Interpreting texts is especially popular in German classes. Here, however, rather with the teachers, because the students present many a selected poem or text with a great puzzle. It is not that difficult to write an interpretation. Whether poem interpretation or text interpretation: In our guide we show you what you should pay attention to and that in an interpretation structure and correct strategy already facilitate the actual writing.
Write interpretation- preparations
When you are asked to interpret a text or write a poem analysis, there is no single correct solution to writing an interpretation correctly. It is important that you grasp the author’s intention and the message of the text by reading between the parts. Tips to make writing easier:
- Take your time. Start by giving the text a thoroughly to read, perhaps several times.
- Underline, Mark, makes you notes at prominent points and keywords for example, with highlighter. This is important, because later you should always prove your claims by citing the text passages.
- Look at your interpretation as a big picture and create a red thread Instead of a stringing together of facts. Orientate yourself on the goal of your interpretation, the reference to your poem or text Hypothesis.
- For a successful structure of the interpretation for a short story, another text, or a poem, it is best to resort to the writing in three sections back.
The correct structure when you write an interpretation
1. Introduction
The introduction comes first in the structure of the interpretation. In your introduction you name:
- Author and Title of the work
- Text type (short story, poem other text)
- Literary Epoch or Year of publication
- Classification the passage you have in the whole work if possible (in case of text excerpts)
- A very short Summary of the content (a more detailed summary of the content follows in the main part. Some teachers only want the topic to be mentioned in the introduction). Clarify here using the 5 W questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
- You can also write a first Hypothesis hint
Plan enough time before writing the interpretation to read the text.
2. Main body
When writing your interpretation, put the main focus on the main part. Here you can go into detail about the content and structure of the text and also examine the language. First follows the Formal analysis of the external form of the text.
- If you have not already done so, state your thesis here.
- What do you expect when you read the headline??
- How is the formal structure, which topics are taken up??
- Is the text set in the present or in the past??
- Narrative perspective: What form of narration is it?? first-person narrator, personal narrator, or omniscient (authorial) narrator?
- Characterizes the main characters based on the text passage
- What linguistic devices are used? Is the use of rhetoric for clarity or did the author want to emphasize something??
This will lead you to the actual Interpretation and to the inner text form. Classifies the text passage in the epoch of literature and then interprets the text excerpt. By emphasizing individual passages, repetition, the use of metaphors and other stylistic devices, the author pursued an intentional. What did the author want to say? What message did he have and does he expect you to get in the text what the headline promised? Or is it contradictory?
3. Conclusion
If you want to write an interpretation, you should pick up your initial hypothesis in the conclusion: Has it been confirmed? Take a stand on the text, relate it to the present. Is it timeless and currently valid? What are the key elements in favor or against? Evaluates the poem or short story. Justify factually what you found appealing and what not.
Here are the structure of an interpretation and tips again briefly summarized in the video for you:
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