Topic 10 (session A) - Prose analysis > Bilgewater: Speech & thought presentation > Task F > our answer

Bilgewater: Speech & thought presentation

Task F - Our answer

The first clause of S 14 begins with narration, but from the dash onwards it becomes free indirect thought (FIT), and this is the case for the rest of the extract. Note how the lexis becomes highly evaluative and the pronoun used changes from 'she' to 'you'. These look like the sort of features you would typically find in DS - relevant to the character rather than the narrator. But the tense is still appropriate for the narrator, so we have a narrator/character mix deictically. There are also no reporting clauses, another typical signal of FIS, and the elliptical sentence structures of S 15 and S 16 help the idea that we are experiencing the free flow of the character's thoughts. As a consequence, we have now moved further into the mind of the candidate, witnessing her thoughts rather intimately as she thinks them. This kind of movement into the expression of her thoughts is a major factor in helping us to feel sympathy with her.

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