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9b E (Fb)

1 Useful phrases for analysing texts

In general: bedient sich adquater Mittel der LESERLEITUNG = Vor-, Quer- und Rckverweise, e.g.: - In the following, Im 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 concerned with / presents [topic = general topic, no details!]. The general/essential/main idea expressed is The [author/writer/speaker/poet] starts off by [+ gerund, e.g. stating that ]. He/She goes on by [+ gerund] He/She speaks about / discusses / gives his (her) opinion on / expresses his (her) view concerning / holds the view that / comments on / presents the thesis that / draws (come) to the conclusion that Use the present tense; dont quote; use neutral language, i.e. dont evaluate; use your own words / paraphrase. Task 2: In the following, Im going to [say what you are about to do, e.g. characterise Molly while putting special emphasis on the reasons for her behaviour in this excerpt cf. task!] When analysing the structure of a text: The text/story/speech can be divided into / is divided into / falls into / is composed of / contains / consists of [] parts / paragraphs / chapters / sections. The first / [] / last part / paragraph / sentence constitutes / gives us / comprises the introduction / central problem / principal part / solution. In the first / [] / last part the author varies the theme / changes the topic / goes into detail / passes from to

When characterising:

9b E (Fb)

The author describes the characteristics / outer appearance / intellectual qualities / mood / activities / social and psychological condition / character traits of The author gives a realistic / detailed description of / only gives a rough description of .. The character is described / presented / characterised as The basic traits of As character are One of As striking characteristics is When analysing rhetorical / stylistic devices: The author makes use of / employs This is done in order to stress / put emphasis on / emphasise / draw attention to / highlight The author wants to involve the readers/listeners by [+ gerund] / convince them of He/She wants to appeal to (e.g. the readers conscience) He/She wants to imply / implies that He/She wants to arouse interest / simplify / illustrate He/She refers to an example He7She makes use of / employs / uses formal / informal / colloquial words / expression / language. This word / phrase / expression refers to / underlines / emphasises / means / stands for When referring to the text: As it is written in l./ll.: As one can read in l./ll. This is indicated by l./ll. where it is said that This can be proven with l./ll. L./ll. () suggest(s) that as it is said that Dont forget to sum up your main results. Use the present tense in your analysis only; use your own words; always PROVE what youre claiming by REFERRING to the respective lines. Dont just list rhetorical or stylistic devices, but always explain their function and their effect on the reader/listener. Try not to repeat what youve already written in task 1. ANALYSE doesnt mean SUMMARISE, i.e. read between the lines.

Task 3: Task 3 can either be an EVALUATION (i.e. pro- and counter-arguments + own opinion) or a RE-CREATION OF TEXT (e.g. a diary entry). You usually DONT quote in task 3, but for a re-creation of text task it might be necessary to refer to the text again (e.g. in case youre asked to refute an argument etc.)

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