Pre-AP English: The 5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis Author: Connie Shelnut Modified for G10 ACC class, SMIC

Pre-AP English: The 5-S Strategies for Passage

Analysis

Author: Connie ShelnutModified for G10 ACC class, SMIC

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis

• Why Pre-AP and the 5-S Strategies?

To introduce AP terminology and analysis strategies gradually.

To provide the building blocks for writing success to ALL college bound students.

To provide teachers and students tools to efficiently target important components of poetry (or prose) for analysis.

To provide teachers and students a structure to develop close reading skills in all grade levels and all subjects.


• Section I Goal: • To apply three basic literary terms

(Diction, Syntax and Imagery) used in passage analysis to a short poem to gain a deeper sense of how, through close reading, such terminology can focus and deepen the quality of any analysis.


Opportunity by Edward SillThis I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;And underneath the cloud, or in it, ragedA furious battle , and men yelled, and swordsShocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s bannerWavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.A craven hung along the battle’s edge,And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel –That blue blade that the king’s son bears – but thisBlunt thing!” he snapt, and flung it from his hand,And lowering crept away and left the field.Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead,And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shoutLifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,And saved a great cause that heroic day.


Activity #1 with the poem Opportunity• Circle words that you think are significant or

important and ask yourself why this use of diction is important.– Diction – an author’s choice of words, i.e. denotation,

connotation, slang, etc.

• Underline places in the passage that contain significant syntax and ask yourself why it is important. What does it do?– Sentences (Syntax) – types, functions, patterns

• Put an asterisk over words or phrases that evoke imagery. Ask yourself what creates this imagery.– Imagery – descriptive words that appeal to the five

senses

• Discuss with group and share results.


Section II – Goal:

• To review basic literary terms most often used in analysis

• To become acquainted with the 5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis and reflect on the skills that effective close reading entails.


Basic Terms for Passage Analysis

Can you define these terms?

• Allusion – • Crux – • Dialogue – • Figures of Speech – comparisons such as

similes, metaphors, and personification OR tropes such as allusions, apostrophes, oxymorons and hyperboles

• Imagery – • Irony –


Basic Terms for Passage Analysis• Allusion – reference to a famous person or fictional

character, assuming the reader knows the connection• Crux – the most crucial line(s) in a poem or prose

passage that shows the main point • Dialogue - conversation between two or more

characters set off by quotation marks• Figures of Speech – states something that is not

literally true in order to create an effect, i.e. – comparisons such as similes, metaphors, and

personification OR – tropes such as allusions, apostrophes, oxymorons

and hyperboles• Irony – surprising, interesting or amusing contrast

between reality and expectation


Basic Terms for Passage AnalysisCan you define these terms?• Meter – the rhythmic pattern of poetry: iambic,

anapest, dactyl, trochee and spondee; and number of measures: tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, etc.

• Mood – feeling created by the passage or poem• Motif – a thematic pattern repeated in the passage• Organization – the means by which the passage is

presented: chronological, thematic, etc.• Plot – the sequence in which the author arranges the

story events – developed by conflict, flashback, foreshadowing, suspense

• Point of View – from whose view is the passage related – note any shifts of speakers

• Punctuation – dashes, commas, italics, etc.• Sentences (Syntax) – types, functions, patterns• Sentence Variety – short, long, openings, order


• Basic Terms for Passage Analysis• Setting – the place and time period of the story• Sound Devices – alliteration, assonance, consonance,

onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm• Style – a writer’s typical way of expressing himself,

including his choice of diction, syntax and imagery• Syntax Techniques – anaphora, antithesis, ellipsis,

juxtaposition, parallelism, repetition, inversion, rhetorical question, punctuation, etc.

• Symbolism – a physical object that stands for an idea, i.e. our flag represents American ideals

• Theme – the unifying idea of the story that answers the question, “What is the work about?”

• Tone – author’s attitude toward the subject (shown by the diction used) – any shifts are very important

• Voice – the speaker or narrator telling the story, 1st, 2nd or 3rd person, omniscient, etc.


• 1. Discover the key sentences. Preview the passage by reading the first sentence, the last sentence, and by skimming the text in between to determine the scope of the work. By carrying out this step first, you gain an overview that allows for effective pacing.

• 2. Discover the speaker. Look for such things as the number of speakers and the narrator’s point of view – this is most often either first-person (omniscient, limited omniscient, or objective). Unless otherwise specified, analyze from the speaker’s vantage point. Note anything that gives a clue about the speaker’s attitude


• 3. Discover the situation. What is happening? State the situation in one clear sentence. Be sure to examine the title of the piece and its relevance to the situation.

• 4. Discover the major shifts in structure, syntax, or diction, such as wording that evokes certain connotations and sudden changes in tone, attitude of the author, sentence length, rhythm, punctuation, or patterns of imagery. Find areas of the passage where you can locate the most dramatic changes, and closely annotate them.


• 5. Discover obvious concentrations of unusual or otherwise significant syntax and its purpose.

• Look for changes in sentence length, sentence order, use of punctuation, and typographical elements such as italics, sentence inversion, or rhetorical questions, etc. that create emphasis.

• Mark the predominant syntax. Often it will guide the reader to the part of the passage that conveys the most meaning – the crux.

• Section II – Activity #4 with the poem, Opportunity

• Shifts are the clues to meaning that students must recognize to successfully “decode” writing.

• Participants should brainstorm ways that shifts occur – for instance, changes in sound is a helpful beginning.

• Using the list of terms as a guide, work at each table to find shifts in the poem and the effect produced.

Activity #5 with the poem, Richard Cory

• Listen to the Simon and Garfunkel rendition of the Richard Cory poem.

• Read the E. A, Robinson poem, Richard Cory, aloud. A second and even a third reading aloud is helpful to students unused to or afraid of poetry.

• Write out your responses to the 5-S’s of the poem on page 13 and share with your group.

Richard Cory by E.A. Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down townWe people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked;But still he fluttered pulses when he said,“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king,And admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Now that you have analyzed Richard

Cory, the significance of the narrator’s point of view should become evident. Think about how the poem/song would change if it were written from another pint of view – that of Richard Cory.

• Activity #6 – Creative Writing• Assume the character of Richard Cory

and explain what has happened from your own (his) point of view. Begin with: My name is Richard Cory and…

• Do a group read-around and select the best one to share with the whole group

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• There are 3 basic rules for Poetry or

Prose Analysis:

• All of the details within the poem must be accounted for in the interpretation – none should contradict the interpretation.

• The best interpretation is that which requires the fewest assumptions – but that allows for reasonable and logical inferences to be made from word clues.

• When you run out of supporting evidence from the poem, stop interpreting – some things may be left unknown. We cannot know why Richard Cory killed himself, just that he was distraught enough to do so.

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Activity #7 – Poetry Analysis

• Sometimes poems offer multiple challenges in analysis. Storm Warnings by Adrienne Rich (page 15) is an excellent piece for covering all points of the 5-S Strategy.

• As you begin to read, underline the first and last sentences and skim in between to get the main idea.

• Then read the poem more carefully before you go on to answer all of the questions at the end.

• When finished, discuss your findings at your table.• Discuss specific supporting quotations that back up

your assertions.• After the table discussion, each table will be

assigned at least one question for an open forum discussion, depending upon the number of participants.

• Select a recorder to note and explain your answers to the whole group

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Section IV – Purpose: To demonstrate how the 5-

S Strategies may be applied to prose analysis

• Activity #8 – Tone • Read the excerpt from Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (page

20) and apply the 5-S Strategies for analysis by answering the 5-S questions.

• The author of this passage has created a tone of panic through the words he uses. Give examples of the diction that creates the mood of panic.

• Creative Writing Situation:• You have escaped from the plane; however, you are still

under the water. Write what happens to you next, and continue the mood of panic and terror set by the author.

• Concentrate on your use of diction and syntax to create your tone. End your composition by changing to a mood of calmness and relief.


• Section IV – Activity #9 – Prose Analysis

• Read the excerpt from A Day In the Life of a Writer by Tess Slesinger (page 23) and answer the 5-S questions.

• In this passage, packed with literary and rhetorical devices, students may conduct an analysis by using a single paragraph in isolation – this is because each one has different elements and its own unique syntax.

• Consider how the paragraphs differ from one another. Give an overall statement to describe the major characteristics each: OR…

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• When creating an “Analysis” prompt for

students to address, don’t forget – • “Analysis” comes in two varieties:

– The “What – How” type that requires the student to identify a “What”, such as the author’s attitude or purpose, or the effect of the passage upon the reader, and “How” the author achieved the “What”, such as with the rhetorical strategies of diction, syntax, imagery, personification, irony, satire, humor, punctuation, allusion, etc..

– The “Compare – Contrast” type that requires the student to read two passages and compare them for similarities and differences in such areas as noted above in the “What” and “How” discussion.


• An Example Prompt of the “What – How” sort:

• Read the excerpt from “A Day in the Life of a Writer”. Then, analyze the author’s attitude toward the subject of the passage (what) and its effect upon the reader (what). Discuss the rhetorical strategies used to achieve both (how) and (how).

5-S Strategies for Passage AnalysisStudents should begin their

paragraph or essay with a claim that broadly answers the “what” and the “how”, then go on to prove it with evidence and explain what is revealed.

Of course, students are expected to provide specific examples from the text of the poem or passage to support both the “what” and the “how” that they claim is true.

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Section IV – Activity #10 – Prose Analysis

• The following passage contains wording that connotes speed, but the syntax does not enhance the effect of diction.

• Think of some syntactical tools you could use – i.e., punctuation, repetition, or clauses and phrases linked together in different patterns and orders.

• Then experiment with syntax to create a fast pace, so the reader feels the rush of the wind and the racing vehicle. Change any diction that you feel would add to the pacing.

• Share your ideas with your table group and choose one sample to read aloud to the whole group.

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Around the bend sped the yellow

racecar. Sparks darted from the wheels. The car tilted slightly at the bend. Roaring was everywhere. The driver felt the whoosh of wind flatten the skin on her face. She navigated yet another hairpin turn and kept on zooming around the track. The wheels appeared to hover above the ground. The crowd soon became dizzy with motion.


• Section V – Purpose: • To demonstrate the use of the 5-S

Evaluation Form to assess the student’s skill in using the Analysis Strategies

• To explore the merits of partner-pair peer correction.


• Section V – Activity #10 – Assessment• Hypothetical Student Response using the 5-S

Strategies in response to the Hatchet excerpt

• Key Sentences – In the first two sentences – a person begins to chop at the limb of a tree with a sense of purpose. In the middle part-- the young man hears a plane in the distance and it seems to be coming for him. In the final two sentences – the person is running in a panic to be seen by the pilot.

• Speaker – the passage is told from the third person point of view, omniscient narrator. The person being described is contented as he works and then is in a panic after hearing the plane in the distance.

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Situation – A young man attempts to

make a bow for himself when he hears the sound of a plane engine; the sound causes him to believe he may be rescued and so he frantically runs back to his camp in order to signal the pilot.

• Shifts – There is a shift from the mood of tranquility to one of chaos with the words “and he knew it then.” Immediately following those words, a sense of panic begins as a young man runs toward his camp. The major shift occurs with the fragment, “A plane!”

•

5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis• Syntax – The sentences in the first two

paragraphs are written in natural order, making statements about what is happening. Paragraph 3 uses many figures of speech, “whine” and “roar”, onomatopoeia, “a persistent whine, like insects”, and simile. Paragraph 3 also uses much repetition of the word “and”, building on what the young man is doing while contrasting what is beginning to go on in his head as he recognizes the sound of the plane. Paragraph 4 begins with a sentence fragment, “A plane!”, and that exclamatory fragment is an epiphany for the young man, illustrating his emerging sense of excitement. Paragraph 5 reveals the young man’s sense of panic, and his tremendous desire to succeed. The shorter words used in paragraph 5 suit the rapid action that is taking place. Again, there is much repetition of the word “and”, which shows the panic the boy is feeling as he moves quickly to reach his camp.

5-S Strategies for Passage AnalysisExcellent Good Needs Work

Sentences -accurate forecast

-examples

Speaker -accurate forecast

-pt of view effect

Situation -accurate

-connect to title

Shifts -examples

-thorough

-devices

Syntax -examples

-discussion

-connection

Crux -main message

Documents

Pre-AP English: The 5-S Strategies for Passage Analysis Author: Connie Shelnut Modified for G10 ACC class, SMIC