Passage Analysis Essay

The how and why and all that

What is it?

• Prose passage – Exposition -- Description– Narration -- Argumentation

• Variety of genres or time periods• Analysis of rhetorical strategies

– Example --Cause and effect– Contrast/comparison --Classification– Process --Definition– Narration --Description

What is it?

• Analysis of language • Analysis of stylistic elements

--subject matter--language/diction

--Selection of detail --point of view --figurative language --tone

--syntax --organization

What’s the purpose?

• Determine how well you read, understand and analyze challenging texts

• Assess how well you manipulate language to communicate your ideas

Key Point:

• The level of your writing is/should be a direct reflection of your critical thinking

What kinds of questions?

• Analyze the author’s view• Analyze rhetorical devices the author uses

to achieve her purpose• Analyze stylistic elements and their effects• Compare/contrast two passages with

regard to style, purpose, or tone

More…

• Analyze author’s purpose and how he achieves it

• Analyze how an author re-creates an experience

• Analyze how the author presents herself in the passage

• Discuss the intended or probable effect of the passage

How is it graded?

• On a 9 point rubric

• Readers reward you for what you do well

• As a draft (40 minutes)

How to tackle this?

• Planning is crucial, so spend:– 1-3 minutes reading and working the prompt– 5 minutes reading and making margin notes

on the passage– 10 minutes preparing to write– 20 minutes writing your essay– 3 minutes proofreading

Reading the prompt

• The following paragraphs are from the opening of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. After carefully reading the excerpt, write a well-organized essay in which you characterize Capote’s view of Holcomb, Kansas, and analyze how Capote conveys this view. Your analysis may consider such stylistic elements as diction, imagery, syntax, structure, tone, and selection of detail.

The prompt…annotated

• The following paragraphs are from the opening of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. After carefully reading the excerpt, write a well-organized essay in which you characterize Capote’s view of Holcomb, Kansas, and analyze how Capote conveys this view. Your analysis may consider such stylistic elements as diction, imagery, syntax, structure, tone, and selection of detail.

Helpful hint• Sometimes it is difficult and stressful to get

everything from your brain onto your paper• You can write: In this essay I have to….• In this essay I have to tell what Capote’s view of

the town is and explain how he reveals this• …I have to identify the author’s view and

analyze the diction, imagery and structure he uses to reveal his view

• …I have to tell that Capote thinks the town is boring but also has some positive attributes. I have to explain the diction, imagery, and detail.

Reading the passage

• Option #1– Read quickly to get the gist of the passage– Reread, highlighting and taking margin notes

• Option #2– Read slowly, highlighting and taking margin

notes– Reread to confirm that you have caught the

full impact of the passage

Warning!!!!

• Don’t skip this step

• Careful reading AND annotating the passage are crucial to success

Developing the opening Paragraph

• Forget everything you’ve learned about beginning an essay (not really, but almost)

• It should catch the reader’s attention

• It should set the tone of your essay

• It should only be a couple of sentences long

Opening paragraph

• Make a direct reference to the passage (suggested)

• Identify the text and its author• Address the question (Capote’s view of

Holcomb) • Specifically mention the elements you

will refer to (diction, tone, etc.)

Samples Intro A

• In the opening of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote presents a picture of the town of Holcomb, Kansas. Through structure, selection of detail, and a detached tone, he makes it clear that he views Holcomb as dull and ordinary.

Sample Intro B

• Holcomb, Kansas. Holcomb, Kansas. Even the sound of the place is boring and uninteresting. Moreover, Truman Capote seems to agree with this in his opening to In Cold Blood. I, too, would be inclined to pass by this sleepy, bland, and undistinguished hamlet. This view is developed through the author’s tone, structure, and selection of detail.

Sample Intro C

• “Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama in the shape of exceptional happenings had never stopped here.” This is the town of Holcomb, Kansas. Using a reportorial tone, specific structure, and selection of detail, Capote introduces the reader to this unremarkable town in the opening of In Cold Blood.

Sample Intro D

• In Cold Blood is a very appropriate title, because Capote presents a cold and unemotional view of Holcomb, Kansas. His tone, structure, and selection of detail create a distant and detached picture of this desolate farm community.

Sample Intro E

• Truman Capote opens with a passage describing a small town called Holcomb, Kansas. Capote uses a variety of elements to express his view.

Developing Body Paragraphs

• Present your analysis• Use specific references and details from

the passage– Don’t just paraphrase– Place quotation mark around exact words– Citations are not necessary; integrate author

in sentence– Integrate quotes; condense quotes

Body paragraphs continued

• Use ‘connective tissue’ to establish adherence to the questions--use repetition of key ideas in prompt and in your opening paragraph

--Use echo words/synonyms (town, village, hamlet)

Stay on topic

A.P.

• We know it stands of Advanced Placement• BUT……• Keep in mind the people who read your

essay joke that it means “Address the Prompt.”

• In other words……be sure you do what the questions is asking; stay on topic

A.P.

• Refer back to your prewriting often• Look at the “In this essay I have to…”

statement that you wrote• If you get stuck in the middle of the essay,

you can actually write the above phrase in your essay. Keep writing until you get back on track. Then, cross out the phrase.

Concluding paragraph

• Forget everything you’ve learned about conclusions

• Yes, really!!!!• Do NOT summarize in your concluding

paragraph

Bad Conclusion

• Capote’s imagery, tone, and diction convey his view about Holcomb. Through these devices we get the idea that Capote views the town as dull and ordinary.

• zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Instead, write a conclusion like this:

• Holcomb may be dull and boring, but Capote hints that the “quiet” and “ordinary” town may be disrupted. Something other than wheat is on the horizon.

• The last two paragraphs contain a shift. Capote contrasts the town with the school and foreshadows a change. This contrast may indicate more to come for the town of Holcomb.