The moon and sixpence
Useful phrases for text analysis and literary appreciation
Begin with these simple expressions: the writer/ poet/ novelist/etc ... :
- is aiming at (sth or verb+ing form)
- wants to achieve the purpose of
- wants to produce the effect that …
- wants to contrast sth with sth else
- arouses the reader's emotions (feelings/ interest)
- evokes the attitude of …
- focuses the reader' s attention on …
- expects the reader to (infinitive)
- wants to produce the effect that
- appeals to the reader's senses/ feelings/ emotions/ reason
a word/ a phrase/ ….
- is a clue to the message of the poem
- is a clue to the poet's intention
- is a means to gain strength and freshness of expression
- is a device to underline ( emphasize/ stress) sth
the idea/ topic/ subject is
- presented
- introduced
- expressed
- developed
- restated
- illustrated
- summed up
- summarized
the title
- suggests/ indicates the poem/ story/ extract
- achieves coherence by
- establishes unity by
- brings about the effect
- is divided into
the rhythm
- adds to the musical quality of the poem
- makes the lines run more quickly/ slowly
- affects the poem as a whole
- is based on
Useful phrases for analysing texts
In general: “bedient sich adäquater Mittel der LESERLEITUNG”
= Vor-, Quer- und Rückverweise, e.g.:
In the following, I’m going to … [= tell your readers what you are about to do]
As I said before / in the beginning … (etc.)
I will enlarge upon this later / in the next paragraph … (etc.)
Concluding one can say / In brief / To put it in a nutshell / From all this follows that … (etc.)
Make it easy for readers of your text to follow your argumentation!
Task 1:
The text at hand / the given text is [an extract/excerpt from] … [a short story/speech/newspaper article/novel/poem a.s.o.] written by […] [and published in (the New York Times etc.) on [date] / in [year]. It is about / deals with / treats of / describes / is
Begin with these simple expressions: the writer/ poet/ novelist/etc ... :
- is aiming at (sth or verb+ing form)
- wants to achieve the purpose of
- wants to produce the effect that …
- wants to contrast sth with sth else
- arouses the reader's emotions (feelings/ interest)
- evokes the attitude of …
- focuses the reader' s attention on …
- expects the reader to (infinitive)
- wants to produce the effect that
- appeals to the reader's senses/ feelings/ emotions/ reason
a word/ a phrase/ ….
- is a clue to the message of the poem
- is a clue to the poet's intention
- is a means to gain strength and freshness of expression
- is a device to underline ( emphasize/ stress) sth
the idea/ topic/ subject is
- presented
- introduced
- expressed
- developed
- restated
- illustrated
- summed up
- summarized
the title
- suggests/ indicates the poem/ story/ extract
- achieves coherence by
- establishes unity by
- brings about the effect
- is divided into
the rhythm
- adds to the musical quality of the poem
- makes the lines run more quickly/ slowly
- affects the poem as a whole
- is based on
Useful phrases for analysing texts
In general: “bedient sich adäquater Mittel der LESERLEITUNG”
= Vor-, Quer- und Rückverweise, e.g.:
In the following, I’m going to … [= tell your readers what you are about to do]
As I said before / in the beginning … (etc.)
I will enlarge upon this later / in the next paragraph … (etc.)
Concluding one can say / In brief / To put it in a nutshell / From all this follows that … (etc.)
Make it easy for readers of your text to follow your argumentation!
Task 1:
The text at hand / the given text is [an extract/excerpt from] … [a short story/speech/newspaper article/novel/poem a.s.o.] written by […] [and published in (the New York Times etc.) on [date] / in [year]. It is about / deals with / treats of / describes / is