Layering your Literature Analysis

W
ca ith
ke
!
When writing a literature essay, you may want to try
and develop your response by layering. This
technique ensures that your analysis is developed
and detailed. Rather than analysing one element of
the evidence, try adding another layer…or 2!

1 layer 2 layers 3 layers

Analyse one thing Analyse two things Analyse three things

Example based on Ted Hughes’ ‘Wind’

Quotation: ‘Floundering black astride and blinding wet’

1
Personification
The scene outside is
hopeless and the
environment
struggles under the
effects of the storm.
3
Enjambment
Alliteration – plosives Suggests the strength
Builds an atmosphere of and power of the wind as
tension and danger it cannot be contained in
one stanza – it’s power
2 flows on and increases in
energy.

Top tips!
1. Ensure there is a lot you can say about the quotation – make
good choices.
2. Start with the most obvious technique or the one you feel you
can say the most about – usually imagery.
3. See if you can identify an aspect of form or structure to analyse
next. You can choose two here or move to top tip 4.
4. Zoom in on a word and analyse the connotations.
5. Think about how all of these layers work together to create
meaning in the quotation. This will help when you write up your
paragraph.

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 Layering your Literature Analysis W
ca ith
ke
!
Now you try! Copy out a quotation from a play, novel or poem. Identify
3 things you can say about it. What can you comment on?
Technique? Device? Word choice?

Then try to analyse the effect of each. Once you are happy with your
analysis, see if you can write this up as an analytical paragraph. Don’t
forget to use connectives to link each layer!

My Example: _____________________________________________________________

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1 layer 2 layers 3 layers

Analyse one thing Analyse two things Analyse three things

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