Adding Insight & Evaluation
- Anyone can say, “This quote shows anger.” But when you dig deeper and ask, “Why is that important? What does it reveal about the character, society, or human behavior?” that’s insight.
- It proves you’re not just identifying effects, you’re interpreting meaning.
- Here's a step-by-step approach to ensuring you can effectively evaluate and add insight.
Global Issue Example
How patriarchal structures suppress female autonomy and emotional expression
Sample Text: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Extract: Act 3, when Nora prepares to leave Torvald.
‘I must stand quite alone if I am to understand myself and everything about me.’”
Step-by-Step Breakdown
Step 1: Start with a clear observation linked to a quote
- “In Act 3 of A Doll’s House, Nora tells Torvald, ‘I must stand quite alone if I am to understand myself and everything about me.’”
- This line is your anchor: strong, revealing, and relevant.
Step 2: Identify a technique
- “The personal pronouns and repetitive sentence structure (‘I must stand quite alone… I must think things out for myself’) highlight Nora’s shift from dependency to self-assertion.”
- Simple technique + clear function = solid foundation.
Step 3: Analyze how this links to the global issue
- “Through this decisive language, Ibsen challenges patriarchal norms, showing that Nora’s emotional awakening is only possible once she steps outside the role society has forced on her as a wife and mother.”
- This connects directly to the global issue: female suppression under patriarchy.
Step 4: Add a smart implication
- “The fact that Nora must leave to reclaim her voice implies how entrenched gender roles are: self-discovery and emotional autonomy become impossible within the marriage structure itself.”
- This shows you’re thinking beyond the extract and connecting it to bigger ideas.
Step 5: Evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s choice
- “While some audiences might see her exit as extreme or selfish, Ibsen’s unflinching portrayal of her departure forces viewers to reckon with how social norms can make emotional growth impossible for women. It’s provocative, but precisely because it breaks convention.”
- This is the high-level thinking examiners love: evaluating impact and considering audience response.
Final Product (Polished 1-Minute Analysis)
In Act 3 of A Doll’s House, Nora declares to Torvald, “I must stand quite alone if I am to understand myself and everything about me.” The repetition of “I must” and the emphasis on personal pronouns highlight her growing determination to claim emotional independence. Ibsen uses this moment to expose how deeply patriarchal structures restrict female selfhood, Nora realizes that as long as she remains in her traditional role, her thoughts and feelings will never truly be her own. The fact that she must physically leave her home to discover herself suggests that emotional liberation for women is incompatible with the expectations placed on them by society. While her decision may have seemed shocking to 19th-century audiences, that shock is what makes Ibsen’s critique so effective. He doesn’t soften the blow, he demands reflection, pushing audiences to question the very foundations of domestic life.
