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How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay
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Terminal Course Objective Four (4):
Analyze and evaluate individual works according to their basic literary elements.
Terminal Course Objective Twelve (12):
Evaluate the significance of selected critical works.
SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAYS
ASSIGNMENT
You will write two literary analysis essays for this class; one will be on a short story, the other on a poem, of your choice.
The first essay will be due Week Six, the second will be due at the end of the semester. (This second
essay may be substituted by a class excursion to either a poetry reading or play, if you prefer. We will discuss this more
in class.)
You should choose a short story or poem from your textbook that is NOT covered in class. If you'd like to
write on a work that is not in your textbook, approve it with me first.
Your paper should be four to five pages, normal font and margins, and follow these parameters:
ANALYZE, DON'T SUMMARIZE
A SUMMARY merely recounts the events of the story in shorter form. It tells what happens. This is
not appropriate for a literary essay, which should critically analyze the work.
An ANALYSIS breaks something down into its component parts. When a doctor analyzes an ill patient, he is
breaking down the symptoms to determine how the body is functioning (or not) and what is wrong.
When a car mechanic analyzes your car, he looks at all the parts to see how they are functioning
as a whole. The same is true in a literary analysis: you break the work of literature down into
its component parts (called literary elements)and analyze how they are
functioning in the story to create the whole effect of the work.
Since there are many literary
elements in any one story or poem, you can't possibly analyze the whole thing in an essay for this
class. So you will choose ONE literary element in the story, and look at how it is operating in
the story to contribute to the theme.
SOURCES
DOCUMENTATION IS NECESSARY:
You MUST adequately cite your critical analysis essay as you learned to do in your Advanced Composition class, or
the essay will receive an "F" and you will be cited for plagiarism. This means that you
will include:
In addition to your primary source, use TWO secondary sources (one print source, one internet source):
PRIMARY SOURCE = The story, poem, or novel you are writing your paper on
SECONDARY SOURCE = Critics' and others' writings about the story, poem, or novel
a bibliography (a "References" or "Works Cited" page)
in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases and summaries
correct format: APA or MLA; you will be marked down for incorrect format
for more information on documentation, you may refer to
Documenting Sources; ask me if you still need some assistance
WRITING THE ESSAY
Introduction
The introduction should be one to two paragraphs, depending on how long your essay is. The introduction can contain any
of the following, depending on the needs of your story:
Catch the reader's interest and lead gently towards the statement of your thesis.
Give information on the historical/political/social context of the story.
Give background information on author's life, writing style, works, or themes.
Summarize the work you are writing on in 2-3 sentences (required). (This is the ONLY place in your paper that you will summarize.)
Last sentence of the introduction should contain the thesis statement (required):
Thesis
The thesis statement states the purpose of your essay, the point you are trying to
prove. It should be the last sentence in the introduction. It is the most important part of any essay, and contributes 50% towards effectively
accomplishing your job, as it directs and controls the whole essay.
The thesis statement is one sentence, and in a literary analysis essay, it must contain FOUR (4) elements:
Title of story, poem, or novel
Author's name
Literary Element
Theme
The pattern of the thesis should go something like this:
In [Title of Work], [Author] uses [Literary Element] to show/reveal [Theme].
EXAMPLE: In "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson uses irony to show the insidious nature of society's need to find a scapegoat.
OR:
In [Author's Name Possessive] [Title of Work], [Literary Element] shows/reveals [Theme].
EXAMPLE: In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the symbolism of the black box shows the oppression and entrapment of meaningless rituals and social tradition.
In any case, you must have author and title of work included in your thesis, and state that the literary element in the story reveals the theme, rather than vice versa.
SOME THOUGHTS:
See also: Developing Ideas into Thesis Statements for more information.
If you are writing a 300 page dissertation, you would have the space and time to focus on the
whole story and all its literary elements. Since you are just writing a five page paper, you must
focus your paper on ONE literary element in order to do an effective job.
The theme should be UNIVERSAL; that is, it should not explicate what is happening to the specific characters in the story, but should reveal some truth about society or humanity or people in general, across time and place.
The literary element will reveal the theme -- NOT the theme reveals the literary element.
There is no one and only theme to any story; it is a dynamic work of art and changes according
to reader and context. However, your explication of the theme through your literary element must
be logical and make sense.
Quote short works, underline long works. Short stories, poems, articles, individual episodes of shows should be quoted;
novels, books, magazines, newspapers, anthologies, movies, TV shows should be underlined.
Body
In the body of your paper, you will NOT summarize, or merely tell what happens in the story.
You will ANALYZE. This means that your paper will focus on instances in the story/poem
that the literary element presents itself. You will cite examples of that literary element, through
quoting or paraphrasing the instance of its presence in the story, and then you will discuss its
significance; that is, how it demonstrates the theme.
Conclusion
Sum up your thesis and what you have accomplished in your essay.
For more information... see also Chapter 27 of your Roberts and Jacobs textbook, as well as the ends of each chapter, which discuss writing for literature some more.
Good Luck! and contact me with any questions....kperkins@faculty.atl.devry.edu.
Additional Information and Links
Some websites to help you as you proceed:
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