How do I include analysis of language, structure and form in my essays?

The key with these three is to make sure you’re not treating them as separate categories and devoting entire paragraphs to each one. Instead, use the three to complement each other, and your analysis will not only sound more fluid, but you’ll also find including everything becomes far more natural. The best way to do this is to start small and then zoom out. For example, say you want to analyse the simile “Dark as the night”. Firstly, analyse the language. You might want to say something about the imagery of “night”. Next, zoom out, focusing on where that simile is in the text and how that adds to the meaning. If it’s at the start of the line, then this adds significance, immediately focusing the reader’s attention. If it’s at the end of a text, this adds to the meaning too, suggesting that the writer intended it to be a haunting image that the reader will remember long after closing the book. Structure also means grammar, so you might also want to look at the sentence type the image is in. Is it a short sharp sentence? Then it’s designed to have an abrupt impact. Do this, and you’ll have ticked the boxes of structure and language.

Form is easy to add into this too. The key with form is to make sure its clear what type of literature you’re talking about. If it’s a poem, then make sure you’re using terms like “stanza” and “line”. If it’s a piece of drama, then use terms like “dialogue” and “stage directions”. Weave these you’re your analysis, and you’ll have easily mentioned language, structure, and form in one go.