Analytical, or critical, reading is a process involving several overlapping operations: analysis, inference, synthesis, and evaluation. Analysis is a process in which you study something carefully, piece by piece. It is often difficult to understand a piece of writing fully when you look at it all at once. That is why analysis is such a useful skill. When you analyse, you focus on each part individually. When you work critically, you divide the subject into its elements, infer the buried meanings and assumptions that define the essence, and synthesise the part into a new whole. Analysis is a convenient term for the overlapping operations of analysis, inference, and synthesis.

ANALYSIS OF A POETIC TEXT

1. What novel (story, etc.) is the text under analysis taken from? What do you know about the author? What literary trend does he belong to?

2. Give a brief summary of the text.

In summarising a work of writing, you digest, in your own words, what the author says: you take the essence of the author's meaning, without the supporting evidence and other details that make the gist convincing or interesting.

HOW TO WORK

1. Read the passage that you will have to summarise.

2. Write a summary sentence for every paragraph or related group of paragraphs. Finding the topic sentence of each paragraph can help you. Do not include unnecessary facts.

3. Write a rough draft of the summary in your own words. Link all your sentences in a logical, progressive or chronological arrangement. Refer to the passage only when you want to make sure of some point.

4. Compare your summary with the original and cut out all non-essential points.

5. Write a fair copy of your summary.

6. Mind some of the ways used in cutting down the length of a passage: illustrative details may be omitted; ideas expressed in figurative language must be put more simply and directly; repetitions must be cut out; sentences must be rephrased and rearranged.

A summary is a good test of your ability to understand what you have read. If you can pick out essential points and then find your own ways of expressing them, you have really understood the passage.

3. What narrative method does the author employ? What effect is achieved?

The narrative method involves such aspects as (a) who narrates the story and (b) the way the narrator stands in relation to the events and to the other characters of the story.

The person telling the story is called the narrator. Often the narrator is a character in the story. He may be the main character or a minor one. Other times the narrator is outside the story, explaining the events. The way in which the narra­tor tells the story is called the point of view. If the narrator is a character in the story, the story is told in the first-person point of view. The narrator uses the first-person pronouns I and me. If the narrator is outside the story, the story is told in the third-person point of view. The narrator uses the third-person pronouns he, she, and they to talk about the characters. If the analytic author can see into all the characters' minds, then he has used the third-person omni­scient point of view. If the narrator is limited to understanding only one character's thoughts, then the writer has used the third-person limited point of view. The story may be told in the third-person point of view in such a way that the author merely records the speech and actions of the characters without analysing them (as it is done in Hemingway's stories). This type of narrator is called the observer-author.

The narrative method conditions the language of the story.

4. Comment on the composition of the text. What forms of the subject matter presentation are employed by the author? How do they interrelate in the text? Which of them stands out more prominent? Indicate the balance between narrative and description in the passage. Comment on the author's choice of literary representational forms. Edgar Alan Poe said, "In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design!" How does the text structure contribute to the author's purpose?

The narration, whatever it is: first-person or third-person, rests on such forms as narration, description, direct speech (dialogue, monologue), represented speech, quotations, the author's digressions, character drawing.

Narration is dynamic; it gives a continuous ac­count of events.

Description is static; it is a verbal portrai­ture of an object, person or scene. It may be detailed and direct or impressionistic, giving few but striking details. It may provide details appealing to sight, hearing, or other senses.

Dialogue. Conversation between characters in a story or play is called dialogue. Through the dialogue the characters are better portrayed, it also brings the action nearer to the reader, makes it seem more swift and more intense.

Interior Monologue renders the thoughts and feelings of a character who speaks to himself.

Dramatic Monologue. A character speaks alone but there are those he addresses himself to.

Digression consists in an insertion of material that has no immediate relation to the theme or action. It may be lyrical, philosophical or critical.

All these forms of presentation, as a rule, interrelate in a literary text, with one or another of them standing out more prominent.

The arrangement and disposition of all the forms of the subject matter presentation make up the composition of a literary text.

In writing, a basic unit is the paragraph. Each paragraph is made up of one or more sentences. In most good paragraphs, all the sentences are about one idea, called the main idea. The way the sentences are arranged depends on the kind of paragraph. There are four basic kinds of paragraphs.

Narrative Paragraphs. A paragraph that tells about an event is a narrative paragraph. Its sentences tell the steps in which the event hap­pened. Therefore, they usually follow time order. This is also called chronological order. Here is an example.

One day Naru carved a squid out of wood. It looked so real that he decided to throw it into the sea. Instantly it came alive and swam away.

Descriptive Paragraphs. A paragraph that describes a person, object, or scene is a descriptive paragraph. Usually, one sentence states what is being described, which is the main idea. This is the topic sentence. It often comes first. The rest of the sentences give details about the topic. Usually, the details are arranged as you would notice them. This is called spatial order. Here is an example.

The man went to a corn bin that stood on the edge of the compound. It was made of mud and looked rather like an outsized water-pot. When the man had climbed in through the opening at the top, he found he could see over the edge only by standing on tiptoe.

Persuasive Paragraphs. A paragraph that tries to persuade is a persuasive paragraph. The first sentence is usually the topic sentence. It states what the reader should do or believe. The other sentences give reasons. The reasons are usually arranged from most important to least important, or sometimes from least important to most important. This is called order of importance.

In this example, the speaker is trying to persuade her husband not to bother another man.

"Keep away from him, for I'm sure he will destroy you! Then what will become of me?"

Explanatory Paragraphs. A paragraph that explains something is an explanatory paragraph. Usually, the first sentence is the topic sen­tence. The rest of the sentences give details, usually in chronological order or order of importance. Here is an example.

Once upon a time there was a man who believed he was stronger than anyone else in the whole world. He certainly was strong, for whenever he went to the forest to get firewood for his home, he would bring back a load ten times as big as most men could carry. Sometimes, when he found a dead tree lying on the ground, he would toss it onto his head with a mighty heave and carry it home in one piece.

Not every paragraph fits the descriptions above. A paragraph might combine narration and description, for example. The topic sen­tence of the paragraph may come last, or in the middle. Or, like most narrative paragraphs, the paragraph may not have a topic sentence.

However, comparing every paragraph to these descriptions can help you better understand your reading. Keep alert to what each para­graph is doing. State the main idea in your own words. Then see if there is a topic sentence.