Order 1082249: How to Write a Literary Analysis Esssy

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Unit Two Materials/How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay.html

Before you start drafting your Unit One Essay, read pages 26-35 of our textbook about writing an essay on a work of literature. This reading along with the following handout will help as you write literary analysis essays for this class. 

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay 

            Good writers try to get ideas across to their readers, but they do not want to be so obvious about the meaning of their work that readers do not learn something.  When readers closely examine and draw conclusions about the meaning of a piece of literature, they are analyzing the work. 

            The goal in a literary analysis is to share a clear and convincing interpretation of a literary work or some portion of it.  The analysis may concern the overall meaning of the work, or involve a certain aspect such as character, theme, point of view, symbolism, etc.  When deciding what to tackle in analyzing a literary work, consider some of the following questions:

 

  1. What is the point the author is trying to get across?
  2. Is the author trying to tell us something about ourselves, our lives, our values, our relationships, etc.?
  3. How do the characters help to get the author’s point across?
  4. Is there an overriding conflict between characters, and why is that important?
  5. How does the setting fit into the work and its meaning?
  6. Why is the narrative written the way it is, and how does that relate to the meaning?
  7. Why did the author choose these words? What do they suggest—what is their connotation?
  8. How and why does the author use symbolism?
  9. How does a specific critical approach, moral, historical, new critical, structuralist, feminist, Marxist, psychological, archetypal, deconstructionist, or reader-response apply?                                         

 A literary analysis will require a close (detailed, careful) reading of the work.   A perfunctory one-time reading will not be sufficient.  Literary analysis includes analysis (examining and/or breaking down) and interpretation (explaining or defining).

Third person point of view and present tense are standard in literary writing.  Make your points, but do not use pronouns such as I, me, we, us, our, you.

 Basic Outline of Paper

  • The basic outline of any essay is to include: an introduction, separate body paragraphs (there can be—and often need to be—more than three), and a conclusion. If any of these parts are missing, you do not have a complete essay.
  • Indent each of your paragraphs, or your reader may not be able to tell that there is more than one.

 Introduction

  • The first sentence of your introduction should be your lead-in. A lead-in is a broad statement which leads your reader to think about the general subject you’ll be addressing. However, it shouldn’t be too general. Don’t discuss society or world issues or even symbolism as a whole. Instead, just say something about the author or the work to lead in to your specific point about it (your thesis). Your lead-in needs to be clear and engaging.
  • Be sure to name the work, its author, and when it was first published early in the introduction.
  • Your introduction must be at least three sentences long. It should prepare the reader for the concepts of the thesis.
  • Your thesis should be the last sentence in your introduction. A reader should be able to open your paper, look at the last sentence of your first paragraph and know immediately what the point of your paper is. Do not state your thesis before the last sentence of your introduction. If you do this, your reader will assume that the last sentence of your introduction is your thesis, and your paper will no longer be making a clear point.
    • A thesis is a single sentence which tells the reader what point you will be proving in your paper.
    • Everything else in your paper should clearly relate back to your thesis.
    • You do not need to include a summary of what each body paragraph will say in your thesis. The reader will find this out reading the paper.
    • Do not wait until after your introduction to state your thesis. If you do this, your reader will have no idea what your paper is about.
    • Do not use demonstratives such as “I will . . .” or “This paper will . . .” or any variations thereof in your thesis. Simply state the point the paper will be making.

 Body Paragraph

  • Each body paragraph should clearly support your thesis.
  • The first line in each body paragraph should be your topic sentence.
    • A topic sentence gives the main idea of the rest of the paragraph.
    • Everything in the rest of the paragraph should clearly relate back to the topic sentence, which, in turn, will relate back to the thesis.
  • If a body paragraph goes on for a page or more, you have switched topics somewhere and need to find where. Then, begin a new paragraph on this idea.
    • Be sure that discussions of the same topic are kept in the same paragraph. If you find a discussion of the same idea in a later paragraph, move it back to the paragraph with the topic sentence which it most closely fits. You can use as many paragraphs as you need, so long as you follow these rules.
  • These body paragraphs are where you will use and analyze quotes and evidence paraphrased in your own words from the work you are discussing to help prove your thesis.
    • Use only relevant quotes and paraphrase. Each one should clearly relate back to and help support your thesis.
      • Do not summarize. Assume the reader of your paper knows the work of literature you are analyzing. Only use evidence which help to prove your thesis. Ask yourself before using each example how this particular piece of evidence helps to support your thesis. If you don’t know the answer, leave it out.
      • Do not use examples from your life, your friends’ or family’s lives, the news, etc. in these paragraphs. These are not relevant. Focus, instead on an analysis of the work itself.

  

  • Use a quote, or paraphrase from the work to backup or illustrate your point. You can also, depending on the assignment, evidence from critics who support your thesis and/or answer any critics who argue against your thesis.
    • Whether your evidence is from the work or critics, you must interpret and discuss the quote or paraphrase in relation to your point.  
    • You must always clearly introduce your evidence. In any sentences that have a direct quote, you must always have some of your own language.
    • Include an internal (parenthetical or in-text) MLA citation for each quote or paraphrase. For example: (Walker 11).
  • You must analyze every example you use in your paper and link them back to your thesis. DO NOT quote or paraphrase without interpreting. There is a reason for why each quote and example is being used in the paper. Explain how each one helps to prove your points.
    • Do not just rephrase the evidence. Focus on analyzing its meaning as it relates to your thesis.
    • Do not say “This means . . .” or “I think/believe this means . . .” Simply state your analysis of the piece of evidence and how it relates back to your thesis.
    • Do not use words such as could, perhaps, or may. Be confident in your interpretation.
  • Don’t begin or end your body paragraphs with a piece of evidence.
    • If you begin a paragraph with a quote or paraphrase, you do not have a topic sentence. This means that the reader will not understand what point you are proving with this body paragraph.
    • If you end a paragraph with evidence, you have not analyzed it. This means that the reader will not understand why the evidence is included in the paper or what point you are trying to make with it.

 Conclusion

  • A conclusion sums up the basic points the paper has already made. You do not need to go into detail here, as you did that earlier in the paper.
  • A conclusion should be at least three sentences long.
  • If you are stuck for a conclusion, look back over your introduction and see if there is something in it that you can refer back to in order to give your essay a sense of unity and completion.
  • Do not begin your conclusion with phrases such as in conclusion, in sum, in summary, etc. These are obvious, redundant, and are weak transitions.