How to analyze a story. Compositional principles and elements


Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” contemporaries perceived it ambiguously. Some considered him an “abomination,” others considered him a “charm.” This is due to the complex composition, attempts to hide the main idea behind dreams main character And love triangle and, finally, with the peculiarities of linguistic design. However, the novel had a serious influence on Russian society XIX century. Schoolchildren study it in 10th grade. We offer brief analysis the work “What to do?”, which will help you prepare qualitatively for lessons and for the Unified State Exam.

Brief Analysis

History of creation- N. Chernyshevsky created a novel when he was in Peter and Paul Fortress. The writer was arrested for radical ideas. The work was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Evgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.

Subject– In the work, two main themes can be distinguished - love and life in a new society built on the basis of the laws of labor and equality.

Composition- The structure of the work has its own peculiarities. The through lines of the novel are the life of Vera Pavlovna, the fates of Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Love twists and turns play a major role in these storylines. Vera Pavlovna’s dreams are closely intertwined with reality. With the help of them, the author encrypted socio-political motives.

Genre– A novel in which one can notice the features of several genre varieties - a utopian novel, socio-political, love and philosophical novels.

Direction– Realism.

History of creation

The writer worked on the analyzed work for several months: from December 1862 to April 1863. At that time he was under arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress. He was imprisoned for his radical views. The novel was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Yevgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.

While working on the novel, N. Chernyshevsky understood that censorship would not allow it to be published if it noticed an acute political subtext. To deceive the regulatory authorities, the writer resorted to artistic techniques: framed social motives with a love context, introduced dreams into the plot. He managed to publish his work in Sovremennik, but soon the authorities prohibited not only distributing the novel, but even imitating it. Permission was granted to publish Chernyshevsky’s work “What is to be done?” only in 1905

Subject

The novel displays motifs characteristic of Russian literature of the 19th century century. The writer implemented them in an extraordinary, intricate plot. He presented situations that should push the reader to independent conclusions.

N. Chernyshevsky revealed several topics, among which the following stand out: love, which is nourished by common interests and mutual respect; dreams of a new life. These topics are closely intertwined and determine Problems“What to do?”: marriage without love, friendship, equality of men and women, the role of work in human life.

A significant part of the novel is devoted to the life of Vera Pavlovna. The heroine's mother wanted to marry her to a rich man. She considered the owner's son to be a profitable match. The mother did not even think that he was a womanizer with whom her daughter would not find happiness. Verochka was saved from an unsuccessful marriage by medical student Dmitry Lopukhov. A tender feeling arose between the young people and they got married. Vera became the owner of a sewing workshop. However, she did not use hired labor. The heroine made the girls who worked for her co-owners, and they shared the income equally. In the story about Vera Pavlovna’s workshop, the author embodied the idea of ​​equal labor.

The marriage with Lopukhov soon broke up: Verochka fell in love with her husband’s friend, Kirsanov. To untie the love knot, Lopukhov decided to shoot himself. It turns out that he left the note discussed at the beginning of the novel. In the message, he stated that no one was to blame for his death, and Vera Pavlovna calmly married Kirsanov.

The married couple lived happily. Vera Pavlovna was passionate about her favorite activity - sewing workshops; she began to study medicine, and her husband helped her in every possible way. In the descriptions family life These people manifest the idea of ​​equality between men and women. At the end of the novel we learn that Lopukhov is alive. Now he took the surname Beaumont and married Ekaterina Vasilievna Polozova. The Kirsanov and Beaumont families begin to become friends and spread the ideas of a “new” life.

Composition

In “What to do?” the analysis should be supplemented with a characterization of the composition. Features of the formal and semantic organization of the text allow the author to reveal several topics and veil forbidden motives. At first sight, main role love twists and turns play in the novel. In fact, they are a mask that hides socio-political problems. For disclosure latest author used a description of Vera Pavlovna’s dreams.

The components of the plot are placed inconsistently: the author presents the event from the development of actions before the exposition, and only then plot elements line up in logical chain. Both at the beginning and at the end of the novel the image of Lopukhov appears. This creates a kind of frame.

Main characters

Genre

The genre of the work is a novel, since it has several plot lines, and central problem remains open. The work is characterized by genre syncretism: it intertwines the features of love, philosophical, socio-political novels and utopia. The direction of the work is realism.

The analysis of any work begins with perception - the reader, listener, viewer. If considered literary essay, then it is opposed, rather, to other ideologies than to other arts. The word as such is a means not only of literature, but also of human language in general. Thus, the main analytical load falls on identifying the criteria of artistry. Analysis of a work is, first of all, drawing boundaries between artistic creation and product human activity in general, be it literature or any other art.

Planning

Analysis work of art requires a distinction between its form and ideological content. Ideological content is, first of all, thematic and problematic. Then - pathos, that is, the artist’s emotional attitude towards what is depicted: tragedy, heroism, drama, humor and satire, sentimentality or romance.

Artistry lies in the details of the subject representation, in the sequence and interaction of the internal and external activities of the depicted in time and space. And also the analysis of a work of art requires accuracy in lighting compositional development. This includes observing the development in the order, methods, motivations of the narration or description of what is depicted, in stylistic details.

Circuits for analysis

First of all, the history of the creation of this work is considered, its themes and issues, ideological direction and emotional pathos. Then the genre is explored in its traditionality and originality, as well as these artistic images in all their internal connections. Analysis of a work brings discussion to the fore and characterizes all central characters, while clarifying storylines in the features of conflict construction.

Next, landscapes and portraits, monologues and dialogues, the interior and setting of the action are characterized. In this case, you must pay attention to the verbal structure: analysis literary work requires consideration of the author's descriptions, narratives, digressions, and reasoning. That is, speech becomes the subject of study.

Details

During the analysis, both the composition of the work and the characteristics of individual images, as well as the general architectonics, are necessarily recognized. Finally, the place is indicated of this essay in the artist’s work and his significance in the domestic and world treasury of art. This is especially important if the works of Lermontov, Pushkin and other classics are analyzed.

It is necessary to convey information about the main problems of the era and clarify the creator’s attitude towards them. Point by point, identify the traditional and innovative elements in the author’s work: what are the ideas, themes and issues, what are the creative method, style, genre. It is very useful to study the attitude towards this creation leading critics. Thus, Belinsky produced an almost exhaustive analysis of Pushkin’s works.

Character Characteristics Plan

In the introduction, it is necessary to determine the character’s place in the general system of images of this work. main part includes, first of all, its characteristics and indication social type, material and social status. Discussed in detail appearance and no less thoroughly - his worldview, worldview, range of interests, habits, inclinations.

Mandatory research into the nature of the character’s activities and main aspirations greatly contributes to the full disclosure of the character. Its influence on the world- all types of influence.

The next stage is the analysis of the hero of the work in the field of feelings. That is, how he relates to others, his inner experiences. The author's attitude towards this character is also analyzed. How is personality revealed in the work? Was the characterization given by the author himself directly, or did he do it with the help of a portrait, backstory, through other characters, through the actions of the subject or his speech characteristics, using the environment or neighbors. The analysis of the work ends with an identification of the problem in society that led the artist to create just such an image. Getting to know the character will turn out to be quite close and informative if the journey through the text is interesting.

Analysis of a lyric work

You should start with the date of writing, then give a biographical comment. Identify the genre and note its originality. Next, it is advisable to consider in as much detail as possible ideological content: identify the leading theme and convey the main idea of ​​the work.

Feelings and them emotional coloring expressed in a poem, whether dynamics dominates in it or statics - all this constitutes the most important part that the analysis of a literary work should contain.

It is important to pay attention to the impression of the poem and analyze the internal reaction. Note the predominance of public or personal intonations in the work.

Professional details

Further, the analysis of the lyrical work enters the sphere of professional details: the structure is specifically considered verbal images, their comparison, and then development. What path did the author choose for comparison and development - by contrast or by similarity, by association, by contiguity or by inference.

Visual means are examined in detail: metonymy, metaphor, allegory, comparison, hyperbole, symbol, sarcasm, periphrasis, and so on. It is especially necessary to identify the presence of intonational-syntactic figures, such as anaphors, antitheses, epithets, inversions, rhetorical questions, appeals and exclamations.

An analysis of the works of Lermontov, Pushkin, and any other poet is impossible without characterizing the main rhythmic features. It is necessary to indicate first of all what exactly the author used: tonic, syllabic, syllabic-tonic, dolnik or free verse. Then determine the size: iambic, trochee, peon, dactyl, anapest, amphibrachium, pyrrhicham or spondee. The method of rhyming and stanza is considered.

Scheme of analysis of a work of painting

First, the author and title of the painting, the place and time of its creation, the history and embodiment of the idea are indicated. The reasons for choosing the model are considered. The style and direction of this work are indicated. The type of painting is determined: easel or monumental, fresco, tempera or mosaic.

The choice of material is explained: oil, watercolor, ink, gouache, pastel - and whether it is characteristic of the artist. Analysis of a work of art also involves determining the genre: portrait, landscape, history painting, still life, panorama or diorama, marina, iconography, everyday genre or mythological. It should also be noted that it is characteristic of the artist. Convey a pictorial plot or symbolic content, if observed.

Analysis scheme: sculpture

Just as the analysis of a work of painting involves, for a sculpture the author and title, time of creation, place, history of the idea and its implementation are first indicated. Style and direction are indicated.

Now you need to determine the type of sculpture: round, monumental or small plastic, relief or its varieties (bas-relief or high relief), herm or sculptural portrait and so on.

The choice of model is described - it is a person, an animal or its existing in reality. allegorical image. Or maybe the work is completely the imagination of the sculptor.

For a complete analysis, it is necessary to determine whether the sculpture is an element of architecture, or whether it is free-standing. Then consider the author’s choice of material and what determines it. It is marble, granite, bronze, wood or clay. Reveal national characteristics work and, finally, convey personal attitude and perception. The analysis of the sculptor's work is completed. Architectural objects are considered in a similar way.

Analysis of a piece of music

Musical art has specific means to reveal life phenomena. Here the connections between figurative meaning music and its structure, as well as the means used by the composer. These special features expressiveness and is intended to indicate analysis piece of music. Moreover, it should itself become a means for the development of aesthetic and ethical qualities of the individual.

First you need to find out musical content, ideas and concepts of the work. And also its role in the education of sensory cognition full picture peace. Then you need to determine which means of expression musical language formed the semantic content of the work, what intonation discoveries the composer used.

How to do a qualitative analysis

Here is a partial list of questions that must be answered qualitative analysis piece of music:

  • What is this music about?
  • What name can you give it? (If the essay is not programmatic.)
  • Are there heroes in the work? What are they?
  • Does this music have action? Where do conflicts occur?
  • How do climaxes manifest themselves? Do they grow from peak to peak?
  • How did the composer explain all this to us? (Timbres, tempos, dynamics, etc. - that is, the nature of the work and the means of creating this character.)
  • What impression does this music make, what mood does it convey?
  • How does the listener feel?

Comprehensive text analysis plan

(grades 9-11)






7. Determine the topic of the text.





14. Observe the vocabulary of the text:
Find strangers or unclear words and set their meanings using the dictionary. Pay attention to the spelling of these words.
Find keywords in each part of the text. Are people determined by their choice?
Observe various repetitions (anaphors, epiphoras, lexical repetitions, repetitions of cognate words). What are they due to?
Find lexical and contextual synonyms and/or antonyms in the text.
Find paraphrases. For what purposes are they used? K Find ambiguous words and words used in the text in a figurative meaning.
pay attention to style affiliation vocabulary, the use of archaisms, historicisms, neologisms of terms; into evaluative words, colloquial, vernacular or, conversely, the elephant of a sublime style. Why did the author use them? V Select phraseological units. Why are they used?
Pay attention to the means artistic expression and figures of speech, if they are used by the author (epithets, metaphors). (9-11 CL.)
1. Read the text. When reading, use intonation underlining, highlighting both individual words and semantic segments.
2. Remember what you know about its author. (When did he live, in what era? To what literary direction belonged? What is he famous for?) If you don’t know, try to find out from reference books.
3. Which one? functional style Does the text belong to speech? (For artistic, journalistic, scientific/popular science.)
4. What type of speech is the text? (Description, narration, reasoning.)
5. What genre does the text belong to (an episode of a work of fiction, an essay, a memoir, a parable, a legend, a prose poem, etc.)?
6. What mood prevails in the text?
7. Determine the topic of the text.
8. If the text does not have a title, title it. If there is already a title, think about its meaning (why the author chose this title).
9. Divide the text into semantic parts, make a text plan for yourself.
10. How are parts of the text connected? Pay attention to lexical and syntactic means of communication (repeated words, syntactic parallels or, conversely, a sharp change in syntactic structures and intonation, word order in sentences).
11. How do the beginning and end of the text relate?
12. What technique/techniques is the text based on (comparison, contrast; gradual intensification of feelings, gradual development thoughts; fast change of events, dynamism; leisurely contemplation, etc.)?
13. Mark the main images of the text (don’t forget about the image of the author).
14. Observe the vocabulary of the text:

  • Find unfamiliar or unclear words and find out their meanings using a dictionary. Pay attention to the spelling of these words.
  • Find keywords in each part of the text. Are people determined by their choice?
  • Observe various repetitions (anaphors, epiphoras, lexical repetitions, repetitions of cognate words). What are they due to?
  • Find lexical and contextual synonyms and/or antonyms in the text.
  • Find paraphrases. For what purposes are they used?
  • Find polysemantic words and words used in the text in a figurative sense.
  • Pay attention to the style of the vocabulary, the use of archaisms, historicisms, neologisms of terms; into evaluative words, colloquial, vernacular or, conversely, the elephant of a sublime style. Why did the author use them?
  • Highlight phraseological units. Why are they used?
  • Pay attention to the means of artistic expression and figures of speech, if they are used by the author (epithets, metaphors).

Algorithm benchmarking poetic text.
1.
- plot or motive
- figurative system
- vocabulary
- visual media
- syntactic constructions
- other parameters specified by the texts themselves.
2.
3. Explain the differences identified:
a) in works by the same author;
-
-
-
- other reasons.
b)
-
- if you lived in different time, - difference historical conditions and features of literary development;
-
4. Clarify the interpretation of each analyzed text in accordance with the comparative analysis performed.

Approximate scheme for analyzing a poem

1. The place of the poem in the poet’s work. The history of the creation of the poem.

2. Genre features of the poem.

3.Themes and main motives.

4. Features of the composition, or construction of a lyrical work.

5. The figurative series of the poem. His lyrical hero.

6. The mood that prevails in the poem.

7. Lexical structure of the text.

8. Features poetic language. Visual means (tropes and figures)

9. Sound recording techniques.

10. Features of stanza and rhyme.

11. The meaning of the title of the work.

Preview:

1. Find similarities between two texts at the level:

  • plot or motive;
  • figurative system;
  • vocabulary;
  • visual media;
  • syntactic constructions;

2. Find differences at the same levels.

  • the difference in the time of writing, which determined the change in views;
  • difference in artistic tasks;
  • contradictions of worldview and attitude;
  • other reasons;

b) in the works of different authors:

  • differences in artistic worlds;
  • if they belong to different national cultures, - the difference not only between individual, but also national artistic worlds.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ALGORITHM

1. Find similarities between two texts at the level:

  • plot or motive;
  • figurative system;
  • vocabulary;
  • visual media;
  • syntactic constructions;
  • other parameters suggested by the texts themselves.

2. Find differences at the same levels.

3. Explain the differences identified

A) in works by the same author:

  • the difference in the time of writing, which determined the change in views;
  • difference in artistic tasks;
  • contradictions of worldview and attitude;
  • other reasons;

b) in the works of different authors:

  • differences in artistic worlds;
  • if they lived at different times, by differences in historical conditions and features of literary development;
  • if they belong to different national cultures, there is a difference not only in individual, but also in national artistic worlds.

4. Clarify the interpretation of each of the analyzed texts in accordance with the comparative analysis performed.

Preview:

Analysis of a prose literary work

When starting to analyze a work of art, first of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the specific historical context of the work during the period of creation of this work of art. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of historical and historical-literary situation, in the latter case we mean

Literary trends of the era;
the place of this work among the works of other authors written during this period;
creative history works;
evaluation of the work in criticism;
the originality of the perception of this work by the writer’s contemporaries;
assessment of the work in the context of modern reading;
Next, we should turn to the question of the ideological and artistic unity of the work, its content and form (at the same time, the plan of content is considered - what the author wanted to say and the plan of expression - how he managed to do it).

Poem Analysis Plan
1. Elements of a commentary on the poem:
- Time (place) of writing, history of creation;
- Genre originality;
- The place of this poem in the poet’s work or in a series of poems on similar topic(with a similar motive, plot, structure, etc.);
- Explanation of unclear passages, complex metaphors and other transcripts.
2. Feelings expressed by the lyrical hero of the poem; the feelings that a poem evokes in the reader.
3. The movement of the author’s thoughts and feelings from the beginning to the end of the poem.
4. Interdependence between the content of the poem and its artistic form:

Composition solutions;
- Features of self-expression of the lyrical hero and the nature of the narrative;
- The sound of the poem, the use of sound recording, assonance, alliteration;

Rhythm, stanza, graphics, their semantic role;
- Motivation and accuracy in the use of expressive means.
4. Associations evoked by this poem (literary, life, musical, picturesque - any).
5. The typicality and originality of this poem in the poet’s work, the deep moral or philosophical meaning works discovered as a result of analysis; the degree of “eternity” of the problems raised or their interpretation. Riddles and secrets of the poem.
6. Additional (free) thoughts.

Analysis poetic work
(scheme)

When starting to analyze a poetic work, it is necessary to determine the immediate content of the lyrical work - experience, feeling;
Determine the “ownership” of feelings and thoughts expressed in lyrical work: lyrical hero (the image in which these feelings are expressed);
- determine the subject of the description and its connection with poetic idea(direct – indirect);
- determine the organization (composition) of a lyrical work;
- determine the originality of the use of visual means by the author (active - stingy); determine the lexical pattern (colloquial - book and literary vocabulary...);
- determine rhythm (homogeneous - heterogeneous; rhythmic movement);
- determine the sound pattern;
- determine intonation (the speaker’s attitude to the subject of speech and the interlocutor).

Poetic vocabulary
It is necessary to find out the activity of using certain groups of words in common vocabulary - synonyms, antonyms, archaisms, neologisms;
- find out the degree of closeness of poetic language to colloquial language;
- determine the originality and activity of using tropes
EPITHET – artistic definition;
COMPARISON – comparison of two objects or phenomena with the aim of explaining one of them with the help of the other;
ALLEGORY (allegory) – depiction of an abstract concept or phenomenon through specific items and images;
IRONY - hidden mockery;
HYPERBOLE – artistic exaggeration, used to enhance an impression;
LITOTE - artistic understatement;
PERSONALIZATION – image inanimate objects, in which they are endowed with the properties of living beings - the gift of speech, the ability to think and feel;
METAPHOR is a hidden comparison built on the similarity or contrast of phenomena, in which the words “as”, “as if”, “as if” are absent, but are implied.

Poetic syntax
(syntactic devices or figures of poetic speech)
- rhetorical questions, appeals, exclamations - they increase the reader’s attention without requiring him to answer;
- repetitions – repeated repetition of the same words or expressions;
- antitheses - oppositions;

Poetic phonetics
The use of onomatopoeia, sound recording - sound repetitions that create a unique sound “pattern” of speech.
- Alliteration – repetition of consonant sounds;
- Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds;
- Anaphora – unity of command;

Composition of a lyrical work
Necessary:
- determine the leading experience, feeling, mood reflected in the poetic work;
- find out slimness compositional construction, its subordination to the expression of a certain thought;
- determine the lyrical situation presented in the poem (the hero’s conflict with himself; the hero’s internal lack of freedom, etc.)
- identify the life situation that could presumably cause this experience;
- highlight the main parts of a poetic work: show their connection (define the emotional “drawing”).

Analysis dramatic work

Diagram of analysis of a dramatic work
1. general characteristics: History of creation, life basis, plan, literary criticism.
2. Plot, composition:
- the main conflict, stages of its development;
- character of the denouement /comic, tragic, dramatic/
3. Analysis of individual actions, scenes, phenomena.

4. Collecting material about the characters:
- the appearance of the hero,
- behavior,
- speech characteristics
- content of speech /about what?/
- manner /how?/
- style, vocabulary
- self-characteristics, mutual characteristics of heroes, author's remarks;
- the role of scenery and interior in the development of the image.

5. CONCLUSIONS: Theme, idea, meaning of the title, system of images. Genre of the work artistic originality.

Dramatic work

The generic specificity, the “borderline” position of drama (Between literature and theater) obliges us to analyze it as it develops dramatic action(in that fundamental difference analysis of a dramatic work from an epic or lyrical one). Therefore, the proposed scheme is of a conditional nature; it only takes into account the conglomeration of the main generic categories of drama, the peculiarity of which can manifest itself differently in each special case namely in the development of action (according to the principle of an unwinding spring).

1. General characteristics of dramatic action (character, plan and vector of movement, tempo, rhythm, etc.). “Through” action and “underwater” currents.

2. Type of conflict. The essence of drama and the content of the conflict, the nature of the contradictions (two-dimensionality, external conflict, internal conflict, their interaction), “vertical” and “horizontal” plan of the drama.

3. System characters, their place and role in the development of dramatic action and conflict resolution. Main and minor characters. Extra-plot and extra-scene characters.

4. The system of motives and motivational development of the plot and microplots of the drama. Text and subtext.

5. Compositional and structural level. The main stages in the development of dramatic action (exposition, plot, development of action, climax, denouement). Installation principle.

6. Features of poetics (the semantic key of the title, the role theater poster, stage chronotype, symbolism, stage psychologism, problem of the ending). Signs of theatricality: costume, mask, play and post-situational analysis, role-playing situations, etc.

7. Genre originality (drama, tragedy or comedy?). The origins of the genre, its reminiscences and innovative solutions by the author.

9. Contexts of drama (historical-cultural, creative, actual dramatic).

10. The problem of interpretation and stage history.


Work plan lyric poem

1. What do you think the mood of the author was when he wrote this poem? What color is this poem?

2. What do you think was the impetus for creating this piece?

3. Which lines seemed the most figurative (as if they came to life in front of you, became visible, tangible images)? What images?

4. Which rhymes seemed the most unusual, new, surprising?

6. List the most striking comparisons in the poem. What is their role?

7. What words are used figuratively?

8. Under what circumstances do you think you could remember the lines of this poem?

9. What illustration would you like to make for this poem?

(4, 5, 6, 7 - in writing.)

Story Analysis Plan

1. Read the story. Pay attention to the author's name. Think about when and where the story was written. What do you know about the author?

2. Think about which of the three types of text predominates here:

· narration (tells);

· description (shows);

· reasoning (proves).

3. Briefly describe the plot (main events) of the story.

5. Which characters do you consider positive and which negative and why?

6. What in this story made you laugh, and what seemed sad?

7. Which character did you empathize with the most? Describe how you felt with the hero.

8. What main idea this work? What does the author invite us to think about?

9. Write out several of the most accurate, vivid verbs and adjectives from the story.

10. What do you think will be the fate of the heroes in the future?

Fairy tale analysis plan

1. Read a fairy tale. Pay attention to whether it has an author or whether it belongs to oral folk art.

2. What do you think: what in this fairy tale is taken from real life, and what is fictional in it?

4. What moment in the fairy tale can be considered the most exciting?

5. Name the positive and negative heroes this tale, list the main features of their characters, remember the most significant actions.

6. Which fairy tale hero did you empathize with most? Describe how you felt with the hero.

7. What proverbs could you use to convey the main idea of ​​this fairy tale? In what phrase of the fairy tale is it expressed? the main idea?

8. Do you know other fairy tales that are somewhat similar in plot, design and character of the main character?

Fable Analysis Plan

1. Read the work. Think about why it is considered a fable.

2. Try to convey the moral (main idea) of the fable in your own words.

4. What shortcomings of people are ridiculed in this fable?

5. What phrases and expressions seemed most vivid, imaginative, and memorable to you?

6. List the main character traits of the main characters of the fable.

7. Think about which proverbs are closest to the moral of this fable.

8. What did you find funny in this fable, and what did you find instructive?

In order to find out the main points of the work, it must be carefully analyzed. Unfortunately, not everyone knows where to start this work. A story analysis plan will help structure the reader’s thoughts and qualitatively reveal all aspects of the work.

Where to begin?

Every student is faced with the task of analyzing a text. As a rule, in a literature lesson this is a work included in school curriculum. But what to do when detailed story do you need to do it yourself? It's worth starting by setting a goal.

If the main task is to analyze an episode in a story, then its role in it should be determined. As a rule, one of the most important scenes in the work is offered for study. For example, how the hero showed himself in this or that case, what traits were revealed in this case.

But often the teacher requires you to analyze the story as a whole, and for this you need to study the work in more detail.

Key Aspects

You have carefully read the text, now you need to make a plan for analyzing the story.

Start by defining its topic. Usually there are several of them in the text: themes of friendship, devotion, duty, love. It is necessary to identify the most basic ones.

Now it’s worth moving on to the description of the main characters. It's not only appearance, which is also important, but also the main character traits of the characters. Then we move on to the role of the heroes in revealing the problems of the story. Their relationship is also an important aspect of the plan.

Minor characters often play important role in the work. Literary analysis the story must include their description and characteristics.

Composition and its components

Next we move on to the structure of the story itself. Each work has individual construction features. First, let's define the prologue, that is, the moment before the main action. Then we will move on to the beginning and describe the moment when the conflict or problem of the work began.

Now it is necessary to identify the development of action in the story. This part of the composition is usually the longest. In it we will see the main characters, their descriptions, and the main events. But the most poignant moment in the story is called the climax. This is an event in which all the secrets of the work are revealed and the most intense actions take place. Now all that remains is to complete the analysis of the composition with a denouement. This is an element that relieves the so-called tension after the climax, describes what happened to the characters after the events that occurred.

Story Analysis Plan

Having completed the study of the work, it remains to determine its artistic originality. Should be specified creative manner any writer that distinguishes him from other authors. The means of artistic expression used that you find in the text will make the analysis more complete and profound. Don't forget about epithets, personification, metaphors and other tropes.

After this, proceed to the conclusion, which will include author's attitude to the problem, as well as yours own opinion and impression.

Let us list the main points that the plan for analyzing a story in literature contains:

  1. Theme of the story.
  2. Idea.
  3. Analysis of the main characters.
  4. Minor characters.
  5. Features of the composition.
  6. Means of expression used in the text.
  7. Reader's impression.

Now you can easily analyze any story using our article. The main aspects of the plan presented by us will help you do deep and high-quality work.