Prose AnalysisWhat are we trying to understand

when we read prose?

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•Content/Topic

•Point of view

•Style

•Speech and thought

•Grammar

•Metaphorical language

CONTENT

What is the mode - written/spoken?

What is the relationship between writer and reader; is it formal or informal, personal or impersonal? Is the authorial intention to characterise, describe a place or time, create an atmosphere or convey a message?

What is the field? The style will suggest something about the nature of the subject matter.

POINT OF VIEW Is it a first person narrative,

giving a direct insight into a character’s mind?

Is it a third person narrative, providing an omniscient view of events and characters? Is it informing or evaluating?

Is the narrator reliable or unreliable? Can readers rely on the version of events provided by the narrator or should they mistrust the narrator?

Are there any examples of interior monologue or stream of consciousness? Are the characters’ thoughts ordered or random?

STYLE Are words simple or

complicated, formal or colloquial, modern or archaic?

Are there examples of subject specific words?

Are the nouns concrete or abstract?

Is the naming of characters important? Are any names omitted on purpose?

Do any words have significant connotations?

What function do the modifiers have? What effects do they create?

SPEECH AND THOUGHTS

Does the writer use direct speech or thought to let the characters speak for themselves?

Does the writer use indirect speech or thought to interpret or comment on the things that characters say?

GRAMMAR

Is the grammar standard or non-standard? Formal or informal? Modern or archaic?

Are there any occasions when the tense changes from the simple past? What effect does this have?

Is the sentence structure varied? - Simple? Complex? What effect do the changes have?

METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE

Does the writer use images to give the fictional world a concrete visual quality? To which senses does the description appeal?

Are there any metaphors or symbols? What effect do these have?

AN APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRAW. Somerset Maugham (1933)

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, “Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.” The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw Death standing in the crowd and he came to her and said, “Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?” “That was not a threatening gesture,” Death said, “it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

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In what mode is the story told? What is the relationship (or purpose)

between the narrator and the reader?

What is the point of view of the tale?

Is the narrator a reliable one?

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What type of words are used? Are they simple? Are there any connotations or denotations of which we need to be aware?

Is direct or indirect speech used? What is the effect of this speech pattern on the reader?

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Is the grammar standard or non-standard? Formal or informal? Modern or archaic?

Do the tenses change? Why? Is the sentence structure simple or

complex? How does that affect the meaning of the piece?

What types of figurative language (if any) are used? How do they affect your perception of the work?