Text Analysis and Interpretation of Books - Essay Example

Text Analysis and Interpretation Name: Institution: Professor: Course: Date of Submission: Text Analysis and Interpretation Text interpretation is one of the most complex tasks an individual can possibly engage in. This is so especially because of the subjectivity and objectivity that may lay ahead of interpreting a text. However, it is evident that text analysis or interpretation simply runs across the entire text. This implies that there is no specific attention paid to the rest of structural units (Amia, Rivka & Tamar, 1998). As a result of this, it is imperative that a text is divided into segments before an individual sets out to analyze it. This paper focuses on the interpretation of a wide range of books particularly in the field of grammatical teaching and learning. In this paper, more concern will be on those books that have a similarity in one area like genre or field of discourse and on the hand contrast by tenor and mode. Task 1 Annotated Bibliography The Open University. (2008). Taster Pack: E303 English Grammar in Context. November 2008. This is a collection of excerpts from The Open University course books in grammar. In this taster pack, the material is crafted in a way to aid the third level learners understand concepts as Open University students. It has the general approaches and techniques in teaching and learning of English grammar (The Open University, 2008). The author’s intention is to offer the learners a general overview on how to study important concepts in the course as highlighted in the five core books. Among the books analyzed in this pack are: Getting started describing the grammar of speech and writing Getting inside English: interpreting texts Getting practical: evaluating everyday texts Getting down to it: undertaking research Putting grammar into professional practice King, S. (2007). The Mist. New York: Penguin. Set in Bridgton, Maine, The Mist is a novella by Stephen King. It talks about the horrors and the influence of the dark forces. In this book, King talks about a day to day experiences that he went through (King, 2007). A close examination of the book reveals that King equates the odd spring weather which occurred before the storm, to the Great Blizzard of 1888 that had a lot of negative impact on the northern USA. It is out of the novella that the movies “The Mist” and “The 1996 tokusatsu series Ultraman Tiga” were based on. La Guma, A. (1962). The Lemon Orchard. Johannesburg: OUP. Just like most of La Guma’s works, the short story is set in South Africa. It reflects his political inclinations as well as the criticisms of racial discrimination that was predominant in South Africa. He talks of the policies and how they impacted on human beings. This short story however holds a sort of uniqueness in the author’s way of writing as its characters remain unnamed. It is the anonymity in the story that adds to the surrounding of the story and suggest on the representation of the story to a wide range of events that occurred in South Africa. In the story, the relationship of white men is likened to the solitary susceptibility of the “colored man” held captive (La Guma, 1962). Wright, R. (1940). Native son. Michigan: Harper Perennial. This is a novel that talks about the racist America after the American civil war (Wright, 1940). The author digs deep into what it meant to be a black person in the white dominated nation. In the book, a young man, Bigger Thomas kills a white woman out of panic. The story expounds further on the poverty and feelings of despair especially among the black minority groups. This book serves as a landmark to more writings on inter-racial relations among the Afro-Americans. Fussell, S. (2002). The verbal communication of emotions: interdisciplinary perspectives. New York: Routledge. This book is a collection of new research and perspectives about verbal communication of feelings done by a global, cross-disciplinary group of renowned experts in sentimental communication. The function of this book is to offer readers with a complex perspective of current research and emphasize on cross-disciplinary interaction (Fussell, 2002). Topics within this book include the examination of factual and symbolic expressions for sensation, evaluation of the function of interactive partners in bringing out sensational implications as well as the impacts of culture on emotional communication. Task 2 1. The Open University. (2008). Taster Pack: E303 English Grammar in Context. November 2008. Extract 2) a. Textual Organization The main focus at this level of textual organization is the mode: the manner in which the text was produced and delivered to the audience. Two main issues to consider are interactivity and spontaneity. Interactivity seeks to establish whether indeed the text was crafted in an interactive way. From the extract above, the author has incorporated a wide range of interactive indicators such as: i. Terms of address, for instance the male cartoon says, “Darling, it’s so important to…” ii. Attention attracting words such as “incredible don’t you think...Look what it says here…” iii. Use of questions and answers like Q: “So why aren’t you suspicious in your reading of this?” Answer: “We can’t do much about what the media do.” iv. Use of face-to-face conversations as shown by the turn-taking in the conversation. It is also indicated by hesitators such as “…er…positioned?” Spontaneity on the contrary deals with whether the text was produced in real time thus having an opportunity to edit or whether it was produced offline hence giving no chance for corrections before presentation. To find out this, the audience looks for indicators such as pauses and hesitators, mid utterances, repetitions or sudden change of theme. From the extract the author makes it spontaneous (The Open University, 2008). This is due to the presence of pauses and hesitators. Some of the clauses used in the extract have tails as in the case of “The writer is trying to get you to accept a particular point of view. They’re positioning you, trying to persuade you that something is bad, don’t you think?” 2) b. Representation of experience or ideas Experiential standpoint mainly deals with the analysis of the field of the text. The audience sets out to understand “what is the text all about?” In the extract, the author develops cartoons that are to appear in the daily newspaper (The Open University, 2008). The cartoons represent people in society and their desires, worries and happiness. The cartoons in the extract engage in a discussion about the job security in their country. This depicts the fears of being rendered jobless as a result of the pressure from the European Union to their government. The couple in the extract as well tries to discuss forces in society like the media and how it can influence people’s decisions and perceptions on their daily lives. 2) c. Interpersonal Meanings While considering interpersonal meanings, an analysis is given to the tenor of the text. This involves reading between the lines in trying to unearth about what kind of person the author could be or presenting himself or herself to be. This deals with how forceful or passionate the author is in his or her message (Jostein, 1995). In the extract, a close analysis reveals that the author is being cynical and rather sensational of the situation back home. The media is portrayed as having a bigger role in influencing people’s perceptions and attitudes about things around them. The cartoon husband jumps out at the news that millions of jobs would be lost. This could be true or false depending with the validity and trustworthiness of the newspaper reports. 2) d. Logicality of the Message Considering the extract, it is evident that the author has structured the message in the following format: reporting, discussion, implication and conclusion. The cartoon husband first stumbles to the news headlines in the paper which he then breaks to the wife concerning the impending loss of jobs in the country. It follows that a debate ensues as they try to break it down and understand the likely implications. It turns out that it could be true or otherwise. It is left to the cartoon husband to decide as he thinks at the end of the extract (Bazerman & Paul, 2004). Task 2 2. La Guma, A. (1962). The Lemon Orchard. Johannesburg: OUP. Extract 'Do not go so fast,' the man who brought up the rear of the party called to the man with the lantern. 'It's as dark as a kaffir's soul here at the back.' He called softly, as if the darkness demanded silence. He was a big man and wore khaki trousers and laced-up riding boots, and an old shooting jacket with leather patches on the right breast and the elbows. The shotgun was loaded. In the dark this man's face was invisible except for a blur of shadowed hollows and lighter crags. Although he walked in the rear he was the leader of the party. The lantern-bearer slowed down for the rest to catch up with him. 'It's cold, too, Oom,' another man said. 'Cold?' the man with the shotgun asked, speaking with sarcasm. 'Are you colder than this verdomte hotnot, here?' And he gestured in the dark with the muzzle of the gun at the man who stumbled along in their midst and who was the only one not warmly dressed. a) Textual Organization The mode by which Alex La Guma delivers his message is through a short story. Looking at interactivity in the section of the short story, it is evident that the author employs the use of terms of address such as “…a kaffir's soul here at the back… this verdomte hotnot, here?” Interactivity has also been indicated by the use of questions and answers found within the dialogue in the extract. Such include: 'Cold?' and 'Are you colder than this verdomte hotnot, here?' the extract as well indicates that there is face-to-face conversation. This can be found in the purposeful vague language of the shared environment in the story. For example, the white officer says “this verdomte hotnot, here?” because he and the partner are in the same environment (Ide & Jean, 1995). b) Representation of experience or ideas The extract from the short story shows a man under the command of police officers. It is at night and very cold as he is dragged along and tortured in the hands of law enforcing officers. This tells the story of the racist Apartheid South Africa that La Guma hails from (Eggins, 2004). In the story, the colored man is dragged to an unknown place and harshly treated by the officers. Despite the harsh weather conditions, the man is said to be “the only one not warmly dressed”. In addition, “The shotgun was loaded” indicating what probably awaited him. They addressed him with derogatory names such as “kaffir and hotnot”. c) Interpersonal Meanings A close analysis of the extract reveals the attitude and views that the writer held towards the regime of the day. La Guma portrays the fate that the helpless colored man faces in the hands of his enemies (Maurice, Roger, Vane & Roger, 2004). This is in the light of the racist regime that South Africa was going through at the time. The harsh treatment of the innocent man evokes feelings of sympathy towards him while at the same time evoking feelings of hatred towards his tormentors. Such is evident in the words 'Do not go so fast,' the man who brought up the rear of the party called to the man with the lantern. 'It's as dark as a kaffir's soul here at the back.' This way, it is evident that La Guma was standing up against segregation, torture and the repressive racist regime. This is true even from his biographical information. d) Logicality of the Message The short story is organized into some form of a walk. The colored man being led by the white police officers is lugged through the lemon orchard as he is tortured and called names (Qiang, Bin & Eng-Siong, 2006). This treatment is so degrading that every step the group makes points at the eminent fate of the man. We are told, “And he gestured in the dark with the muzzle of the gun at the man who stumbled along in their midst and who was the only one not warmly dressed”. The author does not say at once what will ultimately happen to the colored man but from occurrences, it is obvious that his ending will be a fatal one. In an expert way, the author interweaves the harsh weather to the ruthless manner in which the colored man is handled by his tormentors. Similarly, the group chooses to walk through nowhere else but the lemon orchard which symbolic considering that it is thorny and has a bitter taste. Task 2 3. Wright, R. (1940). Native son. Michigan: Harper Perennial. Extract Mary’s fingernails tore at his hands and he caught the pillow and covered her entire face with it, firmly. Mary’s body surged upward and he pushed downward upon the pillow with all of his weight, determined that she must not move or make any sound that would betray him…he clenched his teeth and held his breath, intimidated to the core by the awesome white blur floating towards him. His muscles flexed tout as steel and he pressed the pillow, feeling the bed give slowly, evenly but silently. Then suddenly her fingernails did not bite into his wrists. Mary’s fingers loosened. He did not feel her surging and heaving against him. Her body was still. (Page 74) a) Textual Organization Richard Wright sets out to deliver his message in form of a novel. From the extract, it is clear that the author devotes more effort in drawing a succinct picture for the reader about the events happening in the book. There is minimal interactivity as the writer dwells on description of events as well as characters in the extract. For instance, he says, “Mary’s fingernails tore at his hands and he caught the pillow and covered her entire face with it, firmly.” To bring the action to the audience, Wright employs an omnipresent narrator who delves into the actions, plans and desires of the characters and reports them to the audience. At the same time, the author avoids pauses, hesitators, mid-utterances and overt repetitions thereby limiting chances of excessive spontaneity within the extract (Cheryl, Jerold & Dale, 2008). b) Representation of experience or ideas Richard Wright’s Native Son is a controversial and excellently written piece of work that has enjoyed international readership. In the novel, Wright divides it into three sections to make the plot well crafted. These sections include fear, flight and fate (Maurice, Roger, Vane & Roger, 2004). The extract above is a good illustration of fear as Bigger tries to cover up for the accident caused in murdering Mary. Before the murder, Bigger Thomas brings Mary Dalton home in a drunken state. He sneaks her into her room I a bid to avoid accusations from Mary’s parents. Mrs. Dalton’s presence jostles Bigger’s overwhelming fear. To prevent Mrs. Dalton from drawing closer and hence detecting, Bigger covers Mary’s face with a pillow (Ralph, Rossum & Alan, 2005). He says thus, “Mary’s body surged upward and he pushed downward upon the pillow with all of his weight, determined that she must not move or make any sound that would betray him…” Mary dies out of suffocation and out of excessive fear, Bigger take’s Mary’s body to her trunk and chops off her head in order to fit her in the furnace. This marks the centre of the conflict in the novel. He is torn between staying and being prosecuted and running for his life. He ultimately chooses the latter (Robbins, 1996). c) Interpersonal Meanings Underneath the actions and statements made by the characters in the book, Wright sends a very important message to his audience. In order to understand this, he welcomes the audience to take an honest and impartial view of the actions of the characters. According to many readers, Bigger is a murderer. However, a closer look at the text shows that it was an accident. Owing to the racial relations then, he knew his fate was sealed (Robbins, 1996). He was headed for jail. It is out of this realization and the overwhelming fear that he “commits” the “heinous crime” and flees. We are told, “He clenched his teeth and held his breath, intimidated to the core by the awesome white blur floating towards him.” In essence therefore, Wright invites the audience to a more sober and balanced way of confronting racism without taking stands. d) Logicality of the Message Significantly to the understanding of this text, the author skillfully divides the text into three sections: fear, flight and fate (Maurice, Roger, Vane & Roger, 2004). This way, it is out of fear that Bigger Thomas accidentally murders Mary Dalton. This makes him to run away that is, flight. However, regardless of where the colored person was, as Wright seems to suggest, his fate was sealed-he was headed for doom. Having this understanding, readers are made not to misread or misinterpret the message in the novel. Task 3 Key Highlighted- Verb groups Single underlined- Noun groups Double underlined- Prepositional phrases MC-Main clause SC-Subordinating clause 1. La Guma, A. (1962). The Lemon Orchard. Johannesburg: OUP. Extract 'Do not go so fast (MC),' the man who brought up the rear of the party called to the man with the lantern (SC). 'It's as dark as a kaffir's soul (MC) here at the back (SC).' He called softly (MC), as if the darkness demanded silence (SC). He was a big man and wore khaki trousers and laced-up riding boots, and an old shooting jacket with leather patches on the right breast and the elbows (MC) (Alexander & Reinhardt, 2007). The shotgun was loaded (MC). In the dark this man's face was invisible (MC) except for a blur of shadowed hollows and lighter crags (SC). Although he walked in the rear (SC) he was the leader of the party (MC). The lantern-bearer slowed down (MC) for the rest to catch up with him (SC). 'It's cold, too, Oom,' another man said (MC). 'Cold?' the man with the shotgun asked (MC), speaking with sarcasm (SC). 'Are you colder than this verdomte hotnot, here? (MC)' and he gestured in the dark with the muzzle of the gun at the man (MC) who stumbled along in their midst and who was the only one not warmly dressed (SC). Main clauses dominate. However, most of these are simple sentences without coordinating conjunctions joining two different ideas as it is in the case of compound sentences (Nino, 2010). 2. Wright, R. (1940). Native son. Michigan: Harper Perennial. Extract Mary’s fingernails tore at his hands and he caught the pillow and covered her entire face with it, firmly (MC). Mary’s body surged upward and he pushed downward upon the pillow with all of his weight (MC), determined that she must not move or make any sound that would betray him (SC)…he clenched his teeth and held his breath (MC), intimidated to the core by the awesome white blur floating towards him (SC). His muscles flexed tout as steel and he pressed the pillow (MC), feeling the bed give slowly, evenly but silently (SC). Then suddenly (SC) her fingernails did not bite into his wrists (MC). Mary’s fingers loosened (MC). He did not feel her surging and heaving against him (MC). Her body was still (MC) (Gil & Marco, 2011). Main clauses dominate. However, most of these are simple sentences without coordinating conjunctions joining two different ideas as it is in the case of compound sentences. Task 4 According to many grammarians, a close analysis of grammatical choices helps one to see patterns more clearly within the sentences. It was easier for me to do the same in the analysis of the above two texts (Robbins, 1996). This was facilitated by the division of sentences into the main clauses (MC) and subordinating clauses (SC). In the text, it has been noted that clauses that dominate in making sentences sensible are the main clauses. However, subordinate clauses are only used in the texts to add more information to the texts and therefore is could not affect the sentence meaning in case they were removed from the texts (Bazerman & Paul, 2004). The only contrast noted within the texts was the use of prepositional phrases. Whereas the first text was seen to bear many prepositional phrases that gave it the face-to-face conversational structure, the second one had fewer prepositional phrases (Bazerman & Paul, 2004). This could be as a result of the less conversational and more descriptive structure of the text. This could not be ascertained from the face value of the texts. On the other hand, prepositional phrases have mostly been utilized to serve as adjectival clauses that modify the noun phrases in the texts. Division on the above texts into sentences has purposefully served to make it easier in understanding grammatical as well as structural arrangement of words in English (Eggins, 2004). This therefore facilitates easier understanding of the meanings in words drawn from the clauses and phrases used. Conclusion Effective teaching and learning of grammar entails analysis of texts. One good way of doing this analysis is by means of a meta-functional perspective. This way, linguists analyze texts from three identified viewpoints including: textual organization, representation of experiences or ideas and interpersonal meanings (Fussell, 2002). This paper gave a meta-functional analysis of a corpus of books basing on genre and field of discourse as well as tenor and mode. It is clear from the analysis of these books that they are vital in preparing for a lesson in teaching English grammar as well as literature. Just as observed, the division of the above books into clauses is important in understanding structural arrangements in English as a language (Gil & Marco, 2011). In addition, the books would be good in preparing for lessons that might enhance effective communication among the learners apart from discovering the thematic surrounding of the authors that drafted the books. References: The Open University. (2008). Taster Pack: E303 English Grammar in Context. November 2008. King, S. (2007). The Mist. New York: Penguin. La Guma, A. (1962). The Lemon Orchard. Johannesburg: OUP. Wright, R. (1940). Native son. Michigan: Harper Perennial. Fussell, S. (2002). The verbal communication of emotions: interdisciplinary perspectives. New York: Routledge. Colin, G., Jean, T. & Mags, A. (2005). A mobile century? Changes in everyday mobility in Britain in the twentieth century Transport and mobility series. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Gil, A. & Marco, R. (2011). Knowledge-Based Bioinformatics: From Analysis to Interpretation. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Robbins, K. (1996). Exploring the texture of texts: a guide to socio-rhetorical interpretation. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Nino, T. (2010). The principles of text analysis and interpretation. Michigan: Ilia State University. Alexander, M. & Reinhardt, K. (2007). Aspects of automatic text analysis Volume 209 of Studies in fuzziness and soft computing Volume 1434, Issue 9922 of Studies in fuzziness. Chicago: Springer. Maurice, P., Roger, E., Vane, G. & Roger, G. (2004). Company accounts: analysis, interpretation and understanding. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA. Amia, L., Rivka, T. &, Tamar, Z. (1998). Narrative research: reading, analysis and interpretation Volume 47 of Applied social research methods series Volume 47 of Applied Social Research. Detroit: SAGE, 1998 Ralph, A. Rossum, G. & Alan, T. (2005). Text analysis in translation: theory, methodology, and didactic application of a model for translation-oriented text analysis Volume 94 of Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literature. Santiago: Rodopi. Ralph, A. (2009). American Constitutional Law, Eighth Edition, and Volume 1: The Structure of Government Volume 1 of American Constitutional Law, Volume 8 of American Constitutional Law: The Structure of Government. New York: West view Press. Cheryl, S., Jerold, L. Z., Dale, M. (2008). Management Accounting: Analysis and Interpretation. London: Prentice Hall/Financial Times. Qiang, H., Bin M. & Eng-Siong C. (2006). Chinese spoken language processing: 5th international symposium, ISCSLP 2006, Singapore, December 13-16, 2006 ; proceedings Lecture notes in artificial intelligence Volume 4274 of Lecture notes in computer science Volume 4274 of Lecture notes in computer science: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence. Chicago: Springer. Eggins, S. (2004). An introduction to systemic functional linguistics. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Ide, N. & Jean, V. (1995). Text encoding initiative: background and contexts. New York: Springer. Bazerman, C. & Paul, A. (2004). What writing does and how it does it: an introduction to analyzing texts and textual practices. Washington: Taylor & Francis. Jostein, G. (1995). The Dynasty years: Hollywood television and critical media studies A comedia book Comedia Series. London: Routledge. Read More