How to analyze for formal elements I: word choice how do the words sound ?

1. How to analyze for formal elements I: • word choice • how do the words sound? • alliteration (repeated first consonant sounds: first flavours are funky for folks) • assonance (repeated consonant sounds in middle of words: acting, compacting, refracted, protracted) • sibilance (repeated “s” sounds at start of words: slippery snakes sneak silently) • do you have juicy slippery songs of experience? • or awkward jagged catches of coercion? • thwack! slurp! suck! slap! – onomatopoeia (words that say what they sound like) • what do they evoke? • are they from a particular discourse (legal, medical, sport, botanical, biological, chemical, philosophy…)? • do they sound like the actions they describe? • do they plug into or borrow from other stories or traditions (the Bible, myth, popular culture, sci-fi, etc.)? • do they look, sound, or mean what they are about? (do words describing penises look like penises, sound like penises (or what penises look like), use words that not only describe but evoke penises (such as smooth, hard, velvety, soft, eager, shy, bold, etc.)? Does saying them out loud sound penis-y?

2. How to analyze for formal elements II: • tone • clinical, passionate, detached, breathless? • is it humorous, anxious, passionate, pleasant, angry, sad, frustrated, confused, ambivalent, aggressive, violent, passive, disinterested?? • does it vary? when and why? • rhythm • how quickly do the lines or sentences read? • fast, slow, variable, staccato, sustained? • breathless, leisurely, relaxed, rushed? • does this correspond to the description, or contrast with it? • do increases in rhythm and repetition (over and over, harder and harder, frantically) *note that “frantically” is a quick word rhythmically speaking* evoke the movements approaching climax? • or do we get longer, more lugubrious *note that “lugubrious” is a slow word that is impossible to speak rapidly* descriptions that give lovemaking a sense of languor (another slow word) and peace? • sentence length • a big factor in rhythm is length of sentences, lines, phrases • short, long, variable, balanced, complex, compound, simple, direct? • punctuation, syntax • how do punctuation and syntax affect the rhythm, pace, tone, and feel of the piece? • are there lots of full-stops, or does it all flow? Commas? Semicolons? • does it move haltingly as a result, or flow together in a breathless rush to the finish? • awkward or fluid?

3. How to analyze for formal elements III: • Perspective, Point of View • how is the reader addressed/situated? (does the piece refer to a “you” who could be the reader?) • is the reader presumed to be enjoying this, upset by it, detached, male, female, straight, gay, trans-, queer, curious, disgusted, sympathetic, antagonistic, …? • how is the speaker presented? (does the piece refer to an “I” who can be identified with the performer of the actions?) • is the speaker enjoying him/her self, upset, detached, male, female, straight, gay, trans-, queer, curious, disgusted, sympathetic, antagonistic, …? • does the Point of View or Perspective shift in the piece? when and why? what effect does that produce? • e.g., if a piece is about performing oral sex and the person is not responding, the speaker may get frustrated and begin to get angry – and the reader may sympathise • but if the perspective shifts and the role of speaker is shifted to the person receiving the oral sex, we may find that he or she is anxious, sad, traumatized, or angry too – and our sympathies may shift • or it may draw back to a bird’s eye view where we see that they are on a sinking ship and both parties’ desperation is a result of their imminent death – which would also change our sympathies, no? • FINALLY: • do the form and content work effectively together or are they disjunctive? • do they produce a unified effect where word and sense harmonize? • do they produce a discordant effect where words and sense are at odds?