Word Analysis (WA): If a word cannot be readily recognized, a reader tries to figure it out by applying the sound-to-symbol(s) rules she/he has learned. This process of "figuring out words" is called Word Analysis or word attack. Whether figuring out how to read or spell a word, the same phonics or word attack rules are needed. Word attack instruction entails teaching the patterns of letters that encode the parts of words and whole words that we say.