Steps To Text Analysis
Steps to Text Analysis
Recommended Steps in Text Analysis
Introduction: briefly define the text type (the functional style and the genre), the topic, the problems raised, the cultural and historical background of the author and his text.
Useful tips:
The first step includes defining the type of the text you are analyzing.
Does the text represent fiction/belles lettres style/non-fiction?
Is it a whole text or an extract?
If it is fiction what genre does the text represent? It should be noted that many texts have features of more than one genre (social, psychological, biographical, autobiographical, humorous, satirical, historical, detective, love, science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale, parable, allegory etc.). Such texts can be classified as the texts of a complex or mixed nature.
The next step would be defining the topic, the subject and the problems. What is the text about?
What is the focus of the author’s attention?
What aspects of the topic are touched upon in the text?
In the introduction it is also essential to consider the historical and cultural backgrounds of both the author and his text. These would include some biographical facts about the writer, especially his ethical, esthetical, political etc. views, his belonging to a certain literary and cultural tradition as well as the elements of the setting of the story, including the time and place of the action, some cultural and historical realia present in the text.
Analysis of the Text
The analysis of the text starts with presenting its summery.
Useful tips:
Summarising the text must be done in accordance with certain rules. First of all, you should select all important facts and events omitting unnecessary details, then order them chronologically (or logically, depending on the type and genre of the text) using appropriate connectors and linking expressions. It should be remembered that no matter what register and style the original text belongs to, the summary should be written in the neutral style.
Recommended Steps in Text Analysis
Introduction: briefly define the text type (the functional style and the genre), the topic, the problems raised, the cultural and historical background of the author and his text.
Useful tips:
The first step includes defining the type of the text you are analyzing.
Does the text represent fiction/belles lettres style/non-fiction?
Is it a whole text or an extract?
If it is fiction what genre does the text represent? It should be noted that many texts have features of more than one genre (social, psychological, biographical, autobiographical, humorous, satirical, historical, detective, love, science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale, parable, allegory etc.). Such texts can be classified as the texts of a complex or mixed nature.
The next step would be defining the topic, the subject and the problems. What is the text about?
What is the focus of the author’s attention?
What aspects of the topic are touched upon in the text?
In the introduction it is also essential to consider the historical and cultural backgrounds of both the author and his text. These would include some biographical facts about the writer, especially his ethical, esthetical, political etc. views, his belonging to a certain literary and cultural tradition as well as the elements of the setting of the story, including the time and place of the action, some cultural and historical realia present in the text.
Analysis of the Text
The analysis of the text starts with presenting its summery.
Useful tips:
Summarising the text must be done in accordance with certain rules. First of all, you should select all important facts and events omitting unnecessary details, then order them chronologically (or logically, depending on the type and genre of the text) using appropriate connectors and linking expressions. It should be remembered that no matter what register and style the original text belongs to, the summary should be written in the neutral style.