Analysis

CAIP: Comprehension – Analysis – Interpretation - Perspectives
The CAIP approach ensures that your analysis of a given text is complete. It takes you through all the three levels you need to work with to reach a well-argued interpretation, and it offers ideas for further perspectives. Use it both when talking and writing about a text.
Only what seems relevant should be answered in detail. If, for instance, the setting is merely a backdrop, do not spend ages looking for a deeper meaning there.
NB! Make sure that your input is not underlined.
Text:
Author:
Year:
Genre: | Comprehension | Analysis | Interpretation | Perspectives | Narration + point of view | Who is telling the story?From whose point of view are the events seen? | Is it a first-person or a third-person narrator?Who is the narrator: age, relation to characters and events?Omniscient/ unintrusive/ restricted?Narrative modes: dialogue, description, report | What is the narrator’s attitude to the events and to the characters?What do the other characters think: are we told about that, or must we guess?Is the narrator reliable or unreliable?What if the story had had another narrator? | Put the text and your interpretation into a larger perspective:ThemesAuthor’s workSetting:TimeSocial environmentPlaceGenrePolitical, historical events, facts, issuesEtc. | Setting | When and where does the story take place? Real or imaginary? One or more places? | Does the text describe or indicate a specific social environment? | Is the setting a neutral backdrop or is it significant for our understanding of characters/ plot?Is the setting symbolic of the characters/ plot? | | Characters | Who? Main characters: protagonist, antagonist;minor characters.What are we told: age, appearances, background, relationships, etc. | Round/ dynamic/ developing – flat/ static?How are the characters described: directly by the narrator or indirectly by what they say and do?How would you describe a person with these characteristics? | With whom does the sympathy lie – and why?What causes/ motivates the main character’s actions/ development/ change?What do the characters represent (e.g. values, social groups, norms) | | Composition | Introduction or in medias res?Chronologically organized or with flash backs/flash forwards or unchronological in other ways?How does the story end? | Organization of events: Initial situation – development – final situation?Hints at events that happen later on in the story? (premonitions)Open or closed ending? Is it predictable or unpredictable?Will there be any future development? | Why is the story organized like that? What is the effect? | | Language and Style | Is the language easy or difficult to read? | Simple or complex, formal/ informal/ colloquial language?Standard English or dialect/ sociolect?Is figurative language used? (metaphors, symbols, etc.) | How does language and style contribute to our experience and understanding of the characters and events? | | Theme(s) and Message | What is the title? Does it indicate anything about the theme(s)? | What subject(s) does the text fundamentally deal with?What is the link between the title, the characters and the events?What is (are) the theme(s)? | What values and ideas are reflected in the text? How and why?Does the title suggest an interpretation?Is there a moral, a lesson to be learned, or a message that the author wants the reader to get? | |

Lucy/Lucy: Its first person. Flashback – The year she turned ten. She’ s the daughter of the other main characters. unintrusive/ restricted and subjective. dialogue, description,