Text Analysis

Have a closer look at the text and you'll find out a lot about the structure of speeches. Why not analyse the text as follows:

• How is the text structured / organised? welcome
  achievements
  situation at the beginning
  situation now
  predictions about the future of EU
  conclusion
• How does the author segue from one topic to the next? To segue from one topic to the next, the author uses statements that apply to both topics.
• How does the author use stylistic devices like repetition or parallelism and why does he use them? Read the explanations on stylistic devices to find out the answer.
• Why does the author avoid stylistic devices of imagery, e.g. Metaphor or allusion? Note that the audience is a multi-cultural, multi-lingual one. Some metaphors or allusions might not be known in certain cultures or languages and in that case could not be translated effectively. For that reason, stylistic devices of imagery are usually not found in speeches to a multi-cultural, multi-lingual audience.
• How many words do the sentences have on average? Can you think of any reasons why? The majority of the sentences is short and simple. That's a typical feature in spoken texts. A reader can take up more information at a time than a listener. Therefore, pauses are very important in spoken texts.
• How many participle clauses can you find in the text? Why? Participle clauses are used to shorten subordinate clauses and to increase the density of information. As a listener cannot take up as much information at a time as a reader, participal clauses are only sparingly used in spoken texts. This text doesn't contain any participle clauses.
• How many sentences are in passive voice? There are only a few sentences in passive voice. Active voice makes a text more active and interesting.
• In how many sentences does the author use 'be' as a main verb and how often does he use active verbs? In most sentences, the author uses active verbs (instead of 'be' as a main verb). This makes the text sound more interesting, active and powerful.

Changed: 31st May 2004 19:08

URL: http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/events/eu-enlargement/declaration/exercises