Today we’re looking at how to analyze form, structure and language.

This was a
much-requested video and is packed with valuable information, so let’s get right to
it.

The previous version of the exam did not ask students to analyze form and
structure, so many students and even teachers, find this confusing.

In this new syllabus, however, analyzing form, structure and language comprises a
huge part of paper 1, which makes it super-important to know what you’re looking
for.

DEFINITIONS

The first thing you need to know in order to develop these skills is what language,
form and structure refer to. Just like you, I really hate complex and complicated
definitions you might find in textbooks, so let’s keep it simple.

Language simply refers to what words the author chooses to use to tell you his
ideas. This can include word choice and different figures of speech and language
devices.

Form refers to the genre of the text, and how the genre influences the way the text
looks on the page. So, if you know what to look for, you can notice many elements
of form as soon as you lay your eyes on the page.

Structure refers to how the author organizes the information he wishes to convey
and how that information fits together to make the text a unified whole.
These are just simple definitions but we will go over the elements in detail and
after the video, you will learn about what each of the elements entails and how to
recognize it in a text.

LANGUAGE

Let’s start with language. We will have several videos devoted to each element of
language, so I will not go into great detail here, but I will list the main things to
look for under language.

First, you’re looking for any interesting lexis. Lexis is just a fancy word for
vocabulary. So, you’re trying to find any interesting vocabulary the author has
chosen to use and trying to figure out why he used those particular words. This is
especially important for words with very pronounced positive or negative
connotations, or words scattered throughout the text that belong to the same
semantic field.

Under language, you’re also looking for different figures of speech. There are
many of them and you’re most probably familiar at least with the most important
ones like metaphor, simile and personification. As we’ve mentioned many times,
it’s important not just to identify the figure of speech or give a very generic effect,
but you need to explain in detail why the author used that particular figure.

If you’re reading a persuasive text, like a speech, a review or an article, you will
also be looking for persuasive techniques. These are language techniques for
making and argument and convincing the reader to support your point of view.
Finally, language also included grammar, syntax and punctuation. Although
they’re often overlooked, these elements play an important role in every text,
influencing emotions and creating a specific rhythm or pace of the text. Longer or
shorter sentences, use of varied punctuation and use of particular tenses can all
have an effect on how the reader „feels“ the text.

FORM

When it comes to form, I’m going to discuss three different aspects of form:

How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

What the text looks like on the page

How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose affects the
content and style of the text

The first two are traditional notions of form in writing, and the third aspect is how
form is defined by examiners in examiner reports for As Level 9093, so we want to
make sure we cover all of these.

How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

As you already know, every genre has its own rules or conventions and knowing
these rules is an absolute must for this exam. You need to demonstrate to the
examiner that you know those rules, and one f the ways you can do that is by
commenting on how form is related to the genre.

All genres have a specific kind of form they follow, but in some cases the
connection between form and genre is more obvious.
 Take poetry for example. Don’t’ worry, you don’t have to study poetry for this
exam, but it is a very good way to illustrate the connection between for and genre.
There are very clear differences between a long epic poem and a haiku, for
example.

A sonnet is one form that has to follow very strict form rules. A reader who knows
his poetry will immediately, just by looking at the page, recognize this poem as a
Shakespearean sonnet, which will in turn create a set of expectations in his head
about what the poem is about and how the author conveys his ideas.

Advertisements and leaflets also have a very strong visual component. The form
has a strong influence on how the rear perceives the information.

While you will not have to read any poetry or have any visual leaflets of as in the
exam, there are some genres that you will read, where the form is extremely
important. Look at this letter for example. If you take away the visual elements like
the address at the top, the subject, the salutation, the ending, the text is no longer a
letter. These elements, which are very visual, show the reader that the genre is a
letter, so the reader has certain expectations and can follow the text better.

How the text appears on the page

Here are some elements you might look for:

We have anaphora, the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of

neighboring clauses. If you’ve ever read the famous „I have a dream“ speech by
Martin Luther King, Jr., you will have noticed the use of anaphora in repeating the
phrase „I have a dream“ at the beginning of consecutive sentences. Repetition
usually serves the purpose of emphasizing a point, but of course, you need to
always be careful to analyze what point is being emphasized.
You can also have single line sentences, which stand out from the rest of the text.
They often mark an important turning point in the text. Whenever you see one,
stop and think about why the author chose to put it there. It can often tell you a lot
about how the text progresses.

Short sentences within a paragraph are often used for emotional impact and they
too stand out from longer sections of the text. So do very short paragraphs. The
emotional impact of a short sentence like “Silence.“ is much stronger than if an
author was to elaborate on how horrible the silence was in a very long descriptive
sentence.

Ellipsis, where a certain part of the text was omitted, as was the case in Frederick
Douglass speech we read, can also be immediately noticed. It should make you
wonder and analyze why the section of the text was omitted. What was the author’s
purpose in removing that part of the text?

Dialogue is another element that stands out on the page. You can analyze why the
author chose to include dialogue, and what purpose it plays in the text as a whole.

The use of subheadings which divide the text clearly into subsections or the use of
bullet points for lists is another visual element that is often used in articles or
leaflets. You can link the subheadings with the content of the paragraphs or
comment on the use of bullet points.

Any of these elements fall s under form and if you notice any of them, first you
should carefully consider why the author chose to use them, and then you need to
analyze and comment on their use.
How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose affects the
content and style of the text

Audience, of course, are people who are reading the text. Purpose is the goal with
which the writer writes the text. Audience and purpose are what we call whole-text
aspects, and they’re always mutually influenced by particular devices the author
uses. So, essentially, here you’re being asked to demonstrate how these whole-text
aspects influence the writer’s individual word choices and how those words
choices demonstrate the authors awareness of audience and purpose.

Let’s take these two examples. Imagine one author is writing an article about a
video game in a gaming magazine. Another writer is writing an article about the
same game for Wikipedia.

These texts have very different audiences (the first one being gamers, the second
one just about anyone on the internet).

They also have different purposes. The Wikipedia article aims to provide general
information about the game, while the gaming magazine article needs to provide
much more detailed information in order to maintain the interest of the readers.

So, what can the author do to make sure his text suits his audience and fulfills its
purpose?

One of the main ways to appeal to an audience and to fulfill your purpose is
through tone and register. Tone is the writer’s attitude towards the subject and
register is the level of formality the author uses, so whether he is being very
formal, using sophisticated language or informal, using chatty and colloquial style.
Although students sometimes find them confusing, understanding tone and register
is important. In the example we gave here, the writer who writes for the gaming
magazine will most likely use a semi-formal style, to make his piece entertaining
for his readers and to make them feel closer to him. The gaming community itself
is rather relaxed, so there is no need for a high level of formality. On the other
hand, an article on Wikipedia needs to meet the standards of an encyclopedia and
needs to be written in a more formal register.

At the same time, the readers of the gaming magazine probably have a lot of
knowledge about the subject matter. The author will not shy away from using
specific jargon – specialist language, for describing the game. On the other hand,
the Wikipedia article will use more standardized lexis, sticking to well-known
expressions. If specialized terms are used, they will likely be explained and
defined.

Also, when explaining certain concepts and issues, the authors will be likely to use
examples that are close to their audience. Take this video for example. Because I
am talking to high school students, I chose to use the gaming example in this case,
because this might appeal to you as young people. I would have made a big
mistake if I chose a topic most teenagers are not interested in. All writers pay
attentions to details like that, and your task, in analyzing form is to notice those
elements.
STRUCTURE

Structure, again, goes back to how particular parts are connected to the whole.

It refers to the way in which the write organizes the information in the text and in
which order he chooses to reveal it. It also refers to how part of the text fit together
to make a whole.

Structure is content-driven and we can look at how information is organized both

on the level of the entire text, but also within each paragraph.

So, what are we looking at when commenting on structure?

Firstly, we’re looking at the beginning and ending, I’m sure your teachers have
told you many times that these are perhaps the most important parts of a text.
We’ll also look at development, contrast, shifts and pace.

The beginning of any text is very important because the writer has only a few
second to interest the reader to read the text. Authors use different techniques to
hook the reader in, and depending on the text, you may wish to analyze how the
author achieves that purpose.

The ending on the other hand leaves the biggest emotional impact on the reader.
Depending on the topic, the ending may be conclusive or non-conclusive. Non-
conclusive ending in fiction works can be cliffhangers and in non-fiction works the
author might want to leave a question open to debate, without offering a final word
on it.
A common strategy writers use to make their work very well-organized is using a
cyclical structure. This is when the story ends in the same place it began, or, in
non-fiction, where the author uses the same idea at the end of the text that he used
at the beginning. This can make the text feel very well-rounded, no pun intended.
So you might want to look at the beginning and ending and see if there are
elements of cyclical structure.

In between the beginning and the end, most texts progress in a linear manner,
meaning there is some natural development or progression of ides. So you want to
look at how the author develops his ideas and what topic he deals with. Another
thing you may wish to look at is whether there is a change in the intensity of tone
and mood in the text, for example where the tone moves from being slightly
melancholic at the beginning towards openly depressing towards the end of the
text.

Sometimes the authors organize different elements of the text in such a way that
they don’t gradually build upon one another, but instead clash. This is the use of
contrast, when two neighboring paragraphs in a text discuss completely opposite
topics or deal with a topic in a completely opposite manner. If you find
juxtaposition between different elements of the text, that is contrast and it might be
worth commenting on.

Another thing you may want to look at are shifts. Any major shift in focus or topic
and theme of the text should be commented on.

When I say focus, I mean what the author is focusing on in each paragraph. So,
you might notice how there is a shift from focus on the exterior to the interior of
the building. Or the author might shift focus from describing the environment to
describing a particular characters or his own mental state and thoughts. The
environment and thoughts might often be intertwined and reflect one another, so
you might comment on that too.

The author might also shift focus from a general discussion of an idea to a specific
example. Or from a generic phenomenon to an individual’s experience of that
phenomenon. These are all worth analyzing and commenting on.

You can also comment on the change of subject or the theme, which refers to more
subtle, underlying meaning of the text.

To indicate such shifts, authors sometimes use one-sentence paragraphs. Look for
them to give you a clue.

Finally, another element of structure is pace. Pace simply refers to how fast the text
progresses. Think of it in this way – an action film usually evolves much more
quickly than a slow romantic film. How do authors slow or speed up the pace of a
text?

Faster paced texts usually have shorter paragraphs, and shorter sentences with
more action, dialogue and exciting events. On the other hand, slow-paced texts
feature longer sentences and paragraphs with more narration and description that
dialogue. Authors add details and may use flashbacks or foreshadowing to slow
down the main action.

I hope you now have a better understanding of what to look for when analyzing
form, structure and language.
One thing I have to point out though, is that all the information I gave here is by no
means some kind of a checklist you need to go through for every text. Instead, this
is just a framework to help you think about the different elements that usually
appear in texts. Every text is different and there is no one unique approach that fits
every text. But practicing analysis using these elements will hopefully help you out
no matter what kind of text you face in the exam.

INTRODUCTION

Let’s look at the introduction first. The student writes:

In this emotional and fierce speech, Frederick Douglass addresses his audience
which consists of mostly privileged white men and attempts to persuade them that
slavery is a cruel, inhumane practice that must be abolished. He does this using a
very strong, emotional, direct, and, in many instances, ironic tone, that reflects his
frustration and the frustration of his people with the current situation. He tries to
achieve his purpose by using a wide variety of language devices, including:
positive and negative word choice, contrast, direct address, use of inclusive and
exclusive personal pronouns, personal anecdote and metaphor.

We see that the student is immediately engaging with the text, identifying its major
aspects (tone, purpose and audience) in the very first sentence. The student wastes
no time repeating obvious information that is already mentioned in the text and
gets right to the point.

As we read the first sentence, we can see that the tone, purpose and audience are
identified in detail and precisely. First, the tone is identified as emotional and
fierce. This idea is later developed in more detail in the second sentence, where the
student says that the tone is „strong, emotional and direct“. These expressions are
somewhat vague, but „ironic“ is definitely more precise, and the student also
identifies the feeling of frustration (which is very specific), and he does well as he
mentions that this is „his frustration and the frustration of his people“, meaning
Douglass in this speech acts as a representative of his people, not just as an
individual.
Going back o the first sentence, we can see that the way the student identifies
audience is also very precise. He does not say the audience are white people, but
„privileged white men“, meaning the student understands the audience are people
in power.

Finally, the purpose is also identified in detail. The student does not merely say
that the purpose of the text is to persuade. That would leave us with the question of
„persuade who, of what?“. The student answers these questions that naturally
appear in our minds by saying, „to persuade the that slavery is an inhumane, cruel
practice that must be abolished“. In doing this, the student correctly identifies that
the speech looks not only to the past, condemning slavery as inhumane, but also
looks to the furture and calls the audience to action, to abolish slavery. If this was
further elaborated on in the response, it would have an even better impact of not
just identifying the audience, purpose and tone, but analyzing them from the very
outset.

Nevertheless, the introduction provides an excellent framework for what is to

come. This is specifically important in the last sentence of the introduction, where
the student is paving way for his further analysis in the rest of the essay. He says:
He tries to achieve his purpose by using a wide variety of language devices,
including: positive and negative word choice, contrast, direct address, use of
inclusive and exclusive personal pronouns, personal anecdote and metaphor.

This final sentence of the introduction, often called a thesis statement, provides a
clear roadmap for analysis in the rest of the commentary. The student here
established firm foundations for the structure of his essay. He enumerates the
language devices he will comment upon in the rest of the essay in the order in
which he will analyze them. This makes the structure very well organized and easy
to follow.
I do need to mention here that this is not official advice and that most sample
commentaries do not follow such structure. I simply personally like it because it is
very clear and focused.

Structurally, the essay is very well constructed. As we shall see later on, it is
cohesive and divided into coherent paragraphs, and every paragraph deals with
either a single idea, or two or more connected ideas. Organization definitely gets
high marks here.

One thing that I will point out as a drawback, though, and we will be going back to
this as we read on is that almost all the device mentioned in this last sentence of the
introduction, which will later be analyzed, are language devices, which poses a big
question of what the student has done to analyze form and structure in the text.
Form and structure are important elements of the task and must not be ignored. As
we shall see, there are occasional comments made on the structure, but it would
definitely be better if the student made form and structure analysis more obvious
and explicit.

POSITIVE WORD CHOICE

Moving onto the first paragraph of the main part, the student begins his analysis by
tackling the first language device he mentioned in his thesis statement – positive
word choice. Let’s read.

One of the most prominent characteristics of the speech is the use of positive nouns
and adjectives to denote the privilege and power that the whites enjoy and the
African-Americans are denied. We find examples throughout the first part of this
speech, where he speaks of “blessings”, “rich inheritance of justice, liberty,
prosperity an independence”, “sunlight”, “light and “healing”. The purpose of
using these words is to show that these great values are reserved only for the
whites, and that there is “immeasurable distance” between the whites and the
blacks.

Another excellent structural device is the fact that the student begins his paragraph
with an introductory sentence that gives us a very clear idea of what the paragraph
will be about. This is called a topic sentence, and every paragraph should have
one. It’s usually located at the beginning f a paragraph, but that doesn’t have to be
the case always.

Looking at the content of the commentary, the first sentence provides a very
precise “point” of analysis (positive adjectives and nouns) and the effect of their
use (to denote the privilege and power…). Btw, see how the student cleverly uses
alliteration (privilege and power) and contrast (the whites enjoy… the African-
Americans are denied) here? That’s proof of his command of language and leaves
a good impact. It’s by no means obligatory, but if you do choose to use language
device, remember that your style should be formal and objective, so don’t veer into
using metaphors and personification. You need to stick to literal meanings and
leaver figurative language for the writing section.

Back to the point here. The first sentence identified the point and the effect and the
second sentence offers several aptly selected examples. The quotes are
appropriately short, and even the longer one is very focused and precise.  One
thing that can be commented on as a kind of a negative is that quotes are simply
listed at the end of the sentence, without fitting into the analysis itself. Compare
that to how well the “immeasurable distance” is embedded into the text of the
commentary in the next sentence. Embedding quotes into your own analysis is an
important skill and I hope we will have a video on that too at some point. Until
then, remember, fitting your quotes naturally into the commentary is better that
merely listing them.

Finally, the last sentence of the paragraph expands further on the effects of the use
of positive nouns and adjectives. The paragraph follows a very clear “P-E-E”
structure. While you should always include effects of the devices used, always
following he structure in the same order can be a bit repetitive and you should aim
to provide further commentary and deeper analysis, too.

NEGATIVE WORD CHOICE & CONTRAST

As we mentioned in our last video, making sure your ideas flow naturally in your
commentary is very important and how the student connects this paragraph to the
next one is an excellent example of that. Let’s read:

In stark contrast with these positive words stand all the negative attributes that are
linked with the situation of African-Americans, such as: “gross injustice and
cruelty”, “victim” “stripes and death”. These negative attributes are often placed
very close to the positive words used to describe the position of the whites, which
immediately creates images of contrast in the reader’s mind: “your celebration is
a sham” “your shouts of liberty and equality – hollow mockery”, “your sermons…
impiety and hypocrisy”.
Look at the first part of the first sentence. “in stark contrast with these positive
words” – here, the student very clearly links what he already said to what he is
about to say. This is an excellent linking device, and you should absolutely use it.
He then moves on to make his next point. Again, we have the P-E-E approach and
once again, although the quotations are very precise and well-chosen, the student
makes the mistake of not embedding them properly.

 Another interesting thing about this paragraph is that he connects two language
devices “negative attributes and contrast) in the same paragraph. This is excellent,
because they both indicate the same effect. There is also a hint of reference to
structure here, where the student says “placed next to those positive words”, but
again you need to make structure and form references more explicit and clearer, to
show the examiner you’re giving equal focus to form, structure and language. A
better way to address this is to say, e.g., “Placing negative attributes very close to
positive words has a very important structural purpose in the text. It immediately
evokes images of contrast in the readers mind.” This way, it is clear that the
student understands this is a structural device.

Moving on now.

DIRECT ADDRESS

Throughout the text, Douglass directly addresses his audience, often posing very
difficult and provoking questions. These questions are especially prevalent in the
first part, whereas the second part of the text answers some of them. Perhaps the
most important of these questions is “What, to the American slave, is the 4th of
July?” that very strongly questions the purpose of him, as a former slave, being
invited to speak at such an event and is an introduction into his very direct and
harsh analysis of the hypocrisy of the privileged whites. This effect is also achieved
through the use of sarcasm in the first paragraph where he asks if he was called to
“express devout gratitude” for the independence his people clearly are not a part
of.

 Again, the student connects two similar language devices – direct address and
rhetorical questions. Now, there is a more explicit and very insightful reference to
the structure of the text, where the student says: These questions are especially
prevalent in the first part, whereas the second part of the text answers some of
them. This is an excellent way of showing the examiner you understand how
particular language and structural devices are linked to the text as a whole. After
establishing those whole-.text connections, the student makes the smart decision of
focusing on one particular question to further dissect its purpose. That enables him
to thoroughly analyze the particularities of the text. Again, the same effect is used
to link this device to another one, use of sarcasm, with excellent embedding of
quotes.

PRONOUNS

The next paragraph again begins with reference to the previous one, which helps
maintain cohesion:
In close connection with the author directly addressing his predominantly white
audience is his use of pronouns. He makes a very clear distinction between himself
and his audience, by constantly referring to them as “you”, mentioning “your
celebration…your greatness…your prayers”. This stark contrast between himself
and the other African-Americans on the one hand and the whites the other hand is
most starkly represented in the short and impactful sentence at the end of
paragraph two: “This fourth of July is yours, not mine. “

The student references the use of pronouns, again following a very clear P-E-E
approach. The use of pronouns is important in virtually every speech, especially
those with political connotations, but you must make sure to avoid quoting just
“you, “me”, them”, and instead offer more context, as in the example of “your
celebration…your greatness…your prayers”. Again, the student moves on from the
use of pronouns in the whole text and hones in on one particularly impactful
sentence, which enables him to examine the use of pronouns more closely. It
would perhaps be beneficial if he added a sentence or two of further analysis of the
significance of this sentence for the entire text.

PERSONAL ANECDOTE

While for the most part, the author speaks of the general struggle of his people,
towards the end of the text, we get a peek into his own life, when he relates a
personal anecdote of his own experience of slave trade. Here, too, we see a
reference to his mistress, who hated the abuse of slaves and “sympathized with me
in my horror.” This is perhaps a very subtle reference to the idea that other whites
too can look up to her example and understand how cruel slavery is.

Here is a structural reference again, where the student appropriately notes the shift
in focus from the general struggle of black people to a more personal account. Any
kind of development of shift in focus, or examining similarities or contrast between
particular elements of the text falls under the category of structure, and should
definitely be included in your analysis, but again, I would recommend making
those references more explicit. You don’t want to leave the examiner guessing
whether you’ve understood it’s a structural element or not. You want to make sure
everything you know is clearly understood by the examiner.

Again, the student discusses the issue of the personal anecdote, but focuses on one
particular aspect. I n this case, as we’ve seen in our annotation, there were many
other elements to comment on, but no commentary will cover all aspects of the
text. I do think some of the issues from this part of the text should have been
discussed in more detail, though.

Another thing we can note here is the use of a hedging device “perhaps”, where the
student is being tentative about presenting his interpretation of the words used.
This is good, because no interpretation is definitive and the use of expressions such
as “it seems”, “the author implies” or “it might be that” is recommended.

METAPHOR

The next paragraph again, begins with reference to the previous one.

In other instances in the text, though, the author is much more direct. He does not
give unclear allusions, but very straightforward, direct and aptly strong messages.
His tone throughout most of the text is that of frustration and rage, and he does
indeed, as he says he wishes to, pour “fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting
reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke”. He uses the metaphor of natural
disasters (“fire”, “thunder”, “storm”, “whirlwind”, “earthquake”) to denote that
the changes that must happen are of tectonic proportions and absolutely urgent.

Here the student discusses the tone of the paragraph, but does so in a very precise
manner, focusing on particular language device (the metaphor of natural devices).
The choice of quotations is very good and I especially like how the student
demonstrates his own language prowess by using the term “tectonic”, from the
same semantic field as other words used in the text. Using Douglass’ own words to
describe his tone is also an excellent approach.

CONCLUSION

Finally, the student provides a clear and succinct conclusion

Through his use of a variety of different language devices, Douglass paints an

impressive and somber image of America at the time – one of deep divisions and
stark inequality. His speech is an alarming call to end the injustice to his people
and a fierce answer to those who aimed to prolong it.

As we’ve mentioned before, the conclusion is not mandatory, but in this case, it
helps the student reiterate his understanding of the purpose of the speech. It also
provides the student with a good opportunity to demonstrate his language skills
(with low frequency vocabulary like somber, fierce, prolong) and excellent
grammar.

Overall, the essay was rather effective in its analysis of different language devices.
There are definitely some points for improvement, especially concerning the
discussion of form and structure.

What did you think of it? How close is it to your own ability of writing?

If you want, you can go to the link in the description below and try to grade it
according to the mark scheme. That exercise usually helps students better
understand how examiners mark commentaries and will help you get a clearer idea
on what