Creating patterns

Now, let’s use the idea of patterns to help us analyse the poem.

Writer create patterns in texts through a technique called linguistic foregrounding or highlighting.

Linguistic foregrounding is when some features of the language stand out in some way. These are usually important parts of the text which the author signals as crucial to our understanding.

This linguistic foregrounding can take several forms: the sounds, spellings, vocabulary, word order, meaning, and appearance.

Two forms of foregrounding are:

1.Parallelism

The creation of linguistic patterns through repetition

2.Deviation

The breaking of established patterns, norms and expectations

In the next step, we will use this approach to help our analysis of the poem.