How I analyze a literary text (with the example of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death-“)

Hello and welcome to The Young Reader’s Review ! In his Limits of Interpretation (1990), Umberto Eco distinguishes “semantic interpretation” from “critical interpretation”. “Semantic interpretation” would be reading material on a linguistic level and not analyzing the text in terms of literature, in other words, being a “naïve reader”, meanwhile “critical interpretation” would be doing exactly that. It is one thing to understand a text. It is another to understand it: to dissect it to understand its intricacies in order to reveal “its hidden depths”. Umberto Eco would also say that my phrasing is maladroit, that there is no such thing as a universal “depth” to a literary text since everybody will experience interpretation differently. That is exactly what my blog is for: I not only share with you my “thoughts on a book or poem” but I share with you my interpretation. That is where resides one of the many beauties of literature: your interpretation of a text will always be unique, the words meeting your eyes have met thousands, perhaps millions of other eyes, but are tinted in a color that only you can perceive, even if similar shades might already exist. Now, since you are not here today to read about my paraphrasing of Eco’s theories of semiology (maybe you are but that’s another story), and since this could very quickly become an essay about perception, I thought that it would be interesting, with the example of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death-“, to walk you through my thought process when confronted with a text I have never analyzed before. Hopefully, next time you have a virgin text laying under your eyes you will be able to escape form the grip of the daunting feeling that is impeding your brain from any coherent reasoning and you will thus say to Charon’s face “It is so willed there where is power to do / That which is willed" since, of course, even though this might seem like Hell, I assure you that you are on your path to divine grounds (#a very bad Dante pun). In other words, let’s begin. 

Quick disclaimer: First, I am in no way a “professional” and I insist on the fact that this is my thought process. I am therefore not proclaiming this as being the “perfect method” and if you do wish to follow these steps, you might have to adapt them to your suiting. Also, “Because I could not stop for Death-“is a poem written in verse and the analysis process for a prose text is slightly different, but too reminiscent for me to make two separate posts. Yet, in my opinion, the process for analyzing a verse poem is slightly more technical, which is why I chose a poem written in verse as the example. With this in mind, enjoy.

"Because I could not stop for Death-“, Emily Dickinson, 1890 

1)Know your vocabulary

You cannot confront a math exercise and explain your reasoning without already having some previous knowledge; you must know the verbs “to subtract”, “to add” and the necessary equations and how to efficiently use them. It is pretty much the case in any discipline, including literature. Therefore, even before beginning your analysis, you need to certify that you know your terminology. Obviously, you cannot spot an epanalepsis if you’ve never used the word epanalepsis before (if you do, tell me your secret). Unfortunately, there aren’t any magical ways to help you do this apart from practicing, learning the definitions and reading multiple examples. Thankfully, there are some trustworthy websites and books that can help you with this. As a trustworthy terminology bank, I use Cambridge University’s “Virtual Classroom” where you can find excellent, detailed and comprehensive definitions ( https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/classroom/terms.htm#Rhetoricalfigures ). Also, you can find many "quizlets" on (https://quizlet.com/) where you can test your literary knowledge. If you happen to be in the French school system or if you study French literature, you can find La Littérature Française de A à Z in the Hatier edition is an essential (https://www.editions-hatier.fr/article/la-litterature-francaise-de-z ). Having everything from small biographies to linguistics terms, this book is perfection. 

2)Getting the right material

Before even reading the text, I usually always make sure to have specific material. First, I cannot analyze the text if I don’t have a printed version of it. I need to be able to manipulate it and write on it which is not possible if I only have it on your computer. Second, highlighters are a sine qua non. If I am not under timed conditions, I usually will use these highlighters to make an elaborate color code (themes, rhetoric devices…). Then, you of course need a sort of pen or pencil (I prefer pencil since you can easily erase), a blank sheet of paper to note all of your ideas and, if possible, an access to the internet. Also, even though this might seem trivial, I find that the fact that your rough draft is written on a blank piece of paper lets your analytical imagination transcend any lines and gives you the possibility of making mind-maps and writing notes hither and thither. Finally, a milky cup of tea is a primordial element for writing a bona fide analysis. 

3)Analyze any paratextual references 

Now that I have the propitious material for an efficient analysis, I usually take a look at what we call the paratext. The “paratext” constitutes all of the information that frames the main text. This could be any given supplementary information about the text such as, in the case of an extract, a summary of what happened beforehand or it could be biographical information about the author, historical events that affect the text… In my case, the only particular detail that is given is the name of the author, which is “Emily Dickinson” and the date of the text which is “1890”. Consequently, I ask myself the following questions: What do I know about Emily Dickinson? What do I know about the era of publication? Questions you can ask yourself are:

Are there any specific notes on the bottom of the page?

What does the title tell you about the poem?

Do you know any information about the author?

Do you know any information about the text’s time period?

4) First impressions 

Now, you can read the text to already define the genre. Are you confronted with an excerpt from a play? Verse poem? Prose poem? An excerpt from a novel? Knowing the text’s genre is what will help you choose your analysis method. Moreover, do you understand the text? Do you understand the vocabulary? Who is speaking? Which focalization are you dealing with? You can already start noting some leitmotivs and even the text’s tone. 

Example: 

I for example noticed that in “Because I could not stop for Death-“a recurrent motif was death which is, strangely enough, approached with a whimsical and light tone. Furthermore, I did not know what a “tippet” or a “tulle” was. Therefore, I did not hesitate to quickly find their definitions on the Merriam-Webster website. I also noticed how Emily Dickinson capitalized the nouns in the poem, which is something that I had noticed in her other works before. 

5) A common rookie mistake

In math, if you realize that you must apply Pythagoras’ theorem in order to answer a question, you do not suddenly announce Thales’ theorem because it is simply “applicable”. It does not make any logical sense. Well, this is probably one of the most common mistakes (that I have noticed) people make in literary analysis. You should never write about the structure and form apart from the other elements of your analysis. Ask yourself why the author would write that or what it brings to the text. For example, do not say that there is an alliteration without saying what this device adds to the poem. On the other hand, at this stage, note on your copy everything that comes to your mind, even if you do not exactly know why the author has decided to use this. You might not incorporate everything you notice in your essay, but you will find this to be useful in the next steps. 

In my case, I asked myself the questions: How is the text organized? Is it a traditional organization (like a sonnet, for instance) ? 

What is the meter?

Are the sentences built in a particular manner? 

Are there any noticeable rhythms? If so, are they ternary? Binary? 

Are there any rhymes? If so, what type of rhymes? 

Example:

This is what my copy of the poem looks like once I have asked myself these questions:

6) Analysis :

It is now time to try to link all of the information that I remarked beforehand. This also constitutes of finding common ground between content and form. Now, on my blank piece of paper, I elaborate the rhetoric devices that I noticed in the previous step and try to notice an evolution in the text and consequently, its meaning. Additionally, I try to think about how the text’s structure underlines the writer’s intention. 

Example:  

Rhetoric devices: 

A more thematic approach: 

7) Intertextuality 

Mentioning other texts connected with the one that you are analyzing, whether they handle the same themes, are written by the same author or are from the same literary movement adds an interesting element to your analysis since it puts your text in perspective and settles it onto a larger scale. 

Example: 

A poem that strongly reminds me of “Because I could not stop for Death-“ is John Donne’s (1572-1631) “Death be not proud” (1633). Despite the difference in time period, death is also personified in this poem since it is being addressed. Additionally, we can find the theme of immortality with “One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally” or with the powerful paradox which ends the poem “death, thou shalt die”. Exactly like in “Because I could not stop for Death-“, in “Death be not proud”, death is a concept that is approached without fear by the speaker. Nevertheless, a major difference that we can note is that in John Donne’s poem, the persona confronts and dares to sermonize death meanwhile the speaker in Emily Dickinson’s oeuvre gives us the impression of passiveness.

8) Online resources, articles 

One of the best ways to progress in literary analysis is to read the work of others, especially university professors or other specialists in the field. While reading some articles, I sometimes truly have the sensation of having my eyes opened and having my perception of a text changed. Moreover, if you are writing an essay on a certain text, this is the perfect way to adorn it. Personally, I absolutely adore JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/) (maybe a little too much come to think of it) since the articles are much more stimulating and erudite than anything written on “Cliffsnotes”, “Shmoop” or “Sparknotes”, which are competent if you don’t understand the text at all (even though I sometimes don’t agree or find what they write upright too simple and even borderline wrong) but won’t bring any originality to your essay . If you sign up on JSTOR, you get to view six articles every month (not sponsored by the way) but if you pay or if you are a professor or a student, you can get unlimited access. I especially recommend JSTOR if you have a specific theme from the text in mind that you would like to have a better grasp of since the articles tend to be very precise. 

If you speak French and your text is French, Hatier’s “Profil d’une oeuvre”s are a necessity. In short, they are small books centered around specific literary oeuvres (you can pretty much find any important book in French literature). They usually make anthologies of analyses of poets’ most famous poems and consecrate an entire book to novels. You do not need to read the entire analysis since the book is conveniently structured : you can find a part dedicated to thematic analysis, to the novel’s structure, to the historical context… 

That is it for today! I know that this is a different post from the usual but I thought that you might find it interesting to see a walkthrough of how I confront a literary text since I personally really like reading these types of posts. So see you next time and have a splendid week! ミ．．ミ

Margaux Emmanuel © 2018