Assignment A Skills: Language and Structure Analysis (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A)

Assignment A Skills: Language and Structure Analysis

For Assignment A you are asked to complete one 30-mark essay based on any three poetry or prose texts from Part 2 of the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE English Anthology. At least one poetry text and one prose text must be discussed in the assignment.

Remember, you are being assessed on your ability to:

• Read and understand three texts from Part 2 of the anthology, selecting and interpreting information, ideas and perspectives (AO1)

• Understand and analyse how writers use linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects in these three texts (AO2)

The following guide is broken down into:

• Analysing a poem

• Analysing prose

You can find text-specific analysis for the texts in Part 2 of the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE English Anthology in our course-specific revision notes and more detailed information about analysing poetry here and analysing prose here.

Analysing a poem

Poetry presents its readers images that are not always realistic, and which need to be interpreted. It is important to remember that the choices a writer has made in terms of how the poem is set out and the language they have used are all deliberate — a poem is a crafted piece of work. It is therefore useful to consider not only the language choices a writer has made, but also what decisions they have taken in terms of structure and form.

Form

The form of the poem can be thought of as its  “genre”. Poetry itself is a form of text, as are prose and drama. Within the form of poetry, there are many sub-forms. Some of the main forms of poetry are detailed below:

When writing about form in poetry, it is important to consider why the poet has chosen that particular form, and especially if they have altered the rules of that particular form and why. It is also useful to consider how the form reflects the themes of the poem.

Structure

The structure of a poem refers to how the poem has been put together in its particular form. The choices a poet can make in terms of how to structure their poem includes:

• Stanza length

• The use of repetition and refrains

• A circular structure

• The use of particular types of punctuation, such as:

  • caesura, or

  • a lack of punctuation at the end of a line, called enjambment

Structure also includes rhyme scheme and changes in line length. The poet’s choices regarding structure can affect a poem’s meaning or message.

Language

When analysing language in a poem, you need to consider the specific choices of words and phrases the writer has used, as well as the imagery they have created and the language techniques they have used, all of which contribute to the themes and meanings in the poem.

The following table provides you with a list of some terms and definitions to use when analysing individual words and phrases:

Once you are able to identify particular words and phrases within a text, you need to develop this skill further by considering why the writer has chosen to include these within their writing. 

Rеmеmbеr thе goal of analysing words and phrasеs is to uncovеr layеrs of mеaning,  understand thе writer’s intent and explore how languagе contributes to the ovеrall impact of thе poem. 

Language features 

It is important that you are familiar with key literary terms to support your analysis of the poem. While the examiner will expect you to use relevant subject terminology to support your views, this does not mean that you will secure more marks for demonstrating a wide understanding of literary terms. It is much more important that you clearly articulate the intended effects of any terms that you use.

Meanings and ideas

A sensitive and personal response to a poem comes from reading the poem closely and knowing the poem thoroughly. You should think critically about meanings and interpretations, and use quotations and references to support your response.

You should begin your analysis of the given poem with an exploration of the poet’s meaning and ideas, rather than the methods they have used. This will automatically mean that you are developing a personal response to the poem, rather than just “spotting” the techniques a poet has used. It is also a good idea to consider how the poem’s title helps you understand its content. Then, depending on the focus of the question, find the evidence that supports your understanding and interpretation of the poem.

Ideas and themes, not methods

• Examiners warn against structuring your analysis based on the poet’s methods:

  • They do not reward well when students identify a poet’s method first, and then analyse what it means

  • For example, spotting that a poem includes sibilance, or caesura, and then attempting to say something relevant about that method

  • Often, this won’t work because students will fail to identify a convincing link between the method and the theme of the question

• Instead, examiners suggest students focus their responses on meaning and ideas, and use the poet’s methods as a means of illustrating meaning:

  • So your argument should start with the poet’s overarching ideas in terms of the question, and then find evidence from the poem that illustrates these ideas

  • For example, if the question is about how the poet conveys ideas about marriage, you would not start a point like this:

    • “The poet uses caesura in line 13. This caesura could show how…”❌

  • But instead, like this:

    • “The poet presents marriage as something challenging, which requires mutual respect. The poet shows this when…”✅

Tone

Another way to understand the meaning and ideas of a poem is to consider its tone.

• In poetry, tone is the “mood” of a poem:

• This could be the mood that:

  • A speaker expresses in a poem

  • A poet has towards their speaker

  • The poet creates in terms of the setting of the poem

  • The poet creates in terms of the poem’s subject matter

• The tone of a poem reflects its ideas and meaning:

  • It is therefore something you should consider when thinking about how a poet expresses their ideas and meaning

• Because a poem’s mood is created by the poet’s language, pace and rhythm, symbolism and grammar, it works perfectly as evidence in your essay:

  • So think: what is the tone the poet is trying to convey in their poem?

  • And how — via their choices — do they create this effect?

• Another sophisticated way to explore ideas and meanings presented by a poet is to consider whether the tone of a poem changes:

  • Think: why has the poet created this tonal shift?

  • And how — via their poetic choices — do they create this shift?

  • This also enables you to say something relevant about structure

• So think first about why a poet has created a certain tone, and what its effect is, before thinking about what methods they have used to create it:

  • For example, you would not start a point like this:

    • “The poet uses imagery in line 1. This creates a tone of …”❌

  • But instead:

    • “Macrae explores ideas about being contented within your own self through her use of metaphor, “while inside his heart was fat with sun”, which suggests Harry’s life is one that is filled to the brim with joy and pleasure, which…”✅

Perspective and tense

Considering perspective is another sophisticated way to explore a poet’s intention and messages:

• Perspective in poetry is the point of view from which the poem is being told:

  • It could be narrated in the first person (using the pronoun “I”)

  • It could be narrated in the third person (“he”; “she”; “they”, etc.)

• Poems often also contain a persona:

  • A persona, or speaker, is the invented character through which the poem is narrated

• Remember, the persona of a poem is not the same as the poet themselves, and this separation allows poets to explore ideas with more nuance and subtlety

• Poets often create a fictional narrator (a persona) when writing in the first person

• Sometimes, writing in the first person can give a poem more immediacy

• Perspective is therefore a very deliberate choice made by the poet in order to better get across their ideas and message:

  • As such, it counts as a writer’s method

  • Just like tone above, it is directly linked to a writer’s intention, and so serves as excellent evidence for a poet’s meaning and ideas

• Considering the tense of the poem also contributes to the speaker’s perspective

• Different tenses will create a different tone and perspective, and the poet will have made a deliberate choice over which tense they are using and why:

  • For example, is the speaker looking back (past tense), speaking about now (present tense) or looking forward (future tense)?

How to quote from the poem in your essay

• The ability to support your interpretation means selecting relevant quotations from the poem

• However, it is the skill of precisely unpicking and selecting textual references, rather than using quotations, that’s important

• Therefore, references don’t always need to be direct quotations:

  • They can be references to things that happen in the poem 

  • They can be references to the choices and methods the poet uses (“this idea is expressed when the poet uses first-person narration/a tonal shift/symbolism relating to X in order to…”)

• Examiners repeatedly stress that textual references are just as valuable as direct quotations:

  • The most important thing is that these references are directly related to the ideas and themes you are exploring in your essay, and provide evidence to prove your thesis

• When using direct quotations, you should aim to select 6–7 relevant quotations that contain a range of language and/or structure devices that you can comment upon and analyse:

  • A high-level response will incorporate these quotations into the explanations of meaning

  • Your quotations should also be embedded into your sentences, rather than separate. For example:

    • “The poet explores how power does not last by stating that ‘Nothing beside remains’, which tells us that there is nothing left of this once-powerful ruler except a broken statue standing in the middle of a vast desert” ✅

  • Rather than:

    • “The poet explores how power does not last. This is shown in the quote ‘Nothing beside remains’. This shows…” ❌

Analysing prose

Analysing a piece of prose involves not just looking at the language the writer has used. You might also wish to consider:

What to do when analysing the author’s methods

• Take a whole-text approach:

  • In this question, this could involve commenting on structure: “at the start”/“this changes when”/“in contrast…“

• Always frame your essay with the author in mind:

  • As the examiners say: “writers use methods, including language and structure, to form and express their ideas — the choices the writer makes are conscious and deliberate”

  • Therefore, write that the author “highlights X”, “suggests Y”, “challenges Z”

  • Use the words “so” and “because” to push you to explain your own ideas further

• Zoom out to big ideas in your analysis:

  • Go from analysing language, or other writer’s choices, to the author’s overall intention or message

  • This should always link to the focus of the question

What not to do when analysing the author’s methods

• Do not just “spot techniques”:

  • Examiners dislike it when students use overly sophisticated terminology unnecessarily and without analysis

  • Knowing the names of sophisticated techniques will not gain you any more marks, especially if these techniques are only “spotted” and the author’s intentions for this language are not explained

  • Instead of technique spotting, focus your analysis on the reasons why the author is presenting the character or theme the way they are

• Do not just limit your analysis to a close reading of the author’s use of language:

  • You gain marks for explaining all of the author’s choices, not just their language

  • Instead, take a whole-text approach and think about the author’s decisions about:

    • Form

    • Structure

    • Characterisation

    • Setting

• Never retell the story:

  • “Narrative” and “descriptive” answers get the lowest marks

  • Move from what the author is presenting to how and why they have made the choices they have

Perspective

The narrative perspective of a piece of prose is the point of view from which the story is told. It is like a lens through which we view characters and events; we interpret those characters and events based on what the speaker shows and tells us.

There are two main types of narrative perspective:

When considering the narrative perspective, ask yourself if the perspective shifts, or how the perspective affects your understanding of the story.

Characterisation

It is important to remember that characters are constructs, not real people. You should therefore consider what each character’s function is in the text, how they are presented, how they develop and how they interact with each other. Some characters may also be “foil” characters — this means any two characters who are opposites of each other. For example, Harry Potter and Voldemort are foils of each other: they embody the idea of good versus evil. Foil characters therefore help establish important themes.

There are two main types of characterisation:

Often, characters are symbolic of broader ideas or attitudes. It is therefore important to consider how a character changes as a result of the events in a novel.

Structure

When considering structure, you should think about:

• The way the writer has put the different parts of the story together

• How they set up the world of the story

• How they introduce characters

• What conflicts there are and how they are resolved

• The role of individual chapters or paragraphs in the story arc

• How things change by the end of the story