Writing analytical essays at AS Level

1. Writing analytical essays at AS Level Coursework preparation

2. How to start What to avoid and why: ‘The writer uses language and imagery in her poem to convey ideas’ • Name the writer • Name the poem - Show your understanding of the poem by immediately outlining what it’s about – references to language and ideas are vague and apply to any poem, whereas you are concentrating on one in particular.

3. ‘The writer uses language and imagery in her poem to convey ideas’ In ‘Hitcher’, Simon Armitage uses a range of literary techniques to highlight the speaker’s frustration at his lack of freedom and to emphasise his emotionless response to having probably killed a man. Why is this a better introduction?

4. Quoting You can all refer to quotes to support your points, and you can show understanding of what the language in the quotes mean. However: • Many of you forget to CONTEXTUALISE and to INTRODUCE your quotes - Many of you forget to closely analyse in minute detail the language in the quotes (and thus, how the ideas in the quotes are created).

5. Contextualising quotes • Instead of just starting a new point with a quote, or indeed a sentence with a quote, you give a bit of background about where the quote comes in the poem. • E.g. the following doesn’t give any context to what is going on: • “Dancing” and “stamping” suggest celebration and rejoicing in the fact that a ‘monster’ is dead, showing how Plath’s speaker felt both when her father died and when her husband left her.

6. Instead: When Plath’s speaker describes how her vampiric father has been destroyed by having a stake rammed into his heart, she refers to the responses of villagers who were ‘dancing’ and ‘stamping’ in joy at this monster’s death. These celebratory verbs convey…….

7. Instead of: An example of this is ‘turning the hair on my head to filthy snakes’. The powerlessness and distraught feelings of this line show the reader how little in control the speaker is of her feelings. These are good points, but they would be better served by contextualising the quote: When the speaker reflects on how her suspicions about her husband’s fidelity have been metaphorically transformed into irritable serpents, ‘turning the hair on my head to filthy snakes,’ she demonstrates her distraught attitude towards his presumed betrayal. The transformation of these monstrous feelings into ‘filthy’ snakes also conveys how powerless the speaker was to stop this change, and the horrible adjective ‘filthy’ reinforces the speaker’s sense of self-loathing and self-disgust, as she is referring to her own thoughts.

8. Closely analysing language in quotes An example of close analysis: The two lines that close this section of the poem are ominous as they phrases ‘pulled me out’ and ‘stuck me together with glue’ subtly hint that Plath’s speaker didn’t want to be saved when she attempted suicide. [contextualises the quote and shows understanding of it] This idea is reinforced by her impersonal use of ‘they’, which underlines her lack of control over the situation. These lines also imply that her life being saved was merely a temporary solution, as ‘glue’ appears to be non-permanent, and ‘stuck’ implies a messy job soon to be unravelled. [Now returns to the quote to analyse key words and phrases in order to support view that she didn’t want to be saved]

9. The speaker makes comments like: ‘He’d said he’d like the breeze to run its fingers through his hair’. From this we can see that the speaker is fantasising about the hitchhiker’s free lifestyle and wishes he could live with the same freedom as the hitchhiker. Yes, shows understanding of the quote but now needs to closely analyse what it is about the language in the quote – and how it is placed – that creates this idea. • breeze: natural image, gentle and refreshing? • Running its fingers through hair: gentle and affectionate, being supported by nature? • The TONE in which this is said – darkly humourous and very disturbing because of course the breeze is running through his hair as he rolls away down the hill, having been violently assaulted. • The quote needs to be contextualised as well: the speaker refers to how he has actually helped the hitcher fulfil his ambitions of feeling liberated and at one with nature, when of course, the subtext is far more sinister.

10. Another good example of close analysis: showing awareness of multiple interpretations Why is this good? Why state that a line/lines can be interpreted in more than one way?

11. The final line of the poem, ‘Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through’ can be interpreted in multiple ways: • She’s going to commit suicide and is thus crushed by her father’s pernicious influence • She’s putting an end to his influence over her by putting the past behind her, meaning that she is liberated Then, it is important to pick one of the ways it can be read and to explain why you think this.

12. Writing about structure Structure and language are symbiotic: what is important about structure is that it means that we read the language in a certain way. Thus, whenever you analyse structure you must always QUOTE to show evidence of what you mean, and then ANALYSE THE LANGUAGE IN THE QUOTE to explain how the way this language is structured affects its meaning.

13. When discussing enjambment, always quote a line and then analyse the language in the line and reflect on how the line’s meaning is effected by not being constrained. e.g. Does it suggest a rush of feeling? Does it tie in with themes of breaking boundaries? Does it suggest that the speaker feels overwhelmed and unable to pause?

14. Each instance of repetition, caesura, enjambment, assonance, rhyme etc. is unique to that poem and you need to demonstrate that you understand that by not just identifying when poets use structural devices, but also analysing how they use them in specific parts of the poem to create meaning.