Analysis and Evaluation of Writers' Effects
This domain asks you to explain how a writer uses language, structure, tone and purpose to create an effect on the reader. Strong answers move from identifying a feature to explaining the response it produces and why the writer chose it.
Core rules
- Language: comment on word choice, connotation, imagery, verbs, adjectives and figures of speech.
- Structure: comment on sentence length, paragraphing, repetition, contrast, climax and shifts in time or viewpoint.
- Tone: name the attitude precisely, e.g. ironic, urgent, resigned, mocking, and support it with a phrase.
- Purpose: link the effect to what the writer wants the reader to think, feel or do.
- Avoid feature-spotting: naming a metaphor is not an analysis unless you explain its effect.
Worked example
Sentence: 'The wind did not blow; it attacked the tents.' Question: Explain the effect of the verb 'attacked'. Answer: It personifies the wind as a violent enemy, making the campers seem vulnerable; the short clause and semicolon sharpen the contrast between ordinary wind and deliberate force. Reasoning: the answer identifies the technique, explains the reader's impression and connects the verb to the sentence structure.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing 'it makes the reader want to read on' without explaining how.
- Confusing tone with subject matter: a sad event does not automatically make the tone sad.
- Ignoring structure because you are focused on individual words.
- Labelling a technique incorrectly, such as calling a simile a metaphor.
- Not linking the effect to the writer's purpose or audience.