COMMON ERRORS IN TEXT ANALYSIS

1. FEATURE SPOTTING:
MERELY IDENTIFYING A FIGURE OF SPEECH OR A
LITERARY DEVICE.

EX: 1 - THE AUTHOR USES A METAPHOR “SHE IS AN

ANGEL”.

EX: 2 - HE ALSO USES A SIMILE “ HER EYES ARE LIKE

THE SEA”

EX: 3 - IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH A HYPERBOLE “THE

IMPOSSIBE TASK” IS USED.
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD?

INSTEAD OF MERELY IDENTIFYING THEM, ANALYSE THEM IN DETAIL

USING THE PEE METHOD ie.

POINT: IDENTIFY WHAT LANGUAGE DEVICE THE AUTHOR HAS USED.

EXAMPLE: QUOTE FROM THE TEXT. (SHORT QUOTES ONLY)

EFFECT:EXPLAIN PRECISELY WHAT EFFECT THE AUTHOR WANTED TO

HAVE ON HIS AUDIENCE. MUST CONNECT INDIVIDUAL WORDS TO
THE AUDIENCE, TONE, PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE OF THE ENTIRE
TEXT.

**REFER SAMPLE TEXT ANALYSIS OF FREDERICK DOUGLAS

2. DESCRIBING EFFECTS IMPRECISELY:
USEING LANGUAGE TO GIVE VAGUE EXPLANATION.

EX:1 - THE AUTHOR USES VIVID IMAGERY (COLOURFUL UMBRELLAS, THE SOUND
OF RAIN PATTERING ON THE ROOF) TO HELP THE READER IMAGINE THE SCENE IN
HIS MIND. (INCORRECT ANALYSIS)

EX:2 – THE AUTHOR USES THE LIST OF THREE, DESCRIBING THE COMPUTER AS
“RELIABLE, DURABLE AND ACCURATE” TO EMPHASIZE HIS POINT. (WHAT POINT?)

EX:3 – THIS GIVES THE READER THE IMPRESSION OF WHAT IS GOING ON. (WHAT
EXACTLY?)

EX:4 – THE AUTHOR USES REPETITION “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER” TO MAKE THE
WORDS STICK IN THE READER’S MIND. (WHAT?)
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD:

BE AS PRECISE AS POSSIBLE.
** IF YOUR EFFECT CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY OTHER USE OF THE
SAME LANGUAGE DEVICE, IT IS BEING DONE WRONGLY.
(FLASHBACK)

TRY TO EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHY THE AUTHOR CHOSE TO USE

THOSE PRECISE WORDS. WHAT EXACT FEELING DID HE WANT THE
READER TO FEEL. IF YOU ARE STUCK, BE INNOVATIVE AND TRY TO
MODIFY THE VERY GENERIC EFFECTS.

EX: 1 – “THE AUTHOR USES VIVID IMAGERY … SCENE IN HIS

MIND”
… EX: 1 – THE AUTHOR USES VIVID IMAGERY (COLOURFUL
UMBRELLAS, THE SOUND OF RAIN PATTERING ON THE ROOF) TO
HELP THE READER IMAGINE THE SCENE IN HIS MIND.
THIS IS A BAD EXAMPLE.

EVEN THE SIMPLE NOTION OF RAIN CAN BRING TO MIND VERY

DIFFERENT IDEAS – SAD REFRESHING,DEPRESSING, MELANCHOLIC,
SOOTHING, PURIFYING, OVERWHELMING.

WHICH OF THESE WILL BE EVOKED DEPENDS ON PRECISE WORDS

THE AUTHOR HAS USED, TO DESCRIBE THE RAIN.

INSTEAD OF SAYING, THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO CREATE AN IMAGE IN

THE READER’S MIND, TRY TO DESCRIBE WHAT THAT IMAGE IS AND
WHAT FEELING IT CONVEYS.
3. NOT USING THE CORRECT LINGUISTIC TERMINOLOGY

* ALL WORD CLASSES (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, PREPOSITION, PRONOUN, CONJUNCTIONS,

INTERJECTION, DETERMINER…)

* SENTENCE TYPES (IMPERATIVE, DECLARATIVE, EXCLAMATORY, INTERROGATIVE)

* SENTENCE STRUCTURES (SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX, COMPOUND-COMPLEX)

* FIGURES OF SPEECH (SIMILE, METAPHOR, SYNECDOCHE, ANAPHORA, ALLUSION…)

*LITERARY DEVICES (REPETITION, DIALOGUE, FLASHBACK, FIGURES OF SPEECH, ARCHETYPE)

* PERSUASIVE DEVICES (MODAL VERBS, EMOTIVE LANGUAGE, ANECDOTES, FACTS, STATISTICAL

DATA, ALLITERATION, ASSONANCE, REPETITION…)

HAVE PRECISE FUNCTIONS AND USES. THE STUDENT MUST PROVE TO THE EXAMINER THAT HE
/SHE HAS THE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TO HANDLE TEXT ANALYSIS AT THE AS LEVEL.
HENCE, AVOID VAGUE FORMULATIONS -

EX: “THE AUTHOR USES THE WORDS ‘FILTHY’, ‘DISGUSTING’, AND

‘RAGGED’ TO DESCRIBE THE APPALLING CONDITIONS IN WHICH PEOPLE
LIVED AT THE TIME.

INSTEAD BE PRECISE AND SAY: “THE AUTHOR USES THE ADJECTIVES

‘FILTHY’, ‘DISGUSTING’, AND ‘RAGGED’ TO DESCRIBE THE APPALLING
CONDITIONS IN WHICH PEOPLE LIVED AT THE TIME.
4. USING LONG QUOTES: QUOTING ENTIRE SENTENCES/
PARAGRAPHS IS WRONG.

EX: FREDRICK DOUGLASS’ SPEECH “IN THE DEEP STILL DARKNESS

OF MIDNIGHT,…PASSED OUR DOOR” THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO
EVOKE FEELINGS OF ANGUISH AND TERROR THAT THESE
HORRIFYING SOUNDS AWAKEN IN HIS YOUNG MIND.

INSTEAD BY USING SHORT QUOTES, IT CAN BE EXPRESSED AS:

THE AUTHOR USES IMAGERY, MORE SPECIFICALLY THE SENSE OF

SOUND, TO CONVEY THE HORROR HE FELT AS A YOUNG BOY,
WHEN LISTENING TO THE PASSING OF CHAINED SLAVES OUTSIDE
HIS DOOR.
HE FIRST USES ADJECTIVES “DEEP” AND “STILL” TO SHOW THE INITIAL
CALM STATE OF HIS MIND. THE PEACE IS THEN VIOLENTLY INTERRUPTED
WITH “DEAD HEAVY FOOTSTEPS”. BY USING THE ADJECTIVE “DEAD” TO
DENOTE THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS, THE AUTHOR EVOKES IMAGES OF
DEATH AND LOSS. THE SUBSEQUENT USE OF THE NOUN PHRASE “PITEOUS
CRIES” FURTHER INTENSIFIES THE FEELING OF HORROR AND
HELPLESSNESS.

SHORTER QUOTES HONING IN ON INDIVIDUAL WORDS AND PHRASES

ENABLES ONE TO DISSECT THE MEANING OF THOSE INDIVIDUAL WORDS
THOROUGHLY AND ANALYZE WHAT THEIR INTENDED EFFECTS ARE.