Explications - Small Groups

Today you'll work with a small group to explore a section of the text. After you discuss last night's reading in a general sense, turn your attention to your assigned section. Re-read it together - several times, if possible. Then, use this handout about explications to guide your work. Here are the different aspects of the language you should explore, with special emphasis on the highlighted ones:

1. Literal content: this should be done as succinctly as possible. Briefly describe the sketetal contents of the passage in one or two sentences. Answer the journalist's questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why?) in order to establish character/s, plot, and setting as it relates to this passage. What is the context for this passage?
2. Figurative Language. Examine the passage carefully for similes, images, metaphors, and symbols. Identify any and all. List implications and suggested meanings as well as denotations. What visual insights does each word give? Look for multiple meanings and overlapping of meaning. Look for repetitions, for oppositions.
3. Diction. Word choice.  Look at all the meanings of the key words. Look up the etymology of the words. Do not assume you know the depth or complexity of meaning at first glance. Use the dictionary.  Do dictionary meanings establish any new dynamic associations with other words? What is the etymology of these words? Develop and question the metaphoric, spatial sense of the words. Can you see what the metaphoric words are suggesting?
4. Structure. What is the significance of such a form? Does the form contribute to the meaning?
5. Style. Look for any significant aspects of style—parallel constructions, antithesis, etc. Look for patterns, polarities, and problems.
6. Characterization. What insight does this passage now give into specific characters as they develop through the work? Is there a persona in this passage?
7. Tone. What is the tone of the passage? How does it elucidate the entire passage? Is the tone one of irony? Sentimental? Serious? Humorous? Ironic?
8. Context: If your text is part of a larger whole, make brief reference to its position in the whole.
9. Theme: A theme is not to be confused with thesis; the theme or more properly themes of a work of literature is its broadest, most pervasive concern, and it is contained in a complex combination of elements. In contrast to a thesis, which is usually expressed in a single, argumentative, declarative sentence and is characteristic of expository prose rather than creative literature, a theme is not a statement; rather, it often is expressed in a single word or a phrase, such as "love," "illusion versus reality," or "the tyranny of circumstance." Generally, the theme of a work is never "right" or "wrong." There can be virtually as many themes as there are readers, for essentially the concept of theme refers to the emotion and insight which results from the experience of reading a work of literature.