English analysis terms

• Narrative perspective – The perspective from which the story is told. This might be a third or first person narrative perspective.
• First person narrative perspective – A story told from the point of view of ‘I’
• Third person narrative perspective – A story told from the point of view of ‘he’ or ‘she.’
• Parallel structure – for example, if we see things from the perspective of two characters
• Shifts in focus – The change between, for example, focusing on a particular character to the setting and back again.
• Narrowing the focus to one character or object
• Cyclical structure – is there a detail or character who is mentioned at the start and at the end of an extract
• Cumulative effect of details building up towards a climax.
• Shifts between narrative and dialogue and effect

  Links between the external actions and internal thoughts of a character
• Chronological Sequence – The story happens in real time.
• Non-chronological Sequence – The story might include a series of flashbacks to the past as well as what is happening in the present.
• Flashback – When an event that happened in the past is included
• Foreshadowing – When something in the text gives the reader a clue about something that will happen later.
• Foreboding – Implying that something bad will happen later. E.g the references to darkness create a sense of ominous foreboding.
• Recurring imagery – Any metaphors or other images that are mentioned several times in the text and that contribute to the overall meaning of the text as a whole.
• foregrouding: something which is mentioned early in the text that becomes more important later in the text