Extract analysis

The setting – the events of the plot that are usually set in a particular place and time
The exposition and the introduction contain the necessary preliminaries to the action, such as the setting and the subject of the action; it also may point out the circumstances that will influence the development of the action.
The story or complications is that part of the plot which represents the beginning of the collision and the collision itself, i.e. the development of the events.
The climax is the highest point of the action.
The denouement is the event or events that bring the action to an end, when everything is explained.
A work of narrative prose that has all the elements mentioned above has a closed plot structure.
A literary work in which the action is represented without any obvious culmination, which does not contain all the above mentioned elements has an open plot structure.
Composition is the way in which the literary work is arranged. Composition may be:
Level (straight line) – all the elements of the plot structure are presented in their logical or chronological sequence
Retrospective or rocky- the exposition may be placed inside the story so that the reader is at once plunged into the event development; or there are flashbacks to the past events
Circular- the closing event in the story returns the reader to the introductory part.
Frame – there is a story within a story; the two stories may be contrastive or parallel

The composition of a literary work may be represented through different types of narration:
the first person narration (the narrator begins his own protagonist)
the third person narration (the narrator focuses on some other character or characters)
anonymous (the narrator has no direct relation to the persons he speaks about, or he may not be present at all)
Any type of narration is based on the following narrative forms:
Interior monologue (the narrator or the character he narrates about speaks to himself) Eg: For her part Rosie was lost in her thoughts, which were centered on Neil and Kevin. She was consumed with curiosity about them until they were back at the hotel to ask Neil about this new development in their lives.
dramatic monologue (the narrator or the character speaks alone but there are those he addresses himself to)
dialogue (the speech of two or more characters addressed to each other)
narration (the presentation of events in their development). Eg: At there o’clock Sunday afternoon, Tony Rizzoli walked out of his hotel and strolled towards the Platina Omonia. Two detectives were trailing him. At Metaxa Street, Rizzoli hailed a taxi. The detective spoke in his walkie-talkie. “The subject is getting into a taxi heading west.” An unmarked grey Sedan pulled in behind the taxi, keeping a discreet distance.”
description (the presentation of the atmosphere, the scenery and the like of the literary work). Eg: “On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about half way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose colored hotel. Deferential palms cool its frustrated façade, and before it stretches a short dazzling beach.
exposition (explanation of some phenomena, argument, comparison, analysis, etc.)
Composition is the arrangement and disposition of all the forms of the subject matter representation.

Tropes (lexical stylistic devices), figures of speech (syntactic stylistic devices)

Tropes:

Interaction of different types of lexical meaning
· Metaphor
· Metonymy
· Irony
Interaction of primary and derivative logical meanings
· Polysemantic effect
· Zeugma
· Pun
Interaction of logical and emotive meanings
The epithet
Oxymoron
Interaction of logical and nominal meanings
· Antonomasia
Intensification of a certain feature of a thing or phenomenon
· Simile
· Periphrasis
· Euphemism
· Hyperbole
· Understatement
Peculiar set of expressions
· The Cliché
· Proverbs and sayings
· Epigrams
· Quotations
· Allusions
· Decomposition of set Phrases

Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices:
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Rhyme
Rhythm

Figures of Speech
I.R.Galperin groups all figures of speech according to:

1. Compositional patterns of syntactic arrangement
Stylistic inversion
Detached construction
Parallel construction
Chiasmus (reversed parallel construction)
Repetition- anaphora(the repeated word comes at the beginning of two or more sentences), epiphora (the repeated unit is placed at the end of the consecutive sentences), framing(repetition arranged in the form of a frame), chain repetition9the catch repetition used several times)
Enumeration
Suspense
Climax(gradation)
Anticlimax
Antithesis
2. Particular ways of combining parts of the utterance
· Asyndeton
· Polysyndeton
3. Particular use of colloquial constructions
· Ellipsis
· Break-in-the-narrative
· Question-in-the-narrative
· Represented speech
Stylistic use of structural meaning
· Rhetorical question
· Litotes

Topics
The topic of the passage may be phrased in different ways:

The main topic of ----------------------the passage
The subject of
The primary topic of
The main theme in

The passage ----------------------------deals with
is mainly about
is primarily connected with

To point out the topic you need to find words that give the “topic” of the passage.
The topic sentence best introduces the passage.

Ideas
One can see the idea of the passage through the so-called key elements, i.e. suggestive words or phrases.
Example:
“No. Not as frightening. Maybe worse”.
“Think positive”, he said. He reached out and took her hand. It was cold and moist. (Dean Koontz The Key to Midnight)
Here the key element is the phrase “cold and moist”. It describes the way the woman’s hand felt when touched, which suggests the idea that the woman is nervous or frightened.

Tips on literary work analysis

Answers to the questions below will help you to give and form your own opinion on the language of the story/extract/fragment.
Is the language of the work expressive/powerful/charged with emotion/stylistically coloured? Does the author make a vast use of tropes and figures of speech?
Is simplicity/accessibility/brevity/concision/etc. a characteristic feature of the author’s style?
Is the story written in a high-flown/plain/colloquial/formal/pompous/bombastic/lofty/florid/an informal/elevated/ornate/ornamental/austere/etc. language? What mood and atmosphere does it create?
Do all the personages speak good English? Is their accent or dialect suggestive? What can you say about the personages’ educational background and social status?
Which stylistic groups prevail in the story: bookish, colloquial, or neutral? What effect does it produce?
Are all the parts of the story written in the same style or are there any fragments, which are stylistically contrasted to the rest of the story because of the language and style?
Are there passages written in a kind of rhythmical prose? How is this rhythmic effect achieved? Does the rhythm create the effect of dynamism/monotony?
What kind of atmosphere is rendered? (That of fuss/fatigue/haste/annoyance/panic/terror/etc.