Friday, 2 November 2012

Difference between form and structure



Always a tricky one, but essential for your Literary Heritage Controlled Assessment. Here's AQA's advice:


Form relates to the external shape of a text, determined by how it is presented on
paper, organised by stanzas/paragraphs, lines, syllables, rhyme, justification – best
thought of as a silhouette. It is a simpler thing to comment on because it is usually
visible.
Structure is more interesting because it goes beyond the visible – it is a matter of
the internal development and relationship between parts: structure is about the
internal skeleton and organs – best thought of as an X ray or CT scan, displaying the organic relationship between ideas, feelings and attitudes within a text. For example, the form of a sonnet is its 14 line length, its 8 line/6 line division and its rhyme scheme. Within that form the structure may be 8 lines of description leading to 6 lines of reflection, generalisation, resolution; or the mood may go from neutral to sombre, or from sombre and resentful to acceptant.