In an interpretation, you try to understand the meaning and effect of a text. That’s why you also call the interpretation an interpretation or interpretation.

You can interpret different types of text: a poem, a short story, a drama or a book (chapter). For all types of text, you proceed according to the same pattern.

Interpretation definition

An interpretation is the interpretation of a text in the form of an essay. On the basis of text documents, you make an interpretation hypothesis for the core statement of the text and discuss it.

How do you write an interpretation?

In the first step, you analyze the text. This means that you break it down into its components and then examine the whole thing for certain characteristics. You can then interpret the work. This means that you assign a meaning to the results from the analysis.

Writing interpretation – preparation

In order to be able to write a good interpretation, thorough preparation is particularly important:

Task: You don’t always have to analyze and interpret the whole text. Sometimes you should only examine a certain part or feature. So find out what is required of you.

Read and mark: Take the time to read the text carefully several times. When reading, you color everything that seems important to you, e.g. B. Keywords, linguistic / formal abnormalities, stylistic devices, etc.

Text analysis: Examine the content, structure and linguistic design of the text template. Write down your results in bullet points.

Interpret: Think about why the author designed his text in this way. What is between the lines? Write down your ideas.

Interpretation hypothesis: In your opinion, what is the core message of the work? Can this be proven with the results of your analysis?

Outline: Develop a structure according to which you want to build your interpretation.

Interpretation – Structure

An interpretation consists quite classically of the parts introduction, main part and conclusion. An outline could look something like this:

Introduction

Major part

2.1 Summary

2.2 Interpretation hypothesis

2.3 Interpretation

2.3.1 Analysis of content + interpretation

2.3.2 Analysis of form + interpretation

2.3.3 Analysis of language + interpretation

2.3.4 Final interpretation

Conclusion/Conclusion

Writing an interpretation – introduction

In the introduction, you would like to lead your reader to your topic. But you also give him all the important information he needs to know about the text:

Title of the work

Name of the author

Year of publication

Text genre, e.g. B. Drama, poem, novel

Topic/short summary

For text excerpts: Classify text passage

Epoch (if known)

Interpretation hypothesis

Interpretation example – introduction: Goethe’s «Faust I» was already published more than 200 years ago, namely 1808. It is thus a typical representative of Weimar Classicism. Nevertheless, the drama about the scholar Heinrich Faust, who is committed to the devil in his search for knowledge, also in the 21st century. Century still relevance. Because fundamental problems of being human are dealt with.

Writing interpretation – main part

In your main part, you deal intensively with the text template. Now you can put the notes from your preparation into full sentences. You proceed in three steps: summary, interpretation hypothesis and interpretation.

Summary

First, as with a table of contents, you briefly summarize the content of the text. You present the most important figures and briefly reproduce the events in chronological order, i.e. in the correct chronological order. The goal is for your reader to know about the content of the text, even if he has not read it.

Interpretation hypothesis

Then you explain in a few sentences how you understand the text. You make a guess about what the key message could be. You also think about the author’s intention: With what intention did he write the work?

The interpretation hypothesis is a claim that you justify afterwards. To do this, you use the results you have developed in your text analysis. Quotes from the text serve as proof.

Interpretation example – Faust: Goethe designed his figure Heinrich Faust as a representative for the whole of humanity.

Important: An interpretation hypothesis always remains only a conjecture. There is no right or wrong – you only have to be able to prove your guess with text passages.

Sometimes your interpretation hypothesis is already given in the task. In this case, you will receive a question about the text, which you should answer with your interpretation. You can imagine such questions in German as:

Interpretation example – Erlkönig: Analyze Goethe’s poem «Der Erlkönig» and explain why it is a typical work from the Sturm und Drang.

Interpretation

You should then prove your interpretation hypothesis with passages from the work. So now it’s about interpreting the text. Depending on the type of text, there are different points that you have to consider. However, you can stick to this scheme in all cases:

Content design

Figures: How can the main characters be characterized?

Space and time: When and where does the action take place?

Outline: Into which sections can the text be divided?

Formal design

Narrative perspective: From which perspective is the events told?

With a poem: poem form, rhyme scheme, verse measure, cadences …

In a narrative: narrative levels, narrative time, …

Linguistic design

Type of language: everyday language, dialect, high-level language …

Stylistic means: Are rhetorical means used? What effect do they have?

Abnormalities: choice of words, repetitions, emphasis, contradictions, humor …

Classification into an epoch

Time of creation: When was the work created? Which literary currents come into question?

Historical context: What do you know about the circumstances of the emergence? Are there events/figures in the text that really existed?

Characteristics of the epoch: Do you recognize typical features of an epoch in the text, e.g. B. the focus on strong emotions in the storm and urge?

Own interpretation

Effect on the reader: How does the design of the text affect you? What mood is this causing?

Similarity to other works

Intention: What statement does the text convey? What did the author want to express?

Tips

You should never just list these points, but always interpret them the same way, i.e. interpret them.

Always prove your statements with quotes or references to a text passage! For example: «In line 33 on page 1… / In verse 12 …»

Write interpretation – conclusion

Finally, you draw a final conclusion. You summarize the result of your interpretation: Has your interpretation hypothesis been confirmed or are there reasons to refute it? Finally, you can express your own opinion objectively. It is often a good idea to transfer the statement of the text to the present day. What reference is there to the present?

Interpretation Example – Conclusion: It has been shown that Goethe deals with a fundamental problem of humanity in «Faust I»: the constant disregard and violation of one’s own borders. The outdated language does not always make it easy for the reader to follow the statements. However, once this obstacle has been overcome, the timelessness of this problem becomes visible. Even today, people do not want to stick to their limits. With their constant pursuit of more, they destroy the earth, which is noticeable as climate change.