Q3 Structure

Q3 Structure

1. Structural devices: Setting, Time, Opening, Perspective, Shifts, Ending & Character

2. There will always be a shift in mood/tone/atmosphere – aim to spot that and discuss why it happens.

3. Write the order of events down the side of the extract so you can track the shifts and changes in focus.

4. Remember, when the question asks you about ‘structure’. It’s actually asking you about how the text is organised and why the writer might have made those choices.

5. The order that information is given or characters are introduced

   • Any shifts in focus or perspective – does this make the reader think or feel certain things?
     • Effective openings or closings (look at the first and last few lines and think about the impact that they have on the reader).
       • Narrative voice (is it 1st, 3rd, dual, omniscient etc. and why is this the case?).
         • Narrative structure (is is non-linear, circular, epistolary etc. and why is this the case?).
           • Repetition of sentence types, pronouns or types of words throughout the whole text – do these help to build a certain mood?

6. Be careful not to start analysing individual words or phrases as this is for question two!

7. You need to read the WHOLE text and analyse how it’s organised – ‘what happens where and why?’