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Text Analysis Writing Fundamentals

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Text Analysis Writing Fundamentals

Read the short story extract carefully. Then answer each question, using details from the extract where asked.

What does text analysis do?

1.Which statement best describes analytical writing about a text?

It retells the events in order, leaving out the writer’s choices.
It examines how a writer’s choices shape meaning and affect readers.
It explains whether the reader enjoyed the text.
It collects interesting sentences without commenting on them.

2.Select every reason that makes text analysis useful.

It helps readers notice how meaning is constructed.
It develops careful, evidence-based thinking.
It can strengthen reading and writing skills.
It guarantees that everyone will interpret a text in exactly the same way.

3.Match each analytical term with its meaning.

Thesis
Evidence
Commentary
Language feature

C. A discussion of how a detail supports the claim
A. A detail or quotation used to support an idea
B. The writer’s central claim about the text
D. A technique such as imagery, metaphor or tone

4.Complete the sentence: An analytical paragraph presents a clear about a text.

5.Complete the sentence: An analytical paragraph supports its claim with from the text.

6.Complete the sentence: After presenting a detail, an analytical paragraph gives a of how it proves the point.

7.Complete the sentence: An analytical paragraph may also discuss the writer’s choices.

Read and analyse

Read this original story extract. The questions that follow refer to this passage.

Mara reached the platform just as the evening mist rolled in from the bay. The station clock had stopped at six, its hands fixed like a pair of tired arms. Beyond the fence, the sea worried at the rocks. A single lamp flickered overhead, spilling a thin puddle of gold across the empty boards. Mara listened. Somewhere down the line, metal gave a faint, hollow sigh. She tightened her grip on the letter in her pocket and waited.

8.Select every language feature used in the extract.

Simile: “like a pair of tired arms”
Personification: “the sea worried at the rocks”
Metaphor: “a thin puddle of gold”
Rhyme: repeated end sounds in every sentence

9.Write a thesis explaining how the writer builds atmosphere in “The Last Train”.

10.Choose one brief quotation from the extract that could support your thesis about its atmosphere.

11.Explain how one detail from the extract supports your idea about its atmosphere.

Put your understanding into practice

12.In your own words, describe the purpose of analytical writing about a text.

13.Which option best distinguishes a summary from an analysis?

A summary describes key events; an analysis examines how the writer creates meaning.
A summary gives opinions; an analysis retells events without evidence.
A summary uses quotations; an analysis never refers to the text.
There is no meaningful difference between the two.

14.Name three language features an author might use to shape meaning.

15.Write one analytical sentence about the atmosphere in “The Last Train”. Include a claim, a quotation as evidence, and a comment on the writer’s choice.