Analysis: what it is and how to do it guide for KS3 English students - BBC Bitesize (2024)

Analysis is an important skill to learn and practise in English – it helps you to explore and understand the writer’s craft.

Key learning points

• What is analysis and where would we use it?
• How do I analyse a fiction text and write about it?
• Which literary terms could I use in my analysis and how do I use them?

Analysis allows us to see the smaller parts of something and understand more about them.

Think about a woollen scarf. If you pull it apart, the strands become looser and you can start to see how it is made – the weave, the threads, the pattern etc.

When asked to analyse a piece of writing, you need to look in detail at what the writer has done. Instead of weave, threads and pattern, look for words, techniques, and the structure of the writing. This can help you understand how the piece of writing was created and the effect the writing has on the reader.

Analysis is a skill that is used in many different areas of life. Right now, there are millions of people all over the world completing some sort of analysis to find out the answer to something or explain how something works. Often this is based on something they have to read.

Scientific analysis might involve looking at evidence in studies and reports and picking out what is needed to support a or a decision.

Forensic analysis might involve looking over emails to find specific patterns or searching social media to find key words to aid an investigation.

Journalistic analysis might involve reading the testimonies of witnesses to an event and piecing together a narrative about that event.

Analysing language is about unpicking the words and structure of a text to see its smaller, simpler elements.

You could focus your analysis of a text on one the following areas:

• Language

  • Words – adjectives, adverbs, verbs, etc
  • Sentences – simple, compound, complex
  • Paragraphs – structure, length
  • Literary techniques – , , , etc

• Whole text

  • Characters – appearance, mannerisms, motivations, dialogue
  • Themes – where a theme appears, which characters represent the theme
  • Plot – what happens and when, and to whom
  • Symbols – links to character, links to themes

When you are analysing a character in a fiction text, make sure to focus on these six areas:

• actions taken by the character
• the character's physical appearance
• how other characters behave around the character
• dialogue spoken by the character
• explore the journey a character takes in the text, do they change?
• how the character behaves

A theme is an idea that runs through a text and can be linked to characters or moments. To analyse a theme it’s useful to look for points in the text where that theme ‘thread’ appears in the story.

Ask yourself:

• Which events link to this theme?
• Who is affected by the theme and when?
• What images or symbols are linked to the theme?

An analytical paragraph needs to do three main things:

1. Identify what the writer has done
2. Consider how the writer’s choice affects the reader
3. Consider why the writer made that choice

Read the extract below.

The door swung open with force, sending papers flying off the desk at the back onto the floor. As Charlie hastily picked them up, he felt an icy breeze on his neck as the cover teacher strode past him into the classroom. The teacher’s head was bowed and a frown brewed on his stormy face. Charlie sat up straighter in his chair; this was going to be a difficult lesson.

For a writer, literary terms are like tools in a toolkit. Instead of actual tools like a hammer, a wrench or a spanner, a writer uses tools such as , repetition, an .

If you see the literary terms as tools, it enables you to write about them. There are verbs you can use to help you to write about a writer’s tools:

• uses
• employs
• utilises
• chooses

Add in adverbs and adjectives to be more precise:

'The writer skilfully creates a harsh sound using onomatopoeia’ or ‘the writer carefully employs a fragile simile to help the reader understand the character’s innocence.'

Sound techniques:

Figurative language techniques: