What's the best approach for an unseen prose commentary?

Of course, the first thing to do when you see a passage of prose for commentary, whether it is seen or unseen, is to read the extract, but don't just skim over it; make sure you are thorough. It's a good idea to take a coloured pen into the exam with you to mark down anything interesting as you read it. The first thing to do, especially if you are nervous or panicking when faced with an extract, is to feature spot as much as possible. Look for the basics such as personification, pathetic fallacy, alliteration and make a note of them. But it is important to think about why they are being used - the difference between a B grade and an A* grade is often that the better candidate will really interrogate the text rather than simply listing literary devices. So, ask yourself why things are being used. Does alliteration in the sentence make it sound more staccato and forceful, or does it make the words flow together in a kind of sleepy haze? To do this you need to think about the meaning of the text and what kind of message it is trying to get across and fit your argument around that, so if the text is about a man grieving his wife then most devices that the writer employs will most likely work to intensify this grief. Even if you don't know why something is used, you can make an educated guess based on the context. If you have exhausted all the basic devices you should start looking for interesting language, are there any semantic fields or groups of words? Look for patterns of language that might be interesting to comment on so that even if you are confused by the general sense of the passage you will have something interesting to say. For example: a passage may refer to nature multiple times through different images (leaves, birds, sun, flowers) and this could be a way of expressing a feeling of liberation or happiness. Think about the connotations of language- nature usually carries positive connotations, so if it is used in a passage about death, then the writer might be intentionally distorting our perception of nature and commenting on the transience of the natural world. If any word or image is repeated then think about why that might be; if imagery keeps recurring then it is probably symbolic of something. You can rely on stereotypical conventions to understand symbolism (eg: a rose signifies romance, red signifies passion), but it is important to remember that any interpretation is valid as long as you back up your claims. A close analysis is for you to showcase your skills as a literary critic, so back yourself and have confidence in the validity of your argument.