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English Literature - Language, Structure and Form

I'm starting sixth form this September with one of my subject choices being English Literature. For my summer task i have to analyse the language, structure and form of an extract from The Body Snatchers. I would really appreciate some advice on how to approach this, what to mention and how to structure it. Thank you!
Original post by MorganAmber
I'm starting sixth form this September with one of my subject choices being English Literature. For my summer task i have to analyse the language, structure and form of an extract from The Body Snatchers. I would really appreciate some advice on how to approach this, what to mention and how to structure it. Thank you!


I did English Language and Literature, not purely Lit, to A level but would be happy to help. By 'analyse' do they mean prepare an essay or just annotate an extract? I'd start by reading The Body Snatchers from beginning to end and choosing a page which is interesting from an analytical point of view. Print the extract off and stick it to a large piece of sugar paper. Download a glossary of A level Literature key terms off the internet- or ask around on TSR- and identify which terms are aspects of structure/form/language. Use the glossary as a guide to annotating your extract- pink pen for language, blue for structure, green for form etc- and analyse the effects of the techniques you have picked out. That's how I'd approach it, anyway- best of luck :smile:
Reply 2
Before I answer, I would just like to disclaim that I am not familiar with this text at all so if certain things aren't applicable then I apologise. Having said that, I would do aim for paragraph on each factor; failing that, two paragraphs on language and one on both structure and form. I found structure and form generally more difficult to discuss with regards to prose, but a lot easier when analysing verse.

In the language paragraph I would really focus in on, well, the language used. This is rather much like GCSE English Literature, except in more depth. Analyse and unpacking quotes to death, pick out certain words in particular, refer to as many literary techniques as you can. That kind of stuff.

For structure, I would look at the length of sentences and paragraphs and the writer's intent behind those choices. With form, I would talk about how the extract is being told, again referring to why the writer may have decided to do this. That is, the person, the tense, the 'type' of narrative (e.g. flashback, diary entry or maybe a second hand account). You could aim to refer to the reliability of the account; for instance, if it's a first person narrative and it's a diary entry, it might be slightly less accurate than a third person account.

Other tips - as the above user said, different colours are a great idea in the subject as a whole. I would use any random colour to annotate my texts but using a system like the above user advised is a better idea. I don't know which exam board you're with but I was on OCR and this particular assessment objective was the most heavily weighted, so I would advise prioritising it slightly above the others. Besides, making these notes as you go along saves an awful lot of time when it comes to exams. Best of luck with your assignment!
Reply 3
Thank you so much! This is super helpful :smile:
Reply 4
The best way to do this is to work backwards from your reaction. How does the writer make you feel? About the characters, about the situation, anything. Now, can you link that feeling to a feature of the text and its effect? Can you explain how the effect is created? Can you then summarise what this amounts to?
You don't want to separate language, structure and form. They don't work in isolation from one another so don't isolate them from one another. The examiners would roast you for it. They barely tolerate it at GCSE so you need to get out of the habit of writing it in separate paragraphs.
I'm starting my GCSEs this sucks!


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