8. Identify the conflict.

The struggle a character faces in a story is called the conflict. How the char­acter faces the conflict creates the tension and suspense in the story.

A struggle occurring between two characters, or between a char­acter and a force such as nature, is called an external conflict. A struggle within a character is called an internal conflict. This conflict usually involves a decision the char­acter must make.

9. Identify the climax.

The climax of a story usually in­volves an important event, decision, or dis­covery. It is the turning point of the story. The main character usually makes a decision or changes in some way. It is the point at which the forces in the conflict reach the highest intensity.

10. What is the theme of the extract? What message does the author want to convey?

The theme of a literary work is the represented aspect of life or, in other words, it is what is depicted.

The most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the theme is the message. The message is generally expressed implicitly.

11. Comment on the peculiarities of the author's style.

'Style' refers to the way writers express themselves. Sometimes, a writer's language is over-elaborate and self-conscious and tries to impress the reader without having much connection with the meaning of what is being expressed. In other words, the writer is showing off. At the other extreme, the language is sometimes flat and dull and seems not to have been written by a personal, individual voice at all. At its best a writer's language expresses his/her individual thoughts and feelings sincerely and interestingly, so that what is being said cannot be distinguished from how it is being said.

There is no definite list of technical effects that a writer can use. Some writers, anyway, invent their own. They use whatever they can to say what they have to say.

12. Assess the value of the text.

Evaluation. To evaluate a piece of writing, you study it carefully and decide on its value.

Writing can be evaluated in two ways. First, you can judge the skills of the writer. Ask yourself questions such as these: How well has the writer achieved his or her pur­pose? Are the important elements in this type of writing developed well? Has the writer used effective methods of presenting ideas? Is the writing organised logically? Do the ideas make sense? Are the figures of speech clear?

The second type of evaluation is judging what the writer says, not only how he or she says it. Is the writing truthful and accurate? Is the writer qualified to write about this subject? Do you suspect that the writer is biased in any way? Has he or she left out important facts? What are the qualities that make this piece worth reading?

When you evaluate what writers write, watch for evidences of faulty thinking such as the following:

1. unsupported generalisations;

2. confusion of fact and opinion;

3. slanted writing.

Fact and Opinion. Facts are statements that can be proved to be true. Opinions, on the other hand, are statements of a person's beliefs. They may or may not be supported by facts.

Fact: The sun rose at 6:05 A.M.

Opinion: The sunrise was beautiful this morning.

Opinions, although they cannot always be proved, should be based on evidence.

Generalisations. A generalisation is a statement about a group that is supposedly true of all members of the group. Although any generalisation should be accurate and based on facts, readers should be aware that many generalisations are faulty. A generalisation is faulty or inaccurate when it is not based on enough facts. Writers sometimes do not look at the facts in enough cases. They apply the generalisation to more in­stances than the facts will support.

A fair generalisation might be the follow­ing statement:

To be alert, all people need sleep.

The following is an example of a faulty generalisation:

All people need eight hours of sleep to be alert.

If even one person does not need eight hours of sleep, the generalisation is faulty.

Slanted Writing. Many times, statements that sound like facts are actually opinions. They cannot be proved. The writer uses these statements to make the reader think he or she must accept one view of the topic.

This is a type of slanted writing, writing that tries to present only one side of an issue. A second way that a writer can slant writing is by including certain details and leaving out any facts that do not support his or her opinion.

A third way a writer can express opinions is by careful word choice. Writers choose words with the meaning they want to ex­press. They consider both the denotation and connotations of each word. Denota­tions are dictionary meanings. Connota­tions are the feelings or ideas a word brings to mind. In slanted writing, writers use many words with strong connotations. Con­notations of some words may lead readers to feel strongly in favour of a point of view. The connotations of other words may make readers feel strongly against a subject.

For example, a speech could be de­scribed as "thorough and informative" by someone who enjoyed it. Someone who was bored by the speech might describe it as "overlong and rambling." A neutral ob­server might simply say the speech lasted thirty minutes.

Slanted writing is a powerful tool. It can make a reader agree with a writer without any good reasons. Be aware of its power as you read.

Evaluative words

Showing energy and life: energetic, active, lively.

Not showing energy: lazy, tired out, exhausted, weary.

Persons in social positions: toff, snob, upstart, social climber.

Relating to social values and attitudes: polite, civil (as polite as one would wish), well-mannered, courteous (very polite, kind), sophisticated (with highly developed or over-civilized, not simple, social behaviour), refined, well-bred, high-class, cultivated (with good education and manners), cultured ( having a high degree of culture), delicate.

Showing social attitudes: common, vulgar, coarse, ill-mannered, bad-mannered, indelicate, rude, low-bred, low-class, ill-bred, uncouth (coarse, awkward and uncultured).

Relating to formality and dignity: formal, stiff, dignified, stately (grand and dignified), pompous, majestic (having the style of a king).

Objective and impartial: objective, impartial, disinterested.

Having the right qualities: virtuous, noble, worthy, conscientious, selfless.

Relating to the wrong qualities: bad, nasty, rotten, selfish, base, offensive, evil, wicked, devilish, diabolical, sinful.

Behaving badly: wicked, naughty, mischievous.

Feeling little or no pleasure: unhappy, sad, poor, miserable (very unhappy), wretched (very miserable), pitiable.

Feeling depression and discontent: depressed, fed up, bored, discontented (dissatisfied and restlessly unhappy), blue (sad and without much hope - informal).

Nouns relating to little or no pleasure: misery, depression, pity, sin, sorrow, grief, pathos.

Showing unhappiness: sorrowful, mournful, regretful, rueful (showing that one is sorry about sth), remorseful, heartbroken, brokenhearted, grief-stricken.

Anxious and agitated: anxious, worried, concerned, upset, nervous, disturbed, distressed, anguished (feeling or expressing very great distress, suffering, or pain, esp. of the mind), disquieted (made anxious).

Angry and annoyed: angry, cross, annoyed, peevish (easily annoyed), furious, mad, infuriated, enraged, irritated.

Quarrelling and disputing: quarrelsome (likely to quarrel, often quarrelling), argumentative (likely to argue), disputatious (tending to argue or dispute), touchy (easily made angry - informal).

Aggression and violence: aggressive, violent, offensive, cruel, fierce, ferocious (very fierce), savage, barbarous, murderous.

Feeling or showing no fear: brave, courageous, spirited, heroic, fearless, daring (very brave), bold ( daring, courageous, adventurous), valiant (very brave, esp. in war).

Relating to being brave and also foolish: audacious (brave, often to a degree that is considered foolish), foolhardy (too bold, taking or needing useless or unwise risks), reckless (too hasty, not caring about danger), rash (foolishly bold, not thinking enough of the results), brash (hasty and too bold, esp. from lack of experience), callous (unkind, without feeling for the suffering of the other people).

Having or showing fear: cowardly, spineless (cowardly, unable or unwilling to do anything brave).

Firm, determined and obstinate, etc.: firm (strong and definite in mind, ideas, intentions, not ready to change easily), determined (having made a strong, definite decision to do , to get, or be sth; having the kind of nature to get what one wants), strong-minded (having a strong mind, opinions), resolute (firm in one's decisions; determined), obstinate (not easily changed from one's plans, opinions; refusing to obey), stubborn (fixed in ideas, opinions; hard to move, change; not willing to co-operate).

Admiring and honouring: admirable, honourable, impressive, promising, noble, proud, respectful, appreciative, humble.

Proud and superior: proud, conceited (having or showing too much pride), vain (full of self-admiration; thinking too highly of one's appearance, abilities, etc.), superior, arrogant (proud and self-important in a rude way that shows disrespect for other people).

Despising and being proud: disdainful, contemptuous.

Despised and held in contempt: despicable, contemptible.

Insulting people: insulting, abusive (using or containing unkind, cruel, or rude words), disparaging (showing that one considers someone or something of little value or importance), depreciatory (serving to lessen the value of someone or something), derogatory (strongly depreciative; showing that someone has a low opinion of someone else).

Rude and cheeky: rude, impudent, impertinent, insolent, brash, cheeky, audacious.

Showing helpful interest: kind, kindly (pleasant, friendly), kind-hearted, beneficent, benevolent (kind and liking to help other people), humane, considerate, thoughtful, helpful, well-disposed, obedient.

Sympathetic and understanding: sympathetic, warm-hearted, tolerant, understanding.

Humanitarian and charitable: generous, magnanimous, charitable.

Not helpful or friendly: nasty, mean, sour, spiteful, malicious.

Showing no kindness or pity: merciless, pitiless, ruthless, remorseless, heartless.

Jealous, resentful and vengeful: jealous, envious, resentful, vengeful, sullen.

Honest and truthful: honest, trustworthy, reliable, straight, upright, truthful.

Not honest and truthful: dishonest, crooked, deceitful.

Frank and straightforward: frank, open, aboveboard (without any trick or attempt to deceive; honourable), sincere, genuine (very sincere), forthcoming (ready to be helpful, friendly and honest), forthright (direct in manner and speech; expressing one's thoughts and feelings plainly), straightforward (honest, without hidden meanings), candid (open, direct and honest).

Not frank and straightforward: insincere, furtive (quiet, secret, and/or not direct, as expressing guilty feelings; trying to escape notice), stealthy (moving or acting in a way that suggests a wish to be secret or not be seen), secretive.

Cunning and sneaky: cunning (showing or having cleverness in deceiving), tricky (always playing tricks, esp. to deceive people), crafty (very cunning), sly (clever in deceiving; dishonestly tricky; crafty), artful (cleverly deceitful), sneaky (cunning and tricky - informal).

Interested and excited: interested, excited, frantic (very excited , worried, etc., esp. so that one moves too much, cannot think or behave properly), thrilled, exhilarated (very excited and happy), eager, enthusiastic, ardent, desirous.

Wanting to know: learn etc.: curious, inquiring, inquisitive.

Not loud and noisy: quiet, silent, reticent (not saying much, esp. where one could say a lot), taciturn (saying very little; silent by nature), laconic.

Good at learning and doing: clever, intelligent, brainy (informal), smart (informal), bright, acute (able to note small differences, as for meaning and sound; working very well), apt (clever and quick to learn and understand), subtle (very clever in noticing and understanding), ingenious (clever at making or inventing things), astute (clever and able to see quickly sth that is to one's advantage), brilliant (very clever).

Showing good sense: wise, prudent (sensible and wise; careful to consider one's advantage, esp. by considering possible difficulties, unpleasantness, etc.), cautious, thoughtful.

Not showing ability: slow, stupid, awkward, thick, backward, retarded.

Not clever or reasonable: foolish, silly, idiotic, stupid, clownish, scatterbrained, absent-minded, brainless (informal).

Talking a lot, too much, or well: talkative, chatty, garrulous, eloquent.

Active: active, dynamic, vigorous.

Practical and purposeful: practical, pragmatic, realistic, purposeful (full of or expressing determination).

Other positive features: modest, vulnerable, resourceful, shrewd, witty, resilient, guileless, selfless, self-possessed, self-assured, self-confident, self-conscious, self-sacrificing, self-renouncing, self-forgetting, patient, sensitive, naive.

Other negative features: ambitious, unscrupulous, servile, shallow, hypocritical, spiritless, anaemic, guileful, selfish, self-absorbed, self-centred, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-righteous, self-satisfied, querulous, contentious, exacting, complaining, vindictive, intolerant, envious, gloating, calculating, a flatterer.