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Style Analysis: Prose

Style Analysis: Prose. Elements to consider when analyzing a prose passage. 1. Diction:. Look for words that indicate an author’s tone or words that due to their connotative or denotative meaning add to the understanding of the author’s purpose.

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Style Analysis: Prose

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  1. Style Analysis:Prose Elements to consider when analyzing a prose passage

  2. 1. Diction: Look for words that indicate an author’s tone or words that due to their connotative or denotative meaning add to the understanding of the author’s purpose EX: The scene with “the gloom hovering over them” was an eerie and dismal picture.

  3. 2. detail: Douglass’ imagery emphasizes the helplessness he feels as a fugitive. After fleeing slavery, the “panting fugitive” must avoid “the ferocious beasts of the forests [who] lie in wait for their prey.” Although the speaker has found freedom in a free state, he feels he is being hunted like an animal and, therefore, must keep up a constant vigil against those he fears. Find concrete images that influence how a reader feels/thinks about the passage.

  4. 3. Point Of view: -Look to see if the story shifts the point of view. -Is the reader seeing in the mind of one or several characters or is there an outside narrator? -How does how the POV influence the way the story or scene is described or the way the reader perceives the action or description. -How does the author use POV to convey his/her purpose?

  5. 4. Organization: -Note what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the passage. -What stylistic techniques are predominant in each section? -Does the author describe events in a chronological order or are events out of sequence (flashback, foreshadowing, etc.)? -How do these choices affect the meaning and the way the reader perceives the events/characters?

  6. 5. Syntax: Look for the following: -Does the sentence length vary? -Loose and periodic sentences -Punctuation -Repetition of words and phrases -Parallelism and anaphora -Antithesis -Chiasmus Then discuss how these devices influence meaning or affect the way the reader perceives events/characters.

  7. Embedding quotes: Avoid long quotes. Use short phrases or clauses and embed them in your sentence structure. Poor: The phrase, “the gloom hovering over them,” shows the ominous feeling of the scene. Better: “The gloom hovering over them” as they walked down the lonely street created an eerie and dismal picture.

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