How to write literary analysis essay
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March 19, 2021The literary analysis includes a thorough review of a text, evaluation of its context, and investigation of the author's language selection. It is used in stories, novels, plays, poetry, or some other literary medium.
What is a literary analysis?
A literary analysis is neither a rhetorical critique nor a synopsis of the plot nor a description of the novel. Rather, it is a type of argumentative essay in which factors such as the language, perception, and form of the text must be evaluated. It also evaluates literary components used by the writer to generate effects and communicate ideas.
It is essential to read the text carefully and craft a literary analysis thesis statement to concentrate on your article before starting your literary analysis essay.
Like any other essay, a literary analysis outline also has the following structure:
| Literary analysis essay sections | What it includes? |
| An introduction | It informs the reader about the subject of your article. |
| Body paragraphs | It uses text proof to construct a case. |
| A conclusion | It concludes the key argument you showed in your review. |
How to write a literature analysis?
Step # 1 - read the text and identify literary components
It is essential to read the text and make notes. While reading, pay attention to those items that are really intriguing, shocking, or even confounding in your review.
Your goal is to interpret the text and to explore how the text functions at a deeper level. It can not only clarify what is defined in the text but also analyse it.
You are primarily looking for literary instruments — texts that are used by authors to express meaning and influence. You should also search for similarities between different texts when comparing and contrasting various texts.
There are some main areas you can concentrate on during your literary analysis essay. When you study every aspect of the text, strive to see how they all interact. To track essential passages and quotations, you can use highlights or notes.
Identify the language and symbols used by the author
Think about the vocabulary style used by the writer.
- Are the phrases short and plain or more poetic?
- How fascinating or uncommon are the choices made for words?
- Do words signify anything other than their literal meaning figuratively?
The figurative speech contains stuff like
| Figurative speech | Example |
| Metaphor | She is an angel |
| Simile: | She is beautiful like an angel |
| Personification | Lightning danced across the sky |
| Alliteration (repetition) | Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter, and she bought some extra butter to make the butter better |
Symbols
An author uses symbols like objects, characters, locations, images, and motifs to describe a specific point or emotion, or situation.
Keep an eye on images in the text – repeated images which build or simplify a certain environment. Recall that in literary texts, vocabulary is used to mean more than that on the surface.
Example:
"I knew you would be astonished," laughed Désirée, "at the way he has grown. The little cochon de lait! Look at his legs, mamma, and his hands and finger-nails—real finger-nails. Zandrine had to cut them this morning. Isn't it true, Zandrine?"
Identify narrative voice
Pay attention to
Who's the narrator?
What's the way of narration?
A first-person narrator ("I") is concerned directly with this story, or is a third-party narrator telling us the distant characters?
- Note the viewpoint of the writer.
- Is the writer all-knowing (where he knows all of the characters and events), or has he just partial knowledge?
- Are they untrustworthy narrators that we need not pay attention to? Writers often indicate that their narrator can give us a biased or misleading account of events.
Often worth noting is the tone of the narration.
Example:
Will the story be humorous, tragic, or actionable?
Identify the text’s structure
You need to consider the structure of the text and how the structure applies to the plot.
Various written pieces are broken down in the following way:
- Novels: chapters and parts.
- Poems: stanzas, cantos and lines.
- Plays/dramas: scenes
You need to find out in what manner the author has chosen to break the text.
Structural elements that are less formal often have to be considered.
- Is the plot developed chronologically, or is it springing back and forth in time?
- Does it start in the media res—in the centre of the action?
- Should the storyline proceed to a strong climax?
You need to consider in poetry how the interpretation of the text shape rhyme and meter
Also, in a play, you should understand:
- how connections between characters are created across various scenes
- how the environment is connected to the action
You should note the dramatic irony, in which viewers know every detail the actors don't, giving their words, ideas, and acts a double sense.
Step # 2 - Write a literature analysis thesis statement
The argument you want to make about the text is your thesis in a literary review article. The central point gives your article direction, keeping it from merely a series of random remarks about a text.
You must answer your thesis or respond to the pace if you are given a prompt for your essay. For instance:
Example of the test query
Is this story based on real incidents?
Your statement of study should be a reply to this question — not a straightforward "yes" or "no," but a statement of why:
Example of thesis
This story is based on the young actress's real-life experience who died in her late 20’s due to cancer.
Sometimes you have the freedom to choose your own subject; in this case, an original thesis must be created. You should consider what was in the text for you. Ask yourself about the elements you were interested in, and see if you could respond.
Say that you analyse a short story Désirée's Baby. You could begin by asking:
How is Armand’s character depicted?
Your first response could be a summary of the surface level.
You should build the response in a more complex and argued thesis argument following reading the text and considering its narrative voice and structure.
Please remember that you will review your thesis argument during the whole writing period to not be fully conceived. The objective of your analysis is to keep you focused.
Use textual evidence
Your article will construct a case with textual proof to justify your literary analysis thesis statement—specific pieces of the document that show your claim. You must cite this proof to justify the arguments.
It might be helpful to review the text before you start writing in search of appropriate quotes. You can’t finish using what you found, but gathering written proof at an early stage can help you formulate your points to determine if they are compelling. You may also use this document to gather additional proof while you write.
Step # 3 - composing and adding a title
You will need two items to launch your literary review article.
The heading
Your title should explicitly show the emphasis of the study. It normally includes the author's name of the text that you study. You need to maintain it as straightforward and attractive as possible.
A typical approach to the title consists of using a quote from the text, a colon, and the title's rest.
Example:
“The edge of knowing”: Anne Caston’s “Anatomy.”
Don't hesitate if you want to get a decent title in the first place. It will be smoother when you begin to write the essay as you’ll be able to get ideas depending on your essay’s argument.
Introduction
The introduction to the literary analysis essay outline
gives a short overall picture of your point. It should include the topic and a description of the structure of the essay.
An introduction begins with standard information about the text followed by a thesis statement. You can respond to a usual understanding of the text, demonstrate how your study contradicts it, or talk about a certain component you want to concentrate on.
You should then finish off with a short indication of the central section of the essay. This is known as signage. It can be more detailed in longer essays, but it can’t be more than one sentence in a simple five-paragraph essay format.
Many students prefer composing the introduction later, and this is absolutely alright. After all, once you start writing your claims, you can better view the ultimate form.
When you first write the introduction, you can always go back to it later to ensure that it is consistent with what you wrote and edit when appropriate.
Step # 4 - the body paragraphs of the essay
The body of your essay is all the way from start to finish. It includes the important points and the supporting textual evidence.
Structure of the paragraph
A standard literary analysis essay format for a secondary school consists of five paragraphs: the three corporate paragraphs, plus an introduction.
You should concentrate on one subject in each paragraph of the main body. Always try to divide your essay into three major analytical fields in the five-paragraph format, both related to your study.
The same theory is used to a wider basis in longer essays. For instance, you may have 2 or 3 parts of several paragraphs in your main body. In these pages, at a sensible point, you still want to start new paragraphs — while taking a turn in the debate or while presenting a new point.
The sentences and phrases
It is important to use a thematic expression at the beginning of each paragraph to keep your points focused.
A strong subject phrase encourages a reader to see what the paragraph is all about at a glance. It can enter and link or contrast a new line of argument with the previous paragraph. For making seamless transitions use transitional words like always, moreover, nevertheless, and however, etc.
Usage of textual proof
An essential part of literary interpretation is to support the claims with valid textual evidence. This includes the inclusion and clarification of quotations from the text.
To make quotation contexts and clarify why you use them, it is important to correctly implement and interpret quotations, not treat them as self-explicit:
A quote should not always be used. Quoting is helpful when you talk about the author's words, but you often refer to plot points or narrative features that cannot be contained in a brief quotation.
In such cases, paraphrasing or summarising part of the text is more fitting — in your own language, that is, to explain the related part:
Step # 5 - write conclusion
You should not use fresh quotes or claims at the end of the analysis. It's just about completing the essay instead. Here should summarise the main points, and you strive to stress their importance to the reader.
A good approach is to outline the core points quickly and then emphasise the point that has taken you to highlight the new viewpoint that your study gives on the entire text.
