Using SIFT to Analyze Literature

SIFT METHOD

S – Examine the title and text for symbolism

I – Identify images and sensory details

F – Analyze fi gurative language and other devices

T – Discuss how all devices reveal tone and theme

SIFT METHOD

SYMBOLISM

An object, character, fi gure, or color that is used to represent something other than itself.

What does the feather symbolize for Dumbo?

IMAGERY

IMAGERY

Consists of words and phrases that recreate sensory experiences for readers.

5 SENSES

Rather than describing every aspect of a setting, a writer may use sensory details – words and phrases that appeal to the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – to help you visualize a scene.

Using your five senses, list the items you could hear, touch, smell, taste and see in this scene. It is fine to imagine what you would taste or smell in this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFTSSKCzWA

Now, write about how you FEEL when you are envisioning this scene.

QUICK WRITE

IMAGERY

Imagery can invoke an emotional, sensational (5 senses) or physical response

PICK OUT THE IMAGES OR SENSORY DETAILS.

It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. The five o'clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

SIMILE

A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Example: The river winds down the valley like a long, skinny snake.

METAPHOR

A comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

Ex: Time is money.

PERSONIFICATION

Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.

Ex: The wind cried in the dark.

IRONY

A special kind of contrast between appearance and reality – usually one in which reality is the opposite of what it seems.

There are three types of irony: 1. Situational Irony2. Dramatic Irony3. Verbal Irony

SITUATIONAL IRONY

A contrast between what a reader or character expects and what actually exists or happens.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH PO VS. TAI LUNG

DRAMATIC IRONY

When the audience knows more than the characters, so that words and action have additional meaning for the audience.    

THE TRICK YOU KNOW!

VERBAL IRONY

When something is said that is interpreted exactly opposite of its intent.

Often relies on ambiguity (meaning a word can be interpreted at least 2 different ways i.e. hot)

Sarcasm falls under the category of verbal irony – Ex. When your mom says “I see you have cleaned your room.”

TONE & THEME

THEME

An underlying message about life or human nature that a writer wants the reader to understand; the main idea of the story

TONE

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience; conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail.

Tone can be:SeriousHumorousSarcasticIndifferent Etc.

MORE TERMS TO KNOW

The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader.

A cold wind sliced across the silent and empty graveyard. Stanton shivered and glanced up at the moon, a pale silver behind dark clouds. He heard footsteps, then more footsteps, and his stomach knotted. Shouldn’t have come, he thought.

What mood does this paragraph convey to the reader?

MOOD

An account of a conversation, an episode, or an event that happened before the beginning of the story

FLASHBACK

CONFLICTSTRUGGLE BETWEEN OPPOSING FORCES

Internal confl ict – a struggle within a character’s mind. The struggle usually centers on a choice or decision the character must make

External confl ict – a clash between a character and an outside force, such as another character, society, technology or a force of nature

POINT OF VIEW

First person – narrator is character in the story

Third person – narrative voice is outside the story

Third person omniscient – all-knowing point of view

Third person limited – narrator tells what only one character thinks

Writer’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a story

FORESHADOWING

ALLUSION

A reference to the Bible, history, or another famous piece of literature. In The Hunchback of Notre Dame , the gargoyle Laverne tells a fl ock of pigeons to “Fly my pretties! Fly, Fly!” alluding to the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz .

SETTING

The time and place of the action of a story

Setting includes the following:

The geographical location

The time periodThe specific

building, room and so on . . .

CHARACTERS

Protagonist – The main character in a story; the character who is involved in the central conflict of the story

Antagonist – principal character or force in opposition of the protagonist

CHARACTERS

Static – one who remains the same throughout the story

Dynamic – one who undergoes important changes as the plot unfolds

PLOT

The series of events in a story

ELEMENTS OF PLOT

Exposition – introduces setting and characters; introduces the conflict

Rising Action – presents complications that intensify the conflict and builds suspense

Climax – the turning point and the moment of greatest suspense; makes the outcome of the conflict clear

Falling Action – eases the suspense; reveals the outcome of the story’s climax; shows how the main character resolves the conflict

Resolution – reveals the final outcome and ties up loose ends