able to show your, albeit still naive, teenage, but exactly yours, reflection, then such work will be appreciated quite highly.
When analyzing work of art should be distinguished ideological content and art form.
A. Ideological content includes:
1) subject matter works - socio-historical characters chosen by the writer in their interaction;
2) issues- the most significant properties and aspects of the already reflected characters for the author, highlighted and strengthened by him in the artistic depiction;
3) pathos works - ideological- emotional attitude the writer to the depicted social characters (heroism, tragedy, drama, satire, humor, romance and sentimentality).
Pathos - highest form ideological and emotional assessment of the writer’s life, revealed in his work. Affirmation of the greatness of the feat of an individual hero or an entire team is an expression heroic pathos, and the actions of the hero or team are characterized by free initiative and are aimed at the implementation of high humanistic principles. The prerequisite for heroic fiction is the heroism of reality, the fight against the elements of nature, for national freedom and independence, for the free labor of people, the fight for peace.
When the author affirms the deeds and experiences of people who are characterized by a deep and irremovable contradiction between the desire for a sublime ideal and the fundamental impossibility of achieving it, then we have before us tragic pathos. The forms of the tragic are very diverse and historically changeable. Dramatic pathos is distinguished by the absence of the fundamental nature of a person’s opposition to extrapersonal hostile circumstances. Tragic character always marked by exceptional moral height and significance. The differences in the characters of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” and Larisa in Ostrovsky’s “Dowry” clearly demonstrate the difference in these types of pathos.
Great value in art XIX-XX acquired centuries romantic pathos, with the help of which the significance of the individual’s desire for an emotionally anticipated universal ideal is affirmed. Close to romantic sentimental pathos, although its range is limited to the family and everyday sphere of manifestation of the feelings of the heroes and the writer. All these types of pathos carry within them affirmative beginning and realize the sublime as the main and most general aesthetic category.
The general aesthetic category for the negation of negative tendencies is the category of the comic. Comic- this is a form of life that claims to be significant, but has historically outlived its positive content and therefore causes laughter. Comic contradictions as an objective source of laughter can be realized satirically or humorous. The angry denial of socially dangerous comic phenomena determines the civil nature of the pathos of satire. Mocking the comic contradictions in the moral and everyday sphere of human relations evokes a humorous attitude towards what is depicted. Ridicule can be either a denial or an affirmation of the depicted contradiction. Laughter in literature, as in life, is extremely diverse in its manifestations: smile, mockery, sarcasm, irony, sardonic grin, Homeric laughter.
B. Art form includes:
1) Details of subject visualization: portrait, actions of characters, their experiences and speech (monologues and dialogues), everyday environment, landscape, plot (sequence and interaction of external and internal actions of characters in time and space);
2) Composition details: order, method and motivation, narratives and descriptions of the depicted life, author's reasoning, digressions, inserted episodes, framing ( image composition- the relationship and arrangement of object details within a separate image);
3) Stylistic details: figurative and expressive details of the author's speech, intonation-syntactic and rhythmic-strophic features of poetic speech in general.
Scheme of analysis of a literary work.
1. History of creation.
2. Topic.
3. Issues.
4. The ideological orientation of the work and its emotional pathos.
6. Basic artistic images in their system and internal connections.
7. Central characters.
8. The plot and structural features of the conflict.
9. Landscape, portrait, dialogues and monologues of characters, interior, setting.
11. Composition of the plot and individual images, as well as the general architectonics of the work.
12. The place of the work in the writer’s work.
13. The place of the work in the history of Russian and world literature.
A general plan for answering the question about the meaning of the writer’s creativity.
A. The place of the writer in the development of Russian literature.
B. The place of the writer in the development of European (world) literature.
1. The main problems of the era and the writer’s attitude towards them.
2. Traditions and innovation of the writer in the field:
b) topics, problems;
c) creative method and style;
e) speech style.
B. Evaluation of the writer’s work by classics of literature and criticism.
An approximate plan for characterizing an artistic image-character.
Introduction. The place of the character in the system of images of the work.
Main part. Characteristics of the character as a certain social type.
1. Social and financial situation.
2. Appearance.
3. The originality of worldview and worldview, the range of mental interests, inclinations and habits:
a) the nature of activities and main life aspirations;
b) influence on others (main area, types and types of influence).
4. Area of feelings:
a) type of attitude towards others;
b) features of internal experiences.
6. What personality traits of the hero are revealed in the work:
c) through the characteristics of others characters;
d) using background or biography;
e) through a chain of actions;
f) in speech characteristics;
g) through “neighborhood” with other characters;
h) through the environment.
Conclusion. Which public problem led the author to create this image.
Plan for analyzing a lyric poem.
I. Date of writing.
II. Real biographical and factual commentary.
III. Genre originality.
IV. Ideological content:
1. Leading topic.
2. Main thought.
3. The emotional coloring of feelings expressed in a poem in their dynamics or statics.
4. External impression and internal reaction to it.
5. The predominance of public or personal intonations.
V. Structure of the poem:
1. Comparison and development of basic verbal images:
a) by similarity;
b) by contrast;
c) by contiguity;
d) by association;
d) by inference.
2. Basic visual arts allegories used by the author: metaphor, metonymy, comparison, allegory, symbol, hyperbole, litotes, irony (as a trope), sarcasm, periphrasis.
3. Speech features in terms of intonation and syntactic figures: epithet, repetition, antithesis, inversion, ellipse, parallelism, rhetorical question, address and exclamation.
4. Main rhythmic features:
a) tonic, syllabic, syllabic-tonic, dolnik, free verse;
b) iambic, trochaic, pyrrhic, spondean, dactyl, amphibrachic, anapest.
5. Rhyme (masculine, feminine, dactylic, accurate, inaccurate, rich; simple, compound) and methods of rhyming (paired, cross, ring), game of rhymes.
6. Stanza (couple, tercet, quintet, quatrain, sextine, seventh, octave, sonnet, Onegin stanza).
7. Euphony (euphony) and sound recording (alliteration, assonance), other types of sound instrumentation.
How to keep a short record of the books you read.
2. The exact title of the work. Dates of creation and appearance in print.
3. The time depicted in the work and the place where the main events take place. The social environment, the representatives of which are depicted by the author in the work (nobles, peasants, urban bourgeoisie, bourgeoisie, commoners, intelligentsia, workers).
4. Epoch. Characteristics of the time in which the work was written (from the side of the economic and socio-political interests and aspirations of contemporaries).
5. Brief content plan.
The analysis of any work begins with perception - the reader, listener, viewer. If considered literary essay, then it is opposed, rather, to other ideologies than to other arts. The word as such is a means not only of literature, but also of human language in general. Thus, the main analytical load falls on identifying the criteria of artistry. Analysis of a work is, first of all, drawing boundaries between an artistic creation and the product of human activity in general, be it literature or any other art.
Planning
Analyzing a work of art requires distinguishing between its form and ideological content. Ideological content is, first of all, thematic and problematic. Then - pathos, that is, the artist’s emotional attitude towards what is depicted: tragedy, heroism, drama, humor and satire, sentimentality or romance.
Artistry lies in the details of the subject representation, in the sequence and interaction of the internal and external activities of the depicted in time and space. And also the analysis of a work of art requires accuracy in highlighting compositional development. This includes observing the development in the order, methods, motivations of the narrative or description of what is depicted, in stylistic details.
Circuits for analysis
First of all, the history of the creation of this work is examined, its themes and problems, ideological direction and emotional pathos are indicated. Then the genre is explored in its traditionality and originality, as well as these artistic images in all their internal connections. Analysis of a work brings discussion to the fore and characterizes all central characters, while simultaneously clarifying the storylines in the features of conflict construction.
Next, landscapes and portraits, monologues and dialogues, the interior and setting of the action are characterized. In this case, it is imperative to pay attention to the verbal structure: analysis of a literary work requires consideration of the author’s descriptions, narratives, digressions, and reasoning. That is, speech becomes the subject of study.
Details
During the analysis, both the composition of the work and the characteristics of individual images, as well as the general architectonics, are necessarily recognized. Finally, the place is indicated of this essay in the artist’s work and his significance in the domestic and world treasury of art. This is especially important if the works of Lermontov, Pushkin and other classics are analyzed.
It is necessary to convey information about the main problems of the era and clarify the creator’s attitude towards them. Point by point, identify the traditional and innovative elements in the author’s work: what are the ideas, themes and issues, what are the creative method, style, genre. It is very useful to study the attitude of leading critics to this creation. Thus, Belinsky produced an almost exhaustive analysis of Pushkin’s works.
Character Characteristics Plan
In the introduction, it is necessary to determine the character’s place in common system images of this work. The main part includes, first of all, its characteristics and an indication of its social type, financial and social status. The external appearance is examined in detail and no less thoroughly - his worldview, worldview, range of interests, habits, inclinations.
Mandatory research into the nature of the character’s activities and main aspirations greatly contributes to the full disclosure of the character. Its impact on the world around us is also considered - all types of impact.
The next stage is the analysis of the hero of the work in the field of feelings. That is, how he relates to others, his inner experiences. The author's attitude towards this character is also analyzed. How is personality revealed in the work? Was the characterization given by the author himself directly, or did he do it with the help of a portrait, backstory, through other characters, through the actions of the subject or his speech characteristics, using the environment or neighbors. The analysis of the work ends with an identification of the problem in society that led the artist to create just such an image. Getting to know the character will turn out to be quite close and informative if the journey through the text is interesting.
Analysis of a lyric work
You should start with the date of writing, then give a biographical comment. Identify the genre and note its originality. Next, it is advisable to consider the ideological content in as much detail as possible: to identify the leading theme and convey the main idea of the work.
Feelings and them emotional coloring expressed in a poem, whether dynamics dominates in it or statics - all this constitutes the most important part that the analysis of a literary work should contain.
It is important to pay attention to the impression of the poem and analyze the internal reaction. Note the predominance of public or personal intonations in the work.
Professional details
Further analysis lyrical work enters the sphere of professional details: the structure of verbal images, their comparison, and then development are specifically considered. What path did the author choose for comparison and development - by contrast or by similarity, by association, by contiguity or by inference.
Visual means are examined in detail: metonymy, metaphor, allegory, comparison, hyperbole, symbol, sarcasm, periphrasis, and so on. It is especially necessary to identify the presence of intonational-syntactic figures, such as anaphors, antitheses, epithets, inversions, rhetorical questions, appeals and exclamations.
An analysis of the works of Lermontov, Pushkin, and any other poet is impossible without characterizing the main rhythmic features. It is necessary to indicate first of all what exactly the author used: tonic, syllabic, syllabic-tonic, dolnik or free verse. Then determine the size: iambic, trochee, peon, dactyl, anapest, amphibrachium, pyrrhicham or spondee. The method of rhyming and stanza is considered.
Scheme of analysis of a work of painting
First, the author and title of the painting, the place and time of its creation, the history and embodiment of the idea are indicated. The reasons for choosing the model are considered. The style and direction of this work are indicated. The type of painting is determined: easel or monumental, fresco, tempera or mosaic.
The choice of material is explained: oil, watercolor, ink, gouache, pastel - and whether it is characteristic of the artist. Analysis of a work of art also involves determining the genre: portrait, landscape, history painting, still life, panorama or diorama, marina, iconography, everyday genre or mythological. It is also worth noting its characteristic character for the artist. Convey a pictorial plot or symbolic content, if observed.
Analysis scheme: sculpture
Just as the analysis of a work of painting involves, for a sculpture the author and title, time of creation, place, history of the idea and its implementation are first indicated. Style and direction are indicated.
Now it is necessary to determine the type of sculpture: round, monumental or small sculpture, relief or its varieties (bas-relief or high relief), herm or sculptural portrait, and so on.
The choice of model is described - this is a person, an animal that exists in reality, or an allegorical image of it. Or maybe the work is completely the imagination of the sculptor.
For a complete analysis, it is necessary to determine whether the sculpture is an element of architecture, or whether it is free-standing. Then consider the author’s choice of material and what determines it. It is marble, granite, bronze, wood or clay. Reveal national characteristics work and, finally, convey personal attitude and perception. The analysis of the sculptor's work is completed. Architectural objects are considered in a similar way.
Analysis of a piece of music
Musical art has specific means to reveal life phenomena. Here the connections between figurative meaning music and its structure, as well as the means used by the composer. These special features of expressiveness are what the analysis is intended to designate. piece of music. Moreover, it should itself become a means for the development of aesthetic and ethical qualities of the individual.
First you need to find out musical content, ideas and concepts of the work. And also its role in the education of sensory cognition full picture peace. Then you need to determine which means of expression musical language formed the semantic content of the work, what intonation discoveries the composer used.
How to do a qualitative analysis
Here is a partial list of questions that a qualitative analysis of a piece of music should answer:
- What is this music about?
- What name can you give it? (If the essay is not programmatic.)
- Are there heroes in the work? What are they?
- Does this music have action? Where do conflicts occur?
- How do climaxes manifest themselves? Do they grow from peak to peak?
- How did the composer explain all this to us? (Timbres, tempos, dynamics, etc. - that is, the nature of the work and the means of creating this character.)
- What impression does this music make, what mood does it convey?
- How does the listener feel?
1. Determine the theme and idea / main idea / of this work; the issues raised in it; the pathos with which the work is written;
2. Show the relationship between plot and composition;
3. Consider the subjective organization of the work /the artistic image of a person, techniques for creating a character, types of image-characters, a system of image-characters/;
5. Determine the features of the functioning of figurative and expressive means of language in a given work of literature;
6. Determine the features of the genre of the work and the style of the writer.
Note: using this scheme, you can write an essay review about a book you have read, while also presenting in your work:
1. Emotional-evaluative attitude towards what you read.
2. A detailed justification for an independent assessment of the characters of the characters in the work, their actions and experiences.
3. Detailed justification of the conclusions.
2. Analysis of a prose literary work
When starting to analyze a work of art, first of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the specific historical context of the work during the period of creation of this work of art. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of historical and historical-literary situation, in the latter case meaning
Literary trends of the era;
The place of this work among the works of other authors written during this period;
Creative history of the work;
Evaluation of the work in criticism;
The originality of the perception of this work by the writer’s contemporaries;
Evaluation of the work in the context of modern reading;
Next, we should turn to the question of the ideological and artistic unity of the work, its content and form (at the same time, the plan of content is considered - what the author wanted to say and the plan of expression - how he managed to do it).
Conceptual level of a work of art
(theme, issues, conflict and pathos)
Theme is what is discussed in the work, the main problem posed and considered by the author in the work, which unites the content into a single whole; these are typical phenomena and events real life which are reflected in the work. Is the topic in tune with the main issues of its time? Is the title related to the topic? Each phenomenon of life is a separate topic; a set of themes - the theme of the work.
A problem is that side of life that particularly interests the writer. One and the same problem can serve as the basis for posing different problems (the topic of serfdom - the problem of the internal unfreedom of the serf, the problem of mutual corruption, deformation of both serfs and serf-owners, the problem of social injustice...). Issues - a list of problems raised in the work. (They may be additional and subordinate to the main problem.)
Pathos is the writer’s emotional and evaluative attitude towards what is being told, characterized by great strength of feelings (maybe affirming, denying, justifying, elevating...).
Level of organization of the work as an artistic whole
Composition - the construction of a literary work; combines parts of a work into one whole.
Basic means of composition:
Plot is what happens in a story; system of main events and conflicts.
Conflict is a clash of characters and circumstances, views and principles of life, which forms the basis of action. Conflict can occur between an individual and society, between characters. In the hero's mind it can be obvious and hidden. Plot elements reflect the stages of conflict development;
Prologue is a kind of introduction to a work, which narrates the events of the past, it emotionally prepares the reader for perception (rare);
Exposition - introduction to action, depiction of the conditions and circumstances preceding the immediate start of actions (can be expanded or not, integral and “broken”; can be located not only at the beginning, but also in the middle, end of the work); introduces the characters of the work, the setting, time and circumstances of the action;
The plot is the beginning of the plot; the event from which the conflict begins, subsequent events develop.
The development of action is a system of events that follow from the plot; as the action progresses, as a rule, the conflict intensifies, and the contradictions appear more and more clearly and sharply;
The climax is the moment of the highest tension of the action, the pinnacle of the conflict, the climax represents the main problem of the work and the characters of the characters very clearly, after which the action weakens.
Resolution is a solution to the depicted conflict or an indication of possible ways to resolve it. The final moment in the development of the action of a work of art. As a rule, it either resolves the conflict or demonstrates its fundamental unsolvability.
Epilogue is the final part of the work, which indicates the direction of further development of events and the destinies of the heroes (sometimes an assessment of what is depicted is given); This short story about what happened to the characters in the work after the end of the main plot action.
The plot can be presented:
In direct chronological sequence of events;
With retreats into the past - retrospectives - and “excursions” into
In a deliberately changed sequence (see artistic time in the work).
Non-plot elements are considered:
Inserted episodes;
Their main function is to expand the scope of what is depicted, to enable the author to express his thoughts and feelings about various life phenomena that are not directly related to the plot.
The work may lack certain plot elements; sometimes it is difficult to separate these elements; sometimes there are several plots in one work - otherwise, storylines. There are different interpretations of the concepts “plot” and “plot”:
1) plot - main conflict works; plot - a series of events in which it is expressed;
2) plot - artistic order of events; fabula - the natural order of events
Compositional principles and elements:
The leading compositional principle (multidimensional composition, linear, circular, “string with beads”; in the chronology of events or not...).
Additional composition tools:
Lyrical digressions are forms of revealing and conveying the writer’s feelings and thoughts about what is depicted (they express the author’s attitude towards the characters, towards the life depicted, and can represent reflections on some issue or an explanation of his goal, position);
Introductory (inserted) episodes (not directly related to the plot of the work);
Artistic foreshadowing - depiction of scenes that seem to predict, anticipate further development events;
Artistic framing - scenes that begin and end an event or work, complementing it, giving additional meaning;
Compositional techniques - internal monologues, diary, etc.
Level internal form works
Subjective organization of narration (its consideration includes the following): Narration can be personal: on behalf of the lyrical hero (confession), on behalf of the hero-narrator, and impersonal (on behalf of the narrator).
1) Artistic image of a person - typical phenomena of life reflected in this image are considered; individual traits inherent in the character; The uniqueness of the created image of a person is revealed:
External features - face, figure, costume;
The character of a character is revealed in actions, in relation to other people, manifested in a portrait, in descriptions of the hero’s feelings, in his speech. Depiction of the conditions in which the character lives and acts;
An image of nature that helps to better understand the character’s thoughts and feelings;
Depiction of the social environment, the society in which the character lives and operates;
Presence or absence of a prototype.
2) basic techniques for creating a character image:
Characteristics of the hero through his actions and deeds (in the plot system);
Portrait, portrait description of a hero (often expresses the author’s attitude towards the character);
Psychological analysis - detailed, detailed reconstruction of feelings, thoughts, motives -inner world character; Here the image of the “dialectics of the soul” is of particular importance, i.e. movements of the hero's inner life;
Characterization of the hero by other characters;
Artistic detail - a description of objects and phenomena of the reality surrounding the character (details that reflect a broad generalization can act as symbolic details);
3) Types of character images:
lyrical - in the event that the writer depicts only the feelings and thoughts of the hero, without mentioning the events of his life, the actions of the hero (found mainly in poetry);
dramatic - in the event that the impression arises that the characters act “by themselves”, “without the help of the author”, i.e. the author uses the technique of self-disclosure, self-characterization to characterize characters (found mainly in dramatic works);
epic - the author-narrator or storyteller consistently describes the heroes, their actions, characters, appearance, the environment in which they live, relationships with others (found in epic novels, stories, stories, short stories, essays).
4) System of images-characters;
Individual images can be combined into groups (grouping of images) - their interaction helps to more fully present and reveal each character, and through them - the theme and ideological meaning of the work.
All these groups are united into the society depicted in the work (multidimensional or single-dimensional from a social, ethnic, etc. point of view).
Artistic space and artistic time (chronotope): space and time depicted by the author.
Artistic space can be conditional and concrete; compressed and voluminous;
Artistic time can be correlated with historical or not, intermittent and continuous, in the chronology of events (epic time) or the chronology of the internal mental processes of characters (lyrical time), long or instantaneous, finite or endless, closed (i.e. only within the plot , outside of historical time) and open (against the background of a certain historical era).
Method of creating artistic images: narration (depiction of the events occurring in the work), description (sequential listing of individual signs, features, properties and phenomena), forms oral speech(dialogue, monologue).
Place and meaning of artistic detail (artistic detail that enhances the idea of the whole).
Level of external form. Speech and rhythmic and melodic organization of literary text
The speech of the characters - expressive or not, acting as a means of typification; individual characteristics of speech; reveals character and helps to understand the attitude of the author.
The narrator's speech - assessment of events and their participants
The originality of the word use of the national language (the activity of including synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, archaisms, neologisms, dialectisms, barbarisms, professionalisms).
Techniques of imagery (tropes - the use of words in a figurative meaning) - the simplest (epithet and comparison) and complex (metaphor, personification, allegory, litotes, periphrasis).
Poem Analysis Plan
1. Elements of a commentary on the poem:
Time (place) of writing, history of creation;
Genre originality;
The place of this poem in the poet’s work or in a series of poems on a similar topic (with a similar motive, plot, structure, etc.);
Explanation of unclear passages, complex metaphors and other transcripts.
2. Feelings expressed by the lyrical hero of the poem; the feelings that a poem evokes in the reader.
4. Interdependence between the content of the poem and its artistic form:
Composition solutions;
Features of self-expression of the lyrical hero and the nature of the narrative;
The sound of the poem, the use of sound recording, assonance, alliteration;
Rhythm, stanza, graphics, their semantic role;
Motivated and accurate use of expressive means.
4. Associations evoked by this poem (literary, life, musical, picturesque - any).
5. The typicality and originality of this poem in the poet’s work, the deep moral or philosophical meaning of the work, revealed as a result of the analysis; the degree of “eternity” of the problems raised or their interpretation. Riddles and secrets of the poem.
6. Additional (free) thoughts.
Analysis of a poetic work
When starting to analyze a poetic work, it is necessary to determine the immediate content of the lyrical work - experience, feeling;
Determine the “ownership” of feelings and thoughts expressed in a lyrical work: lyrical hero(the image in which these feelings are expressed);
Determine the subject of the description and its connection with the poetic idea (direct - indirect);
Determine the organization (composition) of a lyrical work;
Determine the originality of the use of visual means by the author (active - stingy); determine the lexical pattern (colloquial - book and literary vocabulary...);
Determine rhythm (homogeneous - heterogeneous; rhythmic movement);
Determine the sound pattern;
Determine intonation (the speaker’s attitude to the subject of speech and the interlocutor.
Poetic vocabulary
It is necessary to find out the activity of using certain groups of words in common vocabulary - synonyms, antonyms, archaisms, neologisms;
Find out the degree of closeness of poetic language to colloquial language;
Determine the originality and activity of using tropes
EPITHET - artistic definition;
COMPARISON - a comparison of two objects or phenomena in order to explain one of them with the help of the other;
ALLEGORY (allegory) - depiction of an abstract concept or phenomenon through specific objects and images;
IRONY - hidden mockery;
HYPERBOLE - artistic exaggeration used to enhance impression;
LITOTE - artistic understatement;
PERSONIFICATION - the image of inanimate objects, in which they are endowed with the properties of living beings - the gift of speech, the ability to think and feel;
METAPHOR - a hidden comparison built on the similarity or contrast of phenomena, in which the words “as”, “as if”, “as if” are absent, but are implied.
Poetic syntax
(syntactic devices or figures of poetic speech)
Rhetorical questions, appeals, exclamations - they increase the reader’s attention without requiring him to answer;
Repetitions – repeated repetition of the same words or expressions;
Antitheses - oppositions;
Poetic phonetics
The use of onomatopoeia, sound recording - sound repetitions that create a unique sound “pattern” of speech.)
Alliteration - repetition of consonant sounds;
Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds;
Anaphora - unity of command;
Composition of a lyrical work
Necessary:
Determine the leading experience, feeling, mood reflected in a poetic work;
Find out the harmony of the compositional structure, its subordination to the expression of a certain thought;
Determine the lyrical situation presented in the poem (the hero’s conflict with himself; the hero’s internal lack of freedom, etc.)
Define life situation, which presumably could have caused this experience;
Identify the main parts of a poetic work: show their connection (define the emotional “drawing”).
Analysis of a dramatic work
Diagram of analysis of a dramatic work
1. general characteristics: history of creation, life basis, plan, literary criticism.
2. Plot, composition:
The main conflict, stages of its development;
Character of the denouement /comic, tragic, dramatic/
3. Analysis of individual actions, scenes, phenomena.
4. Collecting material about the characters:
The hero's appearance
Behavior,
Speech characteristics
Manner /how?/
Style, vocabulary
Self-characteristics, mutual characteristics of heroes, author's remarks;
The role of scenery and interior in the development of the image.
5. CONCLUSIONS: Theme, idea, meaning of the title, system of images. Genre of the work, artistic originality.
Dramatic work
The generic specificity, the “borderline” position of drama (between literature and theater) obliges its analysis to be carried out in the course of the development of dramatic action (this is the fundamental difference between the analysis of a dramatic work and an epic or lyrical one). Therefore, the proposed scheme is of a conditional nature; it only takes into account the conglomerate of the main generic categories of drama, the peculiarity of which can manifest itself differently in each individual case precisely in the development of the action (according to the principle of an unwinding spring).
1. General characteristics of dramatic action (character, plan and vector of movement, tempo, rhythm, etc.). “Through” action and “underwater” currents.
2. Type of conflict. The essence of drama and the content of the conflict, the nature of the contradictions (two-dimensionality, external conflict, internal conflict, their interaction), “vertical” and “horizontal” plan of the drama.
3. The system of characters, their place and role in the development of dramatic action and conflict resolution. Main and secondary characters. Extra-plot and extra-scene characters.
4. The system of motives and motivational development of the plot and microplots of the drama. Text and subtext.
5. Compositional and structural level. The main stages in the development of dramatic action (exposition, plot, development of action, climax, denouement). Installation principle.
6. Features of poetics (the semantic key of the title, the role of the theater poster, stage chronotype, symbolism, stage psychologism, the problem of the ending). Signs of theatricality: costume, mask, play and post-situational analysis, role-playing situations, etc.
7. Genre originality (drama, tragedy or comedy?). The origins of the genre, its reminiscences and innovative solutions by the author.
9. Contexts of drama (historical-cultural, creative, actual dramatic).
10. The problem of interpretation and stage history.
Literary analysis involves reading a literary work very carefully to understand how the author conveys his key ideas. Start making notes on the text and read the work with maximum concentration, then formulate your arguments and make a plan. Write your analysis as planned and edit your work to submit a final copy.
Steps
Take notes and formulate arguments
- Highlight passages of text that seem interesting or worthy of attention. In one of the paragraphs does the author make an important statement? Did the text suddenly become philosophical? Highlight or mark such passages.
- For example, one of the main quotes from George Orwell's novel 1984 , which is often repeated: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." Since this is the slogan of the Party (the one and only political party state), it becomes clear to us that this text will be important for the plot. You can use a colored marker to highlight this passage of text each time it is mentioned. This will make it easier for you to find a statement to analyze when, where and why Orwell repeats these lines.
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Notice literary devices. The author uses literary devices to prove a point or tell a story. IN literary works alliteration, artistic images, metaphors, allusions, allegories, repetitions, retrospectives, various omens and other techniques are used.
- For example, artistic images are the living language of the author, which helps to form a mental image. They can set the tone of the entire text. Let's look at an example from the novel 1984
George Orwell, which appears in the fourth paragraph:
- “The world outside, behind the closed windows, breathed cold. The wind swirled dust and scraps of paper into spirals; and although the sun was shining and the sky was sharply blue, everything in the city looked colorless - except for the posters posted everywhere.”
- This short passage allows us to imagine a harsh world, very cold and devoid of color.
- For example, artistic images are the living language of the author, which helps to form a mental image. They can set the tone of the entire text. Let's look at an example from the novel 1984
George Orwell, which appears in the fourth paragraph:
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Focus on key topics. Themes are the main ideas that the author repeats throughout the text. The topic could be religion, government, the struggle between good and evil, power, social system, growing up, war, education, human rights and much more. Identify topics as early as possible so that it is easier for you to write down examples of such topics as you read the text.
- Among the main themes of the novel 1984 can be called war, power and social system.
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Pay attention to the form of the work. Form is the structure of the text. Thus, in a voluminous work, the form includes features of the division of the text, as well as narration from the first or third person. In the poem, pay attention to line breaks, the order of couplets, appearance and even the negative space involved. Why did the author choose this form and how does it help to better present key ideas?
- Analyze how form and content relate. Do they conflict?
- For example, a poem often contains less information than a novel, so the author may use form to draw attention to hidden or unanswered questions.
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Consider the historical context. Works are not created in a vacuum, so the time and place in which the author worked will always influence the work. Find out where the author lived when he wrote the novel, what was happening in the world at that time.
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Determine the author's purpose. When creating a work, the author can set several goals for himself. Your task is to identify at least one of them in order to write an analysis. If you are able to support your ideas with evidence from the text, then you can choose any goal at your discretion.
- To determine the author's purpose, analyze the historical context of the book as well as the author's important themes. You can also read other analyzes and reviews, including an interview with the author.
- For example, one of Orwell's main goals when working on the novel 1984 was to show what awaits citizens if they do not control the work of their own government - a totalitarian regime that monitors every step and thought of people.
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- Thus, the slogan “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength" becomes an introduction to the author's goal. It allows the reader to imagine what will happen next: members of such a society are forced to silently swallow the contradictory statements of the government. In the novel, this concept is called "doublethink".
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Focus on the topic to decide on your arguments. Focus on one plot element that represents your chosen main goal of the piece. What exactly resonated with you about this particular topic? Why does she seem important?
- For example, you want to focus on how artistic imagery sets the tone of the novel 1984 . Why is it important? Without such images, the novel would have been perceived differently, and Orwell would have had difficulty presenting a convincing world to the reader.
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Analyze how your evidence supports your main idea. At this point, you need to answer why your statement is really important. Show readers that your evidence is relevant to the claim.
- For example, end a paragraph with a quotation like this:
- This world is cruel to its inhabitants, it emanates “coldness” and a premonition of trouble, and everyday life does not alternate with joyful days. Even a bright sunny day does not help to forget about gloom and despondency. Through such descriptions, Orwell demonstrates that the world of the novel may also be our future, a harsh reality without the possibility of finding joy in fantasy or fun.
- For example, end a paragraph with a quotation like this:
Write down ideas as you read the text. When you first read a text, make notes about the aspects that stand out to you—the main conflict, character motivations, tone, and setting.