SIFT A Literary Analysis Method

1. SIFTA Literary Analysis Method

2. SIFT Method • Symbol: examine the text and title for symbolism • Images/Imagery: identify images and sensory details • Figures of Speech: analyze figurative language and other devices • Tone and Theme: discuss how all devices reveal tone and theme

3. Symbols: Signs of Something More, represents MORE than itself • Our everyday lives are heaped with symbols: These commonly accepted symbols are called public symbols

4. Symbols in Literature • In literature, a symbol is an object, a setting, an event, an animal, or even a person that functions in the story the way you’d expect it to, but also stands for something more than itself, usually for something abstract. • Meaning, a symbol has a literal and figurative function in the text • Don’t say “this line symbolizes…”, tell me the object, setting, event, animal or person is a symbol for ….

5. Symbol Example • When it says, he is a lion amongst sheep or the lion of the school …

6. Symbol • For example: • a “white dress” can symbolize • purity or innocence • Harry Potter – Quidditch • Successful teamwork, physical and practical application

8. Is it a symbol? • Guidelines to follow… • Symbols are often visual. • When some event or object or setting is used as a symbol in the story, you will usually find that the writer has given it a great deal of emphasis. Often it reappears throughout the story. • A symbol in literature is a form of figurative language. Like a metaphor, a symbol is something that is identified with something else that is very different from it, but that shares some quality. • A symbol usually has something to do with a story’s theme.

9. (SIFT) Images • Identify images and sensory details. • Imagery is descriptive language that appeals to the senses • Imagery helps to promote mood and tone. • What do I see, hear, taste, smell or feel? • What effect is the author trying to convey with these images?

10. Now, what is the EFFECT of this imagery? Effect on reader and in poem

12. (SIFT) Figures of Speech • Analyze figurative language and other devices. • Writers form images by using figures of speech such as simile, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification. • Other devices can include: irony, allusion

13. Simile • A direct comparison of two things, usually using the words like or as. • “He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.” Tennyson • “Hell is a city much like London/ A populous and smokey city.” Shelley • My heart is like an apple tree whose boughs are bent with thickest fruit.” Christina Raced

14. Metaphor • An IMPLIED comparison in which one thing is spoken in terms of something else. Metaphors are extremely valuable in making an abstract idea clearer by associating the idea with something concrete that relates to one or more of the senses. • “And merry larks are ploughman’s clocks.” Shakespeare • “Entangled in the cobweb of the schools.” Cowper • “Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heydays of his eyes.” Thomas

15. Hyperbole • The use of exaggeration or overstatement to make a point. It may be used for emphasis, for humor, or for poetic intensity. • “Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard around the world.” Emerson It is used freely in sports broadcasting and news articles… “…slaughtered their opponents on the basket ball court.”

16. Personification • A comparison that treats objects or things as if they were capable of the actions and feelings of people. • “…Sea that bears her bosom to the moon”Wordsworth • “The dirty nurse, Experience.”Tennyson • “Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry.”Auden

17. Irony • An expression in which the author’s meaning is quite different (often the opposite) from what is literally said. Irony, as a matter of tone, occurs most frequently in prose as a technique for comedy, tragedy, suspense or horror. • Three types of irony: • Verbal • Situational • Dramatic

18. Tone • Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject (the beginnings of theme) • Tone is revealed through the words he or she chooses. (Diction) • In literature, the reader does not have the benefit of voice inflection- even a dog understands the tone of his master’s voice! • So, the reader must understand the author’s word choice, details, imagery and language in order to understand the tone. • Fill in the blank: The author feels ________ about ______ (insert topic of poem) due to the word choice of _______ which shows __________

19. Tone &Mood • Tone: The attitude that an AUTHOR takes toward the audience, subject, or the character. • Tone is conveyed through the author’s word and details. angry-challenging-sarcastic-outraged-humorous • Mood: The emotions that the READER feels while reading; the atmosphere of the story. • Mood is conveyed through character emotions, setting and other elements. • romantic-gloomy-optimistic-sad-hopeful

20. Shift in Tone • Good authors rarely use only one tone! • A speaker’s attitude may be complex… • An author might have one attitude toward the audience and another attitude toward the subject.

21. More on tone… • To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret meaning (THEME) • If you miss irony or sarcasm, for example, you may misread the meaning of an entire passage!

22. D I D L S How to analyze tone: D I D L S • Diction: the connotation of word choice • Images: Imagery that appeals to the senses • Details: Facts and details that the author has included (does not appeal to the senses) • Language: Formal? Cliché? Jargon? Figurative Language? • Sentence Structure: Long or short sentences?

23. (SIFT) Theme • Theme: central, underlying, and controlling idea of a literary work. • Abstract concept represented by a character, by actions, or by images in the literary work. • Examples: Overcoming obstacles, learning responsibility, being a role model, unconditional love • A generalization about human conduct = a lesson learned about human behavior • Ordinarily expressed in a full sentence and it may even require a full paragraph.

24. Theme= What it is NOT • Cannot be expressed in a single word. • Not the purpose of the work (entertainment or instruction) • Man versus nature is not a theme, it is a conflict. • Unlike a moral or fable, the theme is seldom, if ever, stated. • It isnevera cliché.

26. How Do I Figure Out the Theme? • You must first understand the plot, the characterization and conflict, the imagery, and the author’s tone. • What LESSON did you learn from the text?? • Identify the subject in one word… • Then, explain in one or two sentences what the author says about the subject. • NOTE:Many stories/novels have more than one theme and there is seldom just one “right” answer!

27. For Example… • Literature: Mulan • Subject: Overcoming adversity • Possible Theme: To overcome the manifold challenges of life, be the flower that blooms in adversity.

28. Practice • What is the topic of this poem? • How does the author FEEL about the topic of the poem? • What images are being described here? • What is a lesson you can learn from this poem? • How many stanzas? • What is the rhyme scheme? • What are those stanzas called? • Can you identify any figurative language?