Analysis Follow

Analysis: Alice Hoffman. The Story Sisters.

The discourse under analysis takes the shape of a text which is an extract taken from Alice Hoffman’s story “The Story Sisters”.

Two passages of this extract tell about a family where three young sisters created a world of their own, but they were not hiding, they did everything openly and the only person who suffered from these activities was their own mother who did not feel at ease in her own house.

The extract is divided into two parts which differ greatly.

To begin with let us examine and analyze the first part which represents I - narration, through the girl’s eyes. If we focus here on verbs we can notice that they are mostly the verbs of existence. They presuppose something permanent, natural and habitual. As a consequence we can say that action is not a characteristic of this part of the text.

If we look at nouns in this part we can find two semantic fields here. One of them concerns family, and include ‘mother’, ‘father’, ‘sisters’, ‘daughter’ and even ‘a cat’. Another semantic field concerns nature, for instance ‘wind’, ‘hawthorn tree’, ‘river’, ‘water’. In this occasion we can single out an opposition that lies in the fact that the family is people and the nature is ‘the lady’. ‘The lady’ in this part is represented by natural phenomenon.

The next thing to look at is adjectives. Adjectives in the first part refer mostly to the appearance in connection with the lady. ‘A big wind’, ‘tall reeds’, ‘cold water’ – all these adjectives come together with the semantic field of natural powers and phenomenon. One of the significant features connecting with ‘the lady’ is her metonymic description (for instance, ‘the gray lady’). The presence of the adjective ‘gray’ makes her character detailed and vivid. It can be noticed that when adjectives are absent in the text the narration looks rather dry but when they appear they are connected with natural phenomenon. It says of the fact that the girl is better aware of not her household but of outer world that can be probably her true house.

Further, we should look at adverbs. Their amount is very less according to statistics. It can be proved by almost an absence of an action. In general we find adverbs only in cases of any degree or comparison. For instance, ‘old enough’, ‘too young’. If we look at the beginning we will notice a phrase ‘once a year’. It says about a habitual action and an action a person is accustomed to. This frequency of one and the same action can presuppose any day of significance, in this occasion, probably, a Happy Birthday.

All in all, this part looks rather dry, without any succession of actions and full of any factual information. Such features are not habitual for a belles-lettres style, thus, this piece of writing can be compared with something folklore: a fairy tale, a legend or a parable.

Now let us look at the lexis of the second part of the extract. According to nouns, we can notice that their average number is below the norm. Here we also come across with the semantic field of family but in this occasion except of father.

Moreover, proper names in this part appear. By using proper names for girls the author makes them more specified. Besides, the appearance of proper names helps to identify each of the girls in isolation. But finally they are brought together by the unified ‘all’ (it expresses the idea that each of the girls has her own abilities and skills but they still have something in common. They were a unity that does not need anybody.

If we refer to the appearance we can find something mysterious and strange as we come across with a ‘startling combination’ of ‘long dark hair’ and ‘pale eyes’. This combination makes people have different opinions of the girls as there is something to think about them. Somehow people cannot understand them thoroughly. The following phrases can prove the above mentioned facts: ‘people were charmed’, ‘lovely hear, musical’, ‘Elv’ instead of Elisabeth. As for the later one, the short name Elv can be compared with a magical creature of elf who presupposes some mystery.

In the analysis of this part we should mention an opposition between two worlds. One of them describe reality (house, room, familiar street), the other one describes the girls’ own world and reality (private, shared language; secret world; another world; musical). In this part there is not a component that can be an intermediate one between the two. In the first part it was ‘lady’ who brought together two worlds.

If we examine the incidence of adjectives in this part we will notice that they exceed the norm. Mostly they characterize the girls’ appearance and their beauty. As it was already mentioned ‘the startling combination’ between ‘dark hair’ and ‘pale eyes’ emphasizes unexpectedness as this combination is not usual and looks rather dramatic. Another group of adjectives in this part describes the girls’ reality and their own language, in particular we can find such words as ‘private’, ‘secret’, ‘shared’.

The phrase ‘secret language’ does not presuppose here the fact that the girls were hiding from anyone. They did everything openly. Thus, in this occasion the adjective ‘secrete’ presupposes something mysterious and private, known only for the girls.

Furthermore, such adjectives as ‘far away’ and ‘inaccessible’ also add to the girls characters that they were not from this world.

Summing up we can single out three types of adjectives here: 1)those that speak about the girls’ beauty and their appearance, 2) those that speak about characters (diligent), 3) the girls’ communication with other people and their own private world (far away, inaccessible).

Now let us look on the grammatical structure of sentences, primarily, in the first part. The structure of the whole part is noted for the simplicity of style that reminds of a child’ speech who can only enumerate things and events without identifying causes, details, etc. All the sentences in this part are given asyndetically except for one sentence, beginning with a conjunction ‘but’.

In this part we can notice the repetition of one and the same sentence structure. It lies in the repetition of a complex sentence with a subordinate clause of time. It is a means of cohesion as identical structures can help to achieve structural continuity.

Another prominent fact in this part is that we can come across with the appearance of rhythm. In the very last paragraph of this part there is an outstanding sentence that has two subordinate clauses. Such a sentence is not typical for this part as it slows down the tempo of the narration and looks forward to the future actions. A number of further sentences with the asyndetic connection indicate quick succession of actions. This combination of a long sentence and some short ones creates a rhythmical pattern in the text.

Turning to the second part of the text we face dramatic changes. This part is more extended as we find here oppositions, adverbial modifiers, and attributive clauses that all make the test descriptive.

In this part we again come across with the same sentence structure (complex sentence with a subordinate clause of time) that connects two parts and makes the text brilliantly coherent.

If we concentrate on the very last sentence we can notice that it is the biggest one and its norm is above. The conjunction ‘but’ spoils the previously introduced atmosphere and creates an opinion of bewilderment and perplexity. Moreover it can be mentioned the device of suspense here as the main clause of the sentence is postponed and stands in the end.

The effect of mystery is also achieved in the second part. Here we come across with alliteration. We can single out numerous words with either [s] or [z] sound. For instance, ‘disciplined’, ‘dancer’, ‘sisters’, ‘secret’, ‘sleep’, ‘self-reliant’, ‘else’. The sounds in words presuppose whispers, voices, whistles, in general unpleasant sounds. They are added to creepy atmosphere of the second part and to emphasize the mother’s feelings. They also create the effect of creepy and nervous atmosphere. Thus, we can notice that the two parts have this trait in common but the effect is produced differently.

If we look once again at the very last sentence of the text we will find there a disguised simile where the daughters are compared with clouds and the key to the comparison is that the girls were far away, they were not with others. This simile adds to the whole message of the extract that lies in the absence of real closeness and cordiality between close relatives.

In this text we see the mother as a stranger in her own house, as she constantly comes across with the unknown things in her own house. In their tern girls were in their own private life and did not worry about anything and anybody. They felt at ease and did not need anybody. They were not ashamed of their language and activities.

Thus, summing up we should say that in this extract we come across with a bitter irony that lies in the variance of the people’s attitude towards the girls and the mother’s feelings. To the people the sisters were ideal and mysterious, as they lived in their own world unknown to anyone. They were inaccessible and obscure for the outer world; they look happy and were like magical creatures. And only for the mother they were as they were at heart. For her the situation was not so optimistic and bright. She was not happy as her own house has turned into a strange place.