I. WHAT?
Observe what happens in the text: the plot, the conflict, the characters and the central themes.
The Basic Idea
A fictional analysis is built around three guiding questions. If you can answer them clearly, your analysis will already be thoughtful and convincing.
The Three Guiding Questions
These three questions will accompany you throughout the entire process.
II. HOW?
Study how the story is told: perspective, language, imagery, symbols and atmosphere.
III. WHY?
Ask yourself why the author has made these choices and what effect they have on the reader.
The core principle
A strong fictional analysis explains what happens in a literary text, how the story is told, and why these narrative choices create meaning and effect.
Step One: A Smart First Reading
Before you start analysing details, take a moment to understand the basic frame of the text. This helps you read with a clearer sense of direction.
Identify the frame first
- Author
- Title
- Text type
- Setting
- Main characters
- Central situation or conflict
Then read the text once
Only then should you read the text once from beginning to end, without interrupting yourself too often.
This first reading is not yet about close interpretation. Instead, try to understand the general situation, the emotional tone, and the moments that seem especially important.
A helpful trick
Pay special attention to the beginning and ending of the text or scene. In literary texts, these parts often reveal key tensions or ideas.
An Overview: Step Two, Three and Four
Once the first reading is done, the next part of the process becomes more focused.
Understanding the Content
(WHAT?)
Analysing Language and Narrative Technique
(HOW?)
Explaining Meaning and Effect
(WHY?)
Step Two: Understanding the Content (WHAT)
On your second reading, you slow down and look more closely at what actually happens in the text.
Break the text down
- Read one paragraph or one short section.
- Write 1–2 clear sentences explaining what happens there.
- Note important developments in plot, conflict or relationships.
- Move on to the next section and repeat.
This helps you understand how the text develops its meaning step by step.
Things to look out for
Plot
What happens?
Conflict
What drives tension?
Characters
What do they do or reveal?
Relationships
How do people interact?
Themes
What deeper ideas emerge?
Recognising these elements makes your interpretation more precise and controlled.
Step Three: Analysing Language and Narrative Technique (HOW)
Once you understand the content, you can turn to the way the text creates its effect.
What this step is really about
This step is not about collecting as many literary devices as possible. It is about understanding how narrative choices shape meaning and influence the reader.
Important literary features
- narrative perspective
- direct and indirect characterisation
- imagery and symbolism
- setting and atmosphere
- dialogue and silence
Further important factors
- Word choice: emotional, poetic, simple, concrete, suggestive
- Tone: tense, ironic, reflective, distant, intimate
- Sentence structure: short, fragmented, flowing, repetitive, complex
Always explain the function
- A symbol can suggest a deeper meaning beyond the literal level.
- A limited perspective can restrict what the reader knows and create tension.
- A certain atmosphere can shape how we interpret characters and events.
The best analyses connect literary form and meaning clearly and logically.
Step Four: Explaining Meaning and Effect (WHY)
Now that you know what happens in the text and how it is told, you can explain why these choices matter.
Ask yourself
- Why has the author chosen this perspective, structure or imagery?
- What does the text suggest about its characters, themes or world?
- What emotional or intellectual response is created in the reader?
- What deeper meaning emerges through the literary techniques?
Useful sentence starters
- The author uses this technique to highlight …
- This suggests that …
- The passage creates the impression that …
- By presenting the scene in this way, the author encourages the reader to …
Once you can formulate such ideas confidently, your interpretation becomes much stronger.
In one sentence
A fictional analysis explains what happens in a literary text, how the story is told, and why these choices shape meaning and effect.