There were numerous points from this reading which I found quite interesting. The first being that there is no easy or straightforward way to explain what textual analysis is, how it to done, there are no step by step guidelines, or even the kind of information it produces. But as a starting point we can identify that when we do a textual analysis, we “make an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be made of that text.” So essentially, we are trying to guess how the majority of people will respond to a certain text.

Before we go much further, we should determine what we mean by text. A text is something we make meaning from. This could be a film, television show, new paper, anything. Thus, textual analysis is a way for researches to gather information about how other humans make sense of the world. 

Now, when attempting to predict how certain audiences will respond to a text, we must consider a few things. Firstly, no one interpretation is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ They are simply ones opinion and understanding of something. Therefore we must not say that a text ‘reflects reality’ because what they are really saying is ‘I agree with the text in its portrayal of the world.’

The other thing to consider in terms of how people will interpret a text is its context. By this I am referring to both the text’s context and the viewer. For example, if you take a film out of its original time period and place of origin, it may then be interpreted in a different way if placed in a different settle. A film created in the nineteen sixties which suggested that the womens role in the family was to stay at home and raise the children would be interpreted differently back then, to how it would be viewed in the twenty first century. Furthermore, a young male from England may view a film differently to how a older women from Ethiopia. This is because their life experiences would be so drastically different. Women in Ethiopia are not treated as equal to man and thus do not receive the same level of education. However, a young man from England would be given every opportunity to succeed in life. Therefore, we get these varying interpretations about a single text. Consequently, this is the reason why textual analysis is so complex and detailed.