Text Analysis: Structure, Cohesion, and Authorial Voice

Elements of Text Analysis

Fundamental Text Organization

A text is typically organized into three distinct parts: introduction, development, and conclusion. The development of a topic can exhibit linear progression. This progression might involve presenting diverse aspects (fragmentation) or consistently elaborating on a central theme (constant development). Understanding how an issue is presented, potentially drawing from various sources or perspectives, is key to its analysis.

Text Typology

Expository Texts

• Feature: To explain or inform about something, aiming for understanding.
• Structure: Typically follows an introduction-development-conclusion pattern.
• Techniques: Uses non-verbal supports (e.g., graphics, diagrams) and verbal supports (e.g., title, subtitles, bold text, italics, section breaks).
• Linguistic Characteristics: Often employs attributive clauses, apposition, and subordination of consequence.
• Common Examples: Found in exams, academic notes, informational brochures.

Argumentative Texts

• Function: To convince or persuade the audience.
• Structure:
  • Introduction: Presents the thesis and aims to create a favorable disposition in the recipient.
  • Development: Defends arguments and refutes counterarguments.
  • Conclusion: Provides a synthesis and reinforces the thesis.
• Techniques: May use dialogism (engaging with other voices), polyphony (multiple perspectives), and citations.
• Linguistic Characteristics: Features verbs of opinion or argument (e.g., argue, believe, assert), logical ordering (e.g., 'on one hand,' 'firstly'), subjective/evaluative adjectives, adverbs of manner/degree, and irony.
• Common Examples: Editorials, letters to the editor, critical reviews.

Understanding Textual Cohesion

Core Principles of Cohesion

Textual cohesion refers to the linguistic elements that connect different parts of a text, ensuring it is well-organized and its information can be easily assimilated by the receiver. Cohesion is achieved through two basic types of mechanisms:

1. Reference: Mechanisms that allow elements to refer to other elements within the text or in the context.
2. Connection: Mechanisms that manifest semantic relationships between two or more items, usually within the text.

Reference Mechanisms

These are linguistic elements (e.g., pronouns, determiners) that refer to another element (the referent). The referenced element can only be fully interpreted if its referent is known. Reference helps avoid repetition and makes explicit the relations between different parts of the text. There are two main types:

References Outside the Text (Exophoric Reference / Deixis)

These mechanisms refer to elements in the extralinguistic context. Deixis establishes these connections.

• Personal Deixis: Pronouns (e.g., I, you, they), verb morphemes indicating person, possessives.
• Spatial Deixis: Demonstratives (e.g., this, that), adverbs of place (e.g., here, there).
• Temporal Deixis: Adverbs of time (e.g., now, then, yesterday).
• Social Deixis: Reflects social relationships, status, or degree of familiarity between interlocutors (e.g., formal vs. informal address, such as 'You may pass, please!' versus 'Go ahead.').
• Discourse Deixis: Refers to parts of the discourse itself (e.g., 'As mentioned above...', 'In the next section...'). It can be:
  • Anaphoric: Referring to items already mentioned.
  • Cataphoric: Referring to items yet to be mentioned.
• Determination: The use of determiners (e.g., definite articles like the, indefinite articles like a/an) helps present nouns and indicates whether they are considered known or unknown to the reader/listener.

References Inside the Text (Endophoric Reference)

These mechanisms refer to elements within the text itself.

• Anaphora: A word or phrase refers back to an earlier word or phrase (the antecedent) in the text. Anaphoric resources include:
  • Third-person pronouns (e.g., he, she, it, they).
  • Adverbial pronouns (e.g., there, then).
  • Relative pronouns (e.g., who, which, that).
  • Demonstratives (when referring to textual elements).
• Cataphora: A word or phrase refers forward to a later word or phrase in the text.
• Ellipsis: The omission of a redundant element that can be understood from the context.

Lexical Cohesion Mechanisms

These involve relationships between vocabulary items:

• Synonymy: Using words with similar meanings (e.g., beautiful – attractive).
• Antonymy: Using words with opposite meanings (e.g., hot – cold).
• Hyponymy/Hyperonymy: Relationships of specificity.
  • Hyperonymy (general to specific): e.g., flower (hyperonym) – rose (hyponym).
  • Hyponymy (specific to general): e.g., rose (hyponym) – flower (hyperonym).
• Repetition: Repeating key words or phrases for emphasis or clarity.
• Collocation: Words that frequently occur together (e.g., strong coffee).

Authorial Voice and Intent

Sentence Purpose and Modality

The purpose or intention behind a sentence contributes to its modality. Modality is expressed through various linguistic resources, especially syntactic ones, which aid cohesion and help interpret the speaker's/writer's intent. Common sentence types by purpose include:

• Declarative (Enunciative): To make a statement.
• Interrogative: To ask a question.
• Exclamatory: To express strong emotion.
• Imperative: To give a command or make a request.
• Dubitative (Hesitant): To express doubt or uncertainty.
• Desiderative (Optative): To express a wish or hope.

Modalization: Subjectivity and Objectivity

Modalization refers to the degree of subjectivity or objectivity expressed in a text, reflecting the author's attitude, opinion, or stance.

Subjectivity Markers

These indicate a personal perspective or evaluation:

• Personal Deixis: Use of first-person (I, we) and second-person (you) pronouns.
• Verbs Expressing:
  • Feelings (e.g., regret, feel, hope).
  • Cognition/Speech (e.g., think, believe, suggest, argue).
• Evaluative Language: Subjective adjectives (e.g., wonderful, terrible) and adverbs (e.g., fortunately, surprisingly).
• Subjective Quantitative Expressions: (e.g., many, few, a lot, too much).
• Derivational Morphemes: Diminutives, augmentatives, pejoratives that convey attitude.
• Modal Verbs and Adverbs: Expressing obligation, probability, possibility (e.g., must, should, might, perhaps, probably).
• Interjections: (e.g., Oh!, Alas!).
• Addressing the Receiver Directly: (e.g., 'You see?', 'Consider this...').
• Rhetorical Questions
• Figurative Language: Irony, metaphor, hyperbole.

Impersonality Markers (Objectivity)

These aim to present information as factual or detached:

• Impersonal Sentences: Using constructions like 'It is necessary...', 'There is/are...'.
• Impersonal Verbs/Constructions: e.g., 'It seems...', 'It appears...', 'One might find...', 'It is said that...'.
• Passive Voice Clauses: Shifting focus away from the agent (doer of the action).
• Use of Infinitives or Nominalizations: To express general truths or actions without a specific subject.
• Formal Language and Precise Terminology.
• Absence of First-Person Pronouns.