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How to analyse a text?

by Jessica Gross Assignment Help Expert

Thus, the first phase of the analysis of a text consists in "translating" it into a language that facilitates the analytical work. We have called this language or vocabulary categories of analysis. There are many types of analysis categories. The kind of text you want to study and the aspect you want to examine in a specific text will determine which categories of analysis are most relevant to you.

Usually, specific analysis categories will be more useful for studying narrative texts (stories, novels, movies, comic strips, etc.). Others will be better adapted for the examination of poems and others will facilitate the analysis of essays and academic articles.

However, certain formal principles determine the organisation of most texts and, therefore, constitute a set of categories of analysis whose knowledge will be precious not only to analyse a large number of texts but also to create them.

This article will familiarise you with some of those fundamental principles of textual organisations that your analyses become more dangerous, profound and pertinent.

What is a text?

Before continuing, it is convenient to ask what is text. Two possible answers to this question determine the categories of analysis that we are going to study here:

·         A text is an artefact

Every text - like a seat, a table or a machine - is an artefact. That is, it is something created by human beings for human beings and, therefore, fulfils specific functions within society.

Therefore, when you analyse a text, you should always keep in mind that this text comes from one or several "organizing minds" that have decided to express specific ideas in a certain way. All the texts - linguistic, visual, audiovisual, musical, etc. are conceived, financed, made and distributed by people who have economic and ideological interests.

·         A text is a system

If a text is an artefact, then it is also a system. A system is a particular type of set where all the elements that compose it work jointly to fulfil a purpose. In the case of scientific texts, the components of the textual system are the words. Thanks to them, to their sound, form, meaning, location and reciprocal relationships, the meanings that the text seeks to transmit are constructed.

Unlike any other set-such as a pile of books on a desk-a system has a definite purpose and for that reason, the parts that compose it have specific functions and occupy well-defined positions concerning each other. From this perspective, an exact text is a kind of machine that serves to produce meanings.

So, your job when you analyse a text is to observe it as if you were a watchmaker who carefully examines the mechanism of a clock before fixing it. The analysis allows you to understand what the constituent elements of the text are, where they are located and what their functions are.

·         Basic principles of textual organisation

Studying texts as systems have significant consequences. The one that most interests us here is the possibility of isolating five basic principles that determine the organisation of most of the texts that exist. Because they are so common, these principles work as categories of analysis that will be very useful for studying a large number of texts.

·         Functional value

Any element present in a text has one or more specific functions that we will call practical value here. Remember that texts are artefacts and what appears in them is not there by chance.

For example, in a novel it does not rain, but because the writer decided that, for some reason, it was important for it to rain. Therefore, after identifying the elements that most attract your attention in a text, you should ask yourself what its functions are within the totality of the textual system.

Two questions are very useful for determining the functional values of the components of a text:

·         For what was it put there?

The second question will allow you to understand with what purpose the element of the text that is striking for you was chosen and why it appears where it appears and not elsewhere.

Does the element that interests you advertise others that appear later in the text? Does it serve, along with other elements, to develop concrete ideas within the textual system?

·         Similarity and repetition

In every text, there are always elements that are repeated in an identical way or that are very similar to each other. These recurring elements are known as motives. An excellent text analyst is always on the lookout for reasons since these are fundamental for the proper functioning of the texts.

However, not all texts are characterised by having a high degree of unity. There are also texts that seek that the lack of unity is its governing organisational principle. "Experimental" novels or films are an example of this type of texts. However, most of the texts are usually based on the principle of unity since the lack of unity supposes excellent comprehension difficulties for readers who have not had specialized training to deal with this type of texts.


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About Jessica Gross Advanced   Assignment Help Expert

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Joined APSense since, January 29th, 2016, From Sydney, Australia.

Created on Apr 5th 2018 05:29. Viewed 275 times.

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