Lesson Prose Analysis

5
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
• describe prose analysis.
• demonstrate mastery on the application of lexis,
grammar, foregrounded features, and cohesion
and context in analyzing prose.

Introduction:
Welcome to Lesson 5! This lesson focuses on topics that are especially relevant to the
analysis of prose fiction- the analysis of style and viewpoint, including the study of speech and
thought presentation. Thus, this lesson will follow a general “methodology” checksheet to be
used when analyzing prose.

In addition, by using the said methodology, you will see how different aspects of analysis
need to be joined together in a complete stylistic analysis of a passage.

Activity

Read the quotation

taken from the
Novel of Salman “The only people who
Rushdie entitled see the whole picture
“The Ground are the ones who step
Beneath Her Feet”. outside the frame.”
Reflect how this
quotation helps you
to continue your
endeavor in this
course.

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Salman+Rushdie&hl=en&
tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=qJx34SfT6b4QEM%252C9kudk
mbhJrkqgM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-
kT4R9DlVHRj0DVbOGi2bYUSI9iIsA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjirv3Z
ndbrAhUMBZQKHafGBmMQ_h16BAgJEAU#imgrc=4wwEkXNVN
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 What is meant by Salman Rushdie on his statement
above?
________________________________________

Analysis ________________________________________

________________________________________

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________________________________________

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Abstraction
GENERAL METHODOLOGY CHECKSHEET

Most poems are short, and so it is possible to analyze a whole text. And when analyzing
poetry, we noticed that we could get a long way by concentrating on foregrounded features:
particularly deviation and parallelism.

On the other hand, for novels and short stories, because they are much longer, stylistic
analysis can only be done on selected extracts which are representative or especially interesting
for some reason. And one of the results of this extra length is that effects in prose are often
spread through whole texts, or textual extracts, and so, just looking at foregrounded features
will not necessarily reveal enough of what we need to show. This is Leech and Short prepared
a methodology checksheet to be used for prose analysis.

The said methodology checksheet for prose analysis is meant to help you to become
systematic in your work and not miss important 'hidden' linguistic features and patterns. But it
is essential to notice that not everything you systematically examine will turn out to be
important interpretatively. When we write up stylistic analyses for essay, articles or books, not
surprisingly, the areas which turned out not to be very revealing are omitted from discussion.
But you still need to do the initial systematic work in order to find out what the most relevant
aspects of analysis are.

In the Methodology Checksheet, it comprises a series of questions you can ask about
the different elements of text. Answering the questions helps you to specify the nature of each
element, so that you can then consider the effects of the element on your interpretation of the
text. Answering all the questions will involve using all the skills you have so far accumulated;
but it is sensible to select which questions are most appropriate for any given text. This covers
four major areas, to wit:

I: Lexis
II: Grammar
III: Foregrounded features (including figures of speech)
IV: Cohesion and Context

LEXIS

(1) General

Examine the Open Class words in the text.

1. Is the vocabulary simple or complex (i.e. many or few syllables in each word)?
Is it descriptive or evaluative? Is it general or specific?
2. Does the writer make greatest use of referential or denotative (central/core)
meanings, or do you have to think about connotations or other emotive senses
of the words?
3. Are there idioms in the text (i.e. non-literal phrases, such as under the weather)?
If so, are they associated with a particular register or dialect?
4. Are there any unusual words - archaic, rare or specialized vocabulary?
5. Do the words fall into groups which form noticeable semantic fields?

(2) Specific

1. NOUNS. Are they abstract or concrete? If abstract, do they refer to similar kinds
of element, e.g. events, perceptions, processes, moral qualities, social qualities?
Are there proper names or collective nouns?

2. ADJECTIVES. Do they occur frequently? What kinds of attributes do they

embody (physical, emotional, visual, color, etc.)? Do they occur in comparative
or superlative forms? Do they occur singly or in groups?

3. VERBS. How frequently do they occur? Are they linking, transitive or

intransitive? Are they stative (referring to states) or dynamic (referring to
actions, events)? Do they refer to physical movement, psychological states or
activities, perception, etc.? Are there more finite (complete-sense) verbs, or
more participles (present or past)?

4. ADVERBS. Do they occur frequently? What kinds of meaning do they have

(i.e. do they describe manner, place, direction, frequency, degree, place, etc)?
Do they occur in comparative or superlative forms?

Grammar
(1) General
Are any general types of grammatical construction used to special effect, e.g.
comparative or superlative constructions, parallelisms, listing, interjections or other
speech-like phenomena?

(2) Specific
 1. SENTENCES. Are they statements, questions, commands, etc. or are they like
speech-type sentences, e.g. without a predicator? Are they simple, compound or
complex? How long are they? Are there striking contrasts in sentence length or
structure at any point in the text? If the sentences are long, is their length due to
embedding, co-ordination, long phrases acting as single SPOCA elements, or other
causes?

2. CLAUSES. What types of clauses are noticeably favoured (e.g. relative, adverbial,
noun clauses etc.)? Is there anything special about the clauses, e.g. a frequent and
unusual placement of adverbials, or 'fronting' of object or complement? Are there
clauses with 'dummy subjects' (i.e. there, it)?

3. PHRASES
(a) NOUN PHRASES: are they simple or complex? If complex, is this due to the
frequency of pre-modifiers (adjectives, noun-modifiers, etc) or is it due to post-
modification (prepositional phrases, relative clauses, complement clauses, etc.)?

(b) VERB PHRASES: what is the tense? present or past? Are there sections of
apparent narration where the tense is other than the simple past tense (e.g.
continuous past, present, perfect, or where modal auxiliaries such as can, must,
should etc. occur)?

(c) OTHER PHRASES: are there any remarkable features about other phrases (i.e.
prepositional, adverbial, adjectival)?

(iv) WORD CLASSES. Do the Closed Class words (i.e. prepositions, pronouns,
conjunctions, determiners, auxiliaries, interjections) play any significant role in the
text?. Is there frequent or striking use of e.g. the first person pronouns (I, we),
negative words (no, not, neither) or the definite or indefinite article (the, a(n))?

FOREGROUNDED FEATURES (Figures of speech, etc.)

Figures of speech can be divided up into types related to the language levels and
language patterns (parallelism, deviation, foregrounding) we discussed earlier in the course.
They are of two major types: Schemes, which are constituted by 'foregrounded repetitions of
expression' and Tropes, or 'foregrounded irregularities of content' (see Leech and Short, p.82
and Leech, Linguistic Guide to English Poetry chs. 4 and 5 for fuller discussion).

SCHEMES

(1) GRAMMATICAL AND LEXICAL SCHEMES. Is there any formal or

structural repetition (anaphora, parallelism) or any 'mirror-image' patterning
(chiasmus)? If so, do these schemes bring about effects of antithesis,
reinforcement, climax, anticlimax, etc?

(2) PHONOLOGICAL SCHEMES. Are there any patterns of sound (rhyme,

half-rhyme, alliteration, assonance) or rhythm? Are there noticeably frequent
 occurrences of the same or similar sound-clusters? Is there sound symbolism or
are there musical devices which affect interpretation?

TROPES

(1) Are there any obvious violations of or departures from the 'normal' linguistic
code?

(2) Are there neologisms or deviant lexical collocations?

(3) If there are deviations on other language levels (semantic, syntactic,

phonological, graphological) do they lead you to interpret in terms of such
figures of speech as metaphor or irony? Do they lead you to see other features
such as personification, concretization, synaesthetic effects etc.

CONTEXT AND COHESION

(1) COHESION

COHESION is the name given to those language features which do the job of 'holding together'
a text; these can cover a wide range of linguistic and stylistic devices.

(Refer to Style in Fiction, Ch. 7, pop.243-254.) (i) Does the text contain logical or other links
between sentences (e.g. and, or, but, and so, then etc.) or does it rely on implicit connections
(e.g. juxtaposition, sequence)?

(ii) Is there a lot of cross-reference by means of pronouns or ellipsis? Or is there 'elegant

variation' - the use of different ways of describing the same thing/person (so as to avoid
repetition or to give you an idea of whose view of the thing/person you are getting)?

(iii) Are meaning connections made by means of lexical repetition or by the frequent
use of words from the same semantic field?

(2) CONTEXT

CONTEXT can be 'internal' or 'external'. External context might include very broad cultural
and historical information about the author, the period of writing, etc. However, for our
purposes, external context will, like internal context, be concerned with TEXTUAL
RELATIONS, i.e. with the apparent relationships between persons inside and outside the text
(e.g. the author and the reader, the author and the characters, one character and another).

(i) Does the writer address the reader directly, or through the words or thoughts of a
fictional character?

(ii) What language features are there which tell you who is "speaking" (e.g. first person
or third person pronouns)?

(iii) Can you sense the author's attitude to his subject? Is it revealed explicitly or can
you infer it from the way he writes?
 (iv) If a character's words/thoughts are represented, how is this done: by direct quotation
(direct speech) or by some other means (indirect or free indirect speech) (Refer to Style
in Fiction, Ch.10, pp. 318-334)? Are there noticeable changes of style according to who
is supposed to be speaking/ thinking.

Instructions: Using the prose methodology checksheet, analyze the opening of a novel by Jane
Gardam called Bilgewater. This passage is the prologue to the rest of the novel and portrays
the interview of a candidate for an undergraduate place at Cambridge University. Try to present
your analysis and argument.

(1) The interview seemed over. (2) The Principal of the college sat
looking at the candidate. (3) The Principal's back was to the light and her
stout, short outline was solid against the window, softened only by the fuzz
of her ageing but rather pretty hair. (4) Outside the bleak and brutal
Cambridge afternoon - December and raining.

(5) The candidate sat opposite wondering what to do. (6) The chair
had a soft seat but wooden arms. (7) She crossed her legs first one way and
then the other - then wondered about crossing her legs at all. (8) She
wondered whether to get up. (9) There was a cigarette box beside her. (10)
She wondered whether she would be offered a cigarette. (11) There was a
decanter of sherry on the bookcase. (12) It had a neglected air.

(13) This was the third interview of the day. (14) The first had been
as she had expected - carping, snappish, harsh, watchful - unfriendly even
before you had your hand off the door handle. (15) Seeing how much you
could take. (16) Typical Cambridge. (17) A sign of the times. (18) An hour
later and then the second interview - five of them this time behind a table -
four women, one man, all in old clothes. (19) That had been a long one. (20)
Polite though. (21) Not so bad. (22) "Is there anything that you would like
to ask us?"

((23) "Yes please, why I'm here. (24) Whether I really want to come
even if you invite me. (25) What you're all like. (26) Have you ever run mad
for love? (27) Considered suicide? (28) Cried in the cinema? (29) Clung to
somebody in bed?")

(30) "No thank you. (31) I think Miss Blenkinsop-Briggs has already
answered my questions in the interview this morning." (32) They move their
pens about, purse their lips, turn to one another from the waist, put together
the tips of their fingers. (33) I look alert. (34) I sit up-right. (35) I survey
them coolly but not without respect. (36) I might get in on this one. (37) But
 don't think it is a good sign when they're nice to you, said old Miss Bex.
(38) And now, here we are. (39) The third interview. (40) Meeting the
Principal.

(41) An interview with the Principal means I'm in for a Scholarship.

(42) How ridiculous!

(43) I can't see her face against the light. (44) She's got a brooding
shape. (45) She is a mass. (46) Beneath the fuzz a mass. (47) A massive
intelligence clicking and ticking away - observing, assessing, sifting,
pigeonholing. (48) Not a feeling, not an emotion, not a dizzy thought. (49)
A formidable woman.

(50) She's getting up. (51) It has been delightful. (52) She hopes that
we may meet again. (53) (Does that mean I'm in?) (54) What a long way I
have to come for an interview. (55) The far far north. (56) She hopes that I
was comfortable last night.

(57) We shake hands in quite a northern way. (58) Then she puts on
a coat - very nice coat, too. (59) Fur. (60) Nice fur. (61) Something human
then about her somewhere.

(62) She walks with me to the door and down the stairs and we pause
again on the college steps.

(63) There is a cold white mist swirling about, rising from the river.
(64) The trees lean, swinging long, black ropes at the water. (65) A court-
yard, frosty, of lovely proportions. (66) A fountain, a gateway. (67) In the
windows round the courtyard the lights are coming on one by one. (68) But
it is damp, old, cold, cold, cold. (69) Cold as home.

(70) Shall I come here?

(71) Would I like it after all?

References
Short, Mick (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, London: Longman,
chapter 1, pp. 1-35.

Carter, Ron (1993) 'Between languages: grammar and lexis in Thomas Hardy's "The Oxen"',
in Peter Verdonk (ed.) (1993) Twentieth-century Poetry: From Text To Context,
London: Routledge, chapter 5, pp. 57-67.
Leech, Geoffrey N. (1969) A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry, London: Longman, chapters
1 and 2.

Short, Mick (1993) 'To analyse a poem stylistically: "To Paint a Water Lily" by Ted Hughes',
in Peter Verdonk (ed.) (1993) Twentieth-century Poetry: From Text To Context,
London: Routledge chapter 1, pp. 5-20.

Simpson, Paul (1997) Language Through Literature, London: Routledge chapter 2, pp. 23-59.

Verdonk, Peter (1993) 'Poetry and public life: a contextualised reading of Seamus Heaney's
"Punishment"', in Peter Verdonk (ed.) (1993) Twentieth-century Poetry: From Text To
Context, London: Routledge chapter 9, pp. 112-33.

Widdowson, Henry (1983) 'The Conditional Presence of Mr Bleaney' in Ronald Carter (ed.)
Language and Literature, London: Allen & Unwin chapter 1, pp. 18-26.

Closure

Congratulations! You have made the last lesson of this module completely. It is expected
that you were able to understand the lesson. Just continue to read intensively and
extensively!