Very often it is better to analyze large works by episodes. This is a part of a literary work that has an independent meaning, this part is closed in space and in time.
What the episode analysis plan looks like
Each analysis must be carried out according to plan in order to better understand a particular fragment and its significance.
An analysis of the episode may look like this:
- The first thing you can start with is a plan for analyzing an episode of a literary work - defining boundaries to make it easier to navigate, and the fragment can be at the beginning, at the end or in the middle. For example, the novel Crime and Punishment, when Raskolnikov is in the police station, or the battle of Borodino in the novel War and Peace.
- Next, you need to understand the significance of the episode: why did the author create it? Why did he paint it in such detail, paying attention to details? The concept of significance will lead to an understanding of the character of the hero, his behavior, and, possibly, clarification of the author’s attitude to the hero or event.
- The third step is to determine the type (narration or reasoning) and events that occur in this part.
- In the next paragraph, it is necessary to characterize the heroes and determine what artistic means are used not only in the description of the heroes, but throughout the episode.
- The last thing that needs to be analyzed is to understand the role of this episode in the entire work (climax, turning point, decisive moment).
An episode analysis plan for a piece: an example
“War and Peace,” written by L. N. Tolstoy, was released in 3 volumes, and each book had its own episodes that require analysis to understand the meaning in the entire work. One of the main episodes in the whole book is the Battle of Borodino, which becomes a separate part and closed in time and space.
The first thing to start with is the episode analysis plan : to prove that this event played a decisive role in the victory over the French. Next, determine which characters are present in the episode (Pierre, Andrey, Drubetskoy, Dolokhov), what feelings they feel, why they are shown by the author.
The next step is the division into micro-episodes in order to better see and understand the characters. For example, can be divided into parts such as "Pierre on battery" or "Prince Andrew in reserve."
The episode analysis plan also takes into account the author’s attitude to the characters. For example, how Tolstoy revealed the character of Kutuzov before the battle and after, how Napoleon behaves during the battle.
During the analysis, you can conduct examples of the use of artistic means to reveal the author’s skill and show the significance of certain points.
Analysis feature
Each episode analysis plan requires evidence, and it can be a literary text, a line, or several sentences. Quotations should be used sufficiently to prove the arguments presented.