sift ppt

SIFT

SIFT Method

• _{Symbol: examine the text and title for}

symbolism

• _{Images: identify images and sensory details}

• _{Figures of Speech: analyze figurative language}

and other devices

• _{Tone and Theme: discuss how all devices}

Symbols: Signs of Something More

• _{Our everyday lives are heaped with symbols:}

Symbols in Literature

• _{Writers create new, personal symbols in their}

work.

• _{In literature, a symbol is an object, a setting,}

an event, an animal, or even a person that

Moby Dick

• _{The white whale in Moby Dick is a very real}

white whale in the novel, and Captain Ahab spends the whole book chasing it.

• _{BUT- certain passages let the readers know}

that the whale is ASSOCIATED with the mystery of evil in the world.

What it isn’t…

• _{A sign with just one meaning: the picture of a cigarette in a}

circle with a line drawn through it is a sign meaning precisely and specifically, “No Smoking”

• _{The white whale does not mean, precisely and specifically,}

“the mystery of evil”

• _{Associations suggested by the writer, made by the characters}

Is it a symbol?

• _{Guidelines to follow…}

– _{Symbols are often visual.}

– _{When some event or object or setting is used as a}

symbol in the story, you will usually find that the writer has given it a great deal of emphasis. Often it

reappears throughout the story.

– _{A symbol in literature is a form of figurative language.}

Like a metaphor, a symbol is something that is

identified with something else that is very different from it, but that shares some quality.

– _{A symbol usually has something to do with a story’s}

(SIFT) Images

• _{Identify images and sensory details.}

• _{Imagery helps to promote mood and tone.}

– _{What do I see, hear, taste, smell or feel?}

– _{What effect is the author trying to convey with}

Tone

&

Mood

• _{Tone: The attitude that an AUTHOR takes toward} the audience, subject, or the character.

• _{Tone is conveyed through the author’s word and}

details.

angry-challenging-sarcastic-outraged-humorous

•Mood: The emotions that the READER

feels while reading; the atmosphere of the story.

•Mood is conveyed through character emotions, setting and other elements.

(SI

F

T)

Figures of Speech

•

_Analyze

_{figurative language and other}

devices.

•

_{Writers form images by using figures of}

speech such as

simile

, metaphors,

hyperbole

, and

personification

.

Simile

•

_{A direct comparison of two things,}

usually using the words

like

or

as.

– _{“He watches from his mountain walls,}

And like a thunderbolt he falls.” Tennyson

– _{“Hell is a city much like London/}

A populous and smokey city.” Shelley

– _{My heart is like an apple tree whose boughs}

Metaphor

• _{An IMPLIED comparison in which one thing is}

spoken in terms of something else. Metaphors are extremely valuable in making an abstract idea clearer by associating the idea with something

concrete that relates to one or more of the senses.

– _{“And merry larks are ploughman’s clocks.”}

Shakespeare

– _{“Entangled in the cobweb of the schools.” Cowper} – _{“Time let me hail and climb}

Hyperbole

•

_{The use of}

_{exaggeration or}

overstatement

to make a point. It

may be used for emphasis, for humor,

or for poetic intensity.

– _{“Here once the embattled farmers stood,}

And fired the shot heard around the world.” Emerson

It is used freely in sports broadcasting and news articles…

Personification

• _{A comparison that treats objects or things as}

if they were capable of the actions and feelings of people.

– _{“…Sea that bears her bosom to the moon”}

Wordsworth

Irony

• _{An expression in which the author’s}

meaning is quite different (often the opposite) from what is literally said.

Irony, as a matter of tone, occurs most frequently in prose as a technique for

comedy, tragedy, suspense or horror. • _{Three types of irony:}

– _Verbal

(SIF

T

)

Theme

and

Tone

• _{Theme: central, underlying, and controlling} idea of a literary work.

• _{Abstract concept represented by a character,}

by actions, or by images in the literary work.

• _{A generalization about human conduct.}

• _{Ordinarily expressed in a full sentence and it}

Theme= What it is NOT

• _{Cannot be expressed in a single word.}

• _{Not the purpose of the work (entertainment}

or instruction)

• _{Man versus nature is not a theme, it is a}

conflict.

• _{Unlike a moral or fable, the theme is seldom,}

if ever, stated.

How Do I Figure Out the Theme?

• _{You must first understand the plot, the}

characterization and conflict, the imagery, and the author’s tone.

• _{Identify the subject in one word…}

• _{Then, explain in one or two sentences what}

the author says about the subject.

• _{NOTE: Many stories/novels have more than} one theme and there is seldom just one

For Example…

•

_{Literature: To Kill A Mockingbird}

•

_Subject:

_Racism

•

_{Possible Theme}

_{: Justice is often withheld}

Tone and Theme

• _{Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject (the}

beginnings of theme)

• _{Tone is revealed through the words he or she}

chooses. (Diction)

• _{In literature, the reader does not have the benefit of}

voice inflection- even a dog understands the tone of his master’s voice!

• _{So, the reader must understand the author’s word}

More on tone…

• _{To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret}

meaning (THEME)

• _{If you miss irony or sarcasm, for example, you}

Shift in Tone

•

_{Good authors rarely use only one tone!}

•

_{A speaker’s attitude may be complex…}

•

_{An author might have one attitude}

How to analyze tone:

•

_D

•

_I

•

_D

included (does not appeal to the senses)

•

_L

•

_S