How to teach: English - Chris Curtis 2019
Adverbs for evaluating and analysing
How to teach students to analyse texts effectively
When students are stuck with a text, their default method can be to retell the story instead of analyse it. This would be comical if it didn’t cost them quite so many marks in the exam. Hey, examiner, I don’t think you know the book you are testing me on, so I am going to tell you what happens in A Christmas Carol, just in case you haven’t read it. The journey from retelling to analysing is a difficult one. One thing I do to guide students is look at the use of specific adverbs:
✵ surprisingly
✵ typically
✵ stereotypically
✵ realistically
✵ unrealistically
✵ convincingly
✵ unconvincingly
Adverbs help students to communicate the impact on the reader.
Surprisingly, Dickens starts the story with the death of a minor character, Jacob Marley.
Unrealistically, Shakespeare suggests to us that Romeo falls in love immediately.
These adverbs perform an important job in the analysis, and I do think it is incredibly useful to signpost it.
The writer is going against convention.
Surprisingly, Dickens presents the poor in both a positive and a negative light.
The writer is doing what most writers would do in this situation.
Typically, Shakespeare uses the male characters to initiate conflict and tension in the opening of the play.
The writer is doing the most obvious thing.
Stereotypically, Priestley links capitalism with arrogance, superiority and elitism.
The writer is aiming for realism.
Realistically, Steinbeck presents the relationship between Lennie and George as both cruel and loving.
The writer might be trying to make things realistic but doesn’t achieve it.
Unrealistically, Susan Hill uses the dog, Spider, as a replacement for a supporting character in The Woman in Black.
The writer is completely achieving an effect.
Convincingly, Robert Louis Stevenson makes us warm to the character of Long John Silver at the start of Treasure Island.
The writer is failing to achieve an effect.
Unconvincingly, Golding uses a lack of identification of dialogue in Lord of the Flies to convey the confusion and chaos of the situation.
As with all things to do with analysis, it is the explanation that’s important. Let’s not fool ourselves that one simple adverb will transform a student’s writing. That’s why it is so important to get students to explain their responses.
Surprisingly, Dickens starts the story with the death of a minor character, Jacob Marley. We’d normally expect the protagonist to be the main focus of an opening. However, Dickens focuses first on Jacob Marley to symbolise what Scrooge might become and also to explain Scrooge’s current emotional and physical state.
Unrealistically, Shakespeare suggests to us that Romeo falls in love immediately. The playwright is suggesting how the young confuse initial physical attraction with love. It is more common for people to fall in love after spending some time together.