A good analysis goes beyond what happens. It explains how a story is told, what its details suggest, and why those choices matter.
I expect you to build an interpretation from the text. Naming a technique is a starting point; explaining what it does is the actual analysis. Follow the focus of the task rather than working through every feature you can find.
01 / Read with a purpose
- Unpack the task. Underline the command word and the focus: a character, a relationship, the atmosphere, the narrative perspective, or another aspect. Your analysis must answer this particular question.
- Get your bearings. Identify the text type, the situation, the central conflict and any important change. Separate what the text tells you from what you infer.
- Read again and annotate selectively. Mark relevant words, actions, contrasts, patterns and narrative choices. Note line references and a brief explanation of what each detail might suggest.
- Form a working interpretation. Write one sentence that answers the task. Group your evidence into two or three useful ideas, then choose a logical order. Revise your interpretation if a detail challenges it.
This guide focuses on prose fiction: short stories, novels and extracts from them. Poetry and drama need additional attention to their own forms. A report is usually a non-fiction text, not a type of fictional narrative.
02 / What to look for
Use these questions as a toolkit. Select what helps you answer the task; you do not need a separate paragraph on every row.
| Aspect | Look closely at … | Ask yourself … |
|---|---|---|
| Text type & context | Short story, novel or extract; relevant information supplied with the text. | What can I establish from the material? What remains unknown? Avoid inventing context or treating an extract as a complete story. |
| Action & conflict | The situation, central problem, decisions and changes. | What is at stake? How do events reveal a conflict or a relationship? Keep plot summary brief. |
| Plot & structure | The order of events; flashbacks, foreshadowing, repetitions, turning points, pace and ending. | Why is information revealed or withheld at this moment? How does the sequence shape suspense or understanding? |
| Characterization | Actions, speech, thoughts, appearance, relationships and contradictions; direct descriptions and indirect clues. | What do these details suggest about motives, values or conflicts? Does the character change? Whose judgement am I reading? |
| Setting | Place, time, physical surroundings and social circumstances. | How does the setting enable or restrict action? Does it reflect a conflict, suggest isolation or establish power? |
| Narration & perspective | Who tells the story, whose experience we follow and what information is available. | Whose thoughts can we access? What is withheld? How does this influence our judgement? |
| Language & atmosphere | Word choice, connotations, sentence length, imagery, sensory detail, dialogue and contrasts. | How do specific choices create tension, intimacy, unease or another mood? How does the narrator’s tone contribute? |
| Symbols, motifs & themes | Significant objects or images; recurring details; broader ideas explored through the story. | What supports a symbolic reading? How does a pattern develop an idea? Avoid assuming every object is a symbol. |
Keep the terms distinct: atmosphere is the mood created by the text; tone is the attitude conveyed by the narrative voice or a speaker. A motif is a recurring element; a theme is a broader idea the text explores.
03 / Who tells the story?
The author and the narrator are not the same. The author creates the text; the narrator is the voice that tells the story. Also distinguish who speaks from whose perceptions and knowledge shape a passage.
| Perspective | What the reader can access | What to investigate |
|---|---|---|
| First-person narrator | A narrator uses “I” or “we” and participates in the story, as a central character or a witness. Other people’s thoughts are usually inferred or reported, not directly known. | What does this voice reveal, misunderstand or leave out? Does a narrator looking back understand more than their younger self did? |
| Third-person limited | The narration uses names or third-person pronouns and is restricted to one character’s experience within a passage. Some texts shift the focal character between sections. | How does following this character’s perceptions create closeness or limit our understanding of others? |
| Omniscient narrator | The narrator can move beyond one character’s knowledge, for example by revealing several characters’ thoughts or providing a wider overview. | When does the narration shift or comment? Does the reader know something a character does not? |
| External / observer narration | The narration mainly presents observable actions and speech, without direct access to characters’ thoughts. | What must readers infer from behaviour? How does the choice of details still guide their interpretation? |
A first-person witness is still personally involved and may be biased. External narration is not automatically neutral either. Reliability is a separate question: look for contradictions, gaps or a mismatch between a narrator’s judgement and the evidence. Do not label a narrator unreliable simply because the story uses “I”.
04 / Turn observations into an argument
Introduction
Identify the title, author and text type where known, briefly establish the situation, and present a focused interpretation that answers the task. Add the publication date only if it is available and relevant. A plot summary is not a substitute for an analytical thesis.
Main body
Organize paragraphs around interpretive points, not a list of techniques. For each point:
- Make a claim. Say something specific about the aspect you are analyzing.
- Support it. Integrate a short quotation or a precise reference to the text. Give line or page references using the format agreed in class.
- Explain it. Examine the wording, contrast, action or narrative choice. Show how the evidence supports your interpretation.
- Connect it. Relate the observation to the task and your overall reading.
An effect must be explained in context. “This makes the reader want to read on” is too general. Show what creates uncertainty, what information is missing, and why it matters in this passage.
Conclusion
Bring your findings together and answer the task clearly. Explain what the details reveal as a whole. Avoid introducing a new major point or adding an unrelated personal opinion.
05 / See the difference
The following miniature passage and analysis were written for this guide. The line numbers refer only to this invented example.
1 Lenore stopped outside the study. Beneath the door, a thin blade of light cut across the hall.
2 She raised her hand to knock, then lowered it. Inside, a chair scraped against the floor.
3 “Come in,” her father said. She had not made a sound.
Possible task: Analyze how the passage creates an atmosphere of tension.
A description stops here
Lenore is outside the study. There is a metaphor in line 1, and then her father tells her to come in.
An analysis explains why it matters
The passage makes an ordinary doorway feel threatening. The metaphor “a thin blade of light” (l. 1) associates the light with a weapon, giving the setting a sense of danger. Lenore’s interrupted gesture, as she raises her hand and then lowers it (l. 2), suggests hesitation about entering. Her father’s command becomes unsettling because it is followed by the statement that she “had not made a sound” (l. 3). The passage does not explain how he knows she is there, leaving a gap that reinforces the tension.
Notice the restraint: the evidence supports unease and hesitation. It does not establish that the father is violent or supernatural. A convincing interpretation stays within what the passage can support.
06 / Useful language
| Purpose | Possible phrasing |
|---|---|
| Present a reading | The passage presents … as … The extract suggests that … |
| Introduce evidence | This is suggested by the description of … The phrase “…” (ll. …) emphasizes … |
| Analyze language | The verb / adjective “…” carries connotations of … The contrast between … and … highlights … |
| Discuss perspective | By restricting access to …, the narration … The reader learns …, while the character … |
| Explain an effect | This creates a sense of … because … By withholding …, the passage leaves … uncertain. |
| Qualify a claim | This may suggest … Although …, the detail also allows the interpretation that … |
Use the literary present when discussing the text: “Lenore hesitates,” “the narrator reveals.” Use precise verbs such as suggests, contrasts, emphasizes, withholds or undermines. Avoid “proves” when the evidence allows more than one reading.
Integrate quotations into your own sentences. Quote only what you need, preserve the original wording, and make clear where it comes from. Discuss what the writing does; do not claim to know the author’s private intentions.
07 / Before you hand it in
- Have I answered the specific task and developed a clear interpretation?
- Does each paragraph make a relevant point and support it with textual evidence?
- Have I explained the evidence instead of retelling the plot or listing devices?
- Have I distinguished author, narrator and character?
- Are claims about motives, atmosphere and reader response grounded in specific details?
- Have I considered details that complicate my interpretation?
- Are quotations accurate and references complete?
- Have I checked the literary present, vocabulary, grammar and paragraph structure?
My priority: a few well-supported observations with clear explanations are more valuable than a long list of literary terms. Let your analysis show that you have understood the passage.
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Read the assessment criteria →