Level Two Definition:

If your Level One analysis explains and justifies how meaning is shaped through authorial choices, then Level Two explains how a “whole” within the text is achieved.

The best way to distinguish between a “choice” and a whole is by considering that the former is something which happens once within its context, but the latter is repeated or constant. 

For example, a “word” to describe a character’s appearance in one context only appears in that context once, and so this is a choice. However, the character is present for multiple pages, making them a whole

Based on the this description, elements which are more consistent or that are repeated can include:

• Character (either in fiction or a presentation of a real person in non-fiction)

• Setting (again, either in fiction or as a depiction of a real place in non-fiction)

• Symbols or Motifs

• A tone or attitude towards something

• A particular mood

• Rhetorical appeals

• Narrative structure or perspective

• The plot

Please remember that these “wholes” are always achieved through authorial choices. You must move from the effect of the choice to the creation or presentation of the “whole.”