Choosing Evidence in a Text-Analysis Response
You have studied a short prose text in which a grandmother refuses to leave her village during a fire evacuation, insisting that her house and her neighbours' graves are her responsibility. In the exam, a question asks: 'How does the writer shape the reader's sympathy for the grandmother?' (6 marks). You remember three moments: (a) the grandmother's long speech defending the village; (b) a description of her hands 'like roots' gripping the gate; (c) the narrator's single line: «Κανείς δεν της μίλησε για τρεις μέρες». You also remember a class discussion about the Greek concept of «φιλότιμο», but you are not certain it appeared in the text or only in the discussion. You have 12 minutes for this answer.
1. Which evidence would you use, and how would you handle the uncertain «φιλότιμο» point?
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Use (a), (b) and (c), because each does different work and together they cover speech, imagery and narrative silence - three separate techniques, which is what a 6-mark 'how does the writer shape sympathy' question rewards.
- (a) Speech: her long defence gives her dignity and a coherent moral position; the reader is invited to respect rather than pity her.
- (b) Imagery: «σαν ρίζες» fuses her with the place; it makes leaving her seem like uprooting, which manufactures sympathy through physical image rather than sentiment.
- (c) Narrative silence: the three days of no one speaking to her is the strongest move - it shows the community's disapproval and makes the reader side with her by default.
The «φιλότιμο» point: do not name a concept you cannot locate in the text. If it was only in class discussion, citing it risks a factual error that undermines the whole answer. Safer: describe the behaviour the text shows (refusal to abandon obligation to neighbours and the dead) without labelling it. A concept named but unsupported earns nothing; a described behaviour supported by quotation earns marks.
2. How would you structure the 6-mark answer so that it reads as analysis rather than a list of quotations?
Read the worked answer
Structure by effect, not by order of the text.
- Claim (1–2 sentences): the writer builds sympathy by granting the grandmother moral authority while isolating her.
- Speech paragraph: quote a short phrase from her defence, then explain what it makes the reader feel and why (dignity → admiration, not pity).
- Imagery paragraph: quote «σαν ρίζες», unpack the comparison (rootedness, uprooting, age), link to the evacuation stakes.
- Narrative paragraph: quote «Κανείς δεν της μίλησε για τρεις μέρες», explain the effect of the narrator's restraint - the reader must infer the disapproval, and inference creates alignment.
- One-sentence close: name the overall technique (contrast between her conviction and the community's silence).
Discipline points: keep quotations to a few words each so commentary dominates; every quotation needs a 'so what' sentence; do not retell the plot. Twelve minutes allows roughly two minutes of planning, eight of writing, two of checking that each quotation is actually analysed.