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seem like an incantation. The syntax itself reinforces the narrator’s progress from
1
observation to reflection or even meditation. By the end of the passage, we have a
DIFFERENTIATION sense of the narrator’s ease as he seems to float from idea to idea. Note, too, that the
shifts in syntax parallel shifts in diction. In the shorter, more straightforward sentences,
Scaffolding the narrator is a keen observer of details in the natural world; as he moves into longer,
Ask students to consider the statement Analyzing Short Fiction more reflective thoughts, his language becomes more abstract. He has moved from the
“shifts in syntax parallel shifts in diction.” external physical world to the interior realm of thought.
Ask students to analyze the shifts in the
Gatsby paragraph specifically focusing
on the impact of repetition of specific KEY QUESTIONS
figurative language. Analyzing Syntax
© Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.
• What is the order of the words in the sentences? Are they inverted?
• How do the sentences connect words, phrases, and clauses?
• How do the sentences build on each other to create meaning?
• How is the passage organized? Is it chronological? Does it move from concrete to
abstract language, or vice versa? Do you see any other patterns?

TRM Suggested Responses activity Analyzing Syntax
Suggested responses to the activity on Carefully read the following passage from There There by Tommy Orange. In this
this page can be found in the Teacher’s excerpt the young narrator, Dene, describes reading to Maxine, who is his guardian.
Resource Materials. Analyze how Orange uses syntax to reveal Dene’s understanding of his experience of
reading.
TRM Annotation Handout from There There
A student handout for annotating this text Tommy Orange
can be found in the Teacher’s Resource
Materials. Maxine makes me read to her. . . . I don’t like it couldn’t feel before reading it, that makes you
because I read slow. The letters move on me feel less alone, and like it’s not gonna hurt as
sometimes like bugs. Just whenever they want, much anymore. One time she used the word
they switch places. But then sometimes the devastating after I finished reading a passage
CLOSE READING words don’t move. When they stay still like from her favorite author — Louise Erdrich. It
Ask students to look carefully at the that I have to wait to be sure they’re not gonna was something about how life will break you.
syntactical structure found in the sentences move, so it ends up taking longer for me to read How that’s the reason we’re here, and to go sit
from “I like it, though” (column 1) to “It them than the ones I can put back together by an apple tree and listen to the apples fall and
was something about how life will break after they scramble. Maxine makes me read pile around you, wasting all that sweetness. I
you” (column 2).You may wish to read her Indian stuff that I don’t always get. I like it, didn’t know what it meant then, and she saw
this section out loud to students. In a though, because when I do get it, I get it way that I didn’t. She didn’t explain it either. But we
quick write, ask them to identify their down at that place where it hurts but feels read the passage, that whole book, another
own emotional attitude in response to the better because you feel it, something you time, and I got it.
cadence. What does it feel like? Do they
feel exhilarated? Anxious? Excited? Ask
them to justify their responses. 32

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32 chapter 1 / Analyzing Short Fiction

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