Learn » Writing and Speaking

Writing a Literary Analysis

Mr. Naymik — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:40:04 +0000

When you read for pleasure, your only goal is enjoyment. You might find yourself reading to get caught up in an exciting story, to learn about an interesting time or place, or just to pass time. Maybe you’re looking for inspiration, guidance, or a reflection of your own life. There are as many different, valid ways of reading a book as there are books in the world.

When you read a work of literature in an English class, however, you’re being asked to read in a special way: You’re being asked to perform literary analysis. To analyze something means to break it down into smaller parts and then examine how those parts work, both individually and together. Literary analysis involves examining all the parts of a novel, play, short story, or poem—elements such as character, setting, tone, and imagery—and thinking about how the author uses those elements to create certain effects.

A literary essay isn’t a book review: you’re not being asked whether you liked a book or whether you’d recommend it to another reader. A literary essay also isn’t like the kind of book report you wrote when you were younger, where your teacher wanted you to summarize the book’s action. A high school- or college-level literary essay asks, “How does this piece of literature actually work?” “How does it do what it does?” and, “Why might the author have made the choices he or she did?”

The following notes provide a definition and explanation for writing a literary analysis. Writing about literature is the only way to really learn how to do it, but this presentation provides the background.

[goog doc="dc4kzt6f_12ff395nfv"]Writing a literary analysis[/goog]

One skill necessary for writing a literary analysis is summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting. Also, refresh yourself on quoting material (quote sandwich).

An example is presented below. We will go over it in class. Use the practice sheet to select the right quotes and create your quote sandwiches for each main idea.

Writing an Analysis

Read carefully

Read carefully
Ask yourself question as you read
Take notes

Brainstorm

List ideas you might have and ask questions

What struck you?
Did you notice any patterns?
What confused you? Maybe you were surprised to see a character act in a certain way, or maybe you didn’t understand why the book ended the way it did.
Did you notice any contradictions or ironies?
What did it have to say about life?

At this point, you don’t need to know exactly what you’re going to say about your topic; you just need a place to begin your exploration. You can help direct your reading and brainstorming by formulating your topic as a question, which you’ll then try to answer in your essay. Question → Thesis statement

Write a thesis statement

Start with a thesis statement. You want to argue about what the author is doing in the story or how the story works. Here is a common pattern that can be modified:

In (title of poem/novel/play), (author’s name) uses (1st literary device), (2nd literary device), and (3rd literary device) to (show/criticize/explain/etc.) (some aspect of human nature).

The following is a possible thesis statement for a literary analysis based on a fairytale:

In “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Goldilocks is filled with misconceptions about the world around her but ultimately learns to accept things that are different.

Create an outline to visualize your support

I. Intro
a. Hook
b. Summary
c. Thesis
II. Goldilocks view of the world (bears)
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
III. How the bears actually are
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
IV. Goldilocks change
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
V. Conclusion
a. Restate
b. Interpretation
c. What’s the bigger meaning
I. Intro
a. Hook
b. Summary
c. Thesis
II. Goldilocks view of the world (bears)
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
III. How the bears actually are
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
IV. Goldilocks change
a. Evidence/Explanation
b. Evidence/Explanation
V. Conclusion
a. Restate
b. Interpretation
c. What’s the bigger meaning

Example essay

Example Essay

Click the picture to see how a lit analysis works

Goldilocks lit analysis practice Lit analysis practice Usher (2 hits)

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Quoting sources for your arguement

Mr. Naymik — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:17:00 +0000

An important skill for all upper level papers is the ability to quote other peoples’ words to back up your own. Review the notes from class on creating a “quote sandwich” that we will use later in writing a literary analysis.

[goog doc="dc4kzt6f_109d3skbvk"]Quoting sources notes:[/goog]

Note sheet

Quote sources notes

use this for the notes above

Practice with Cameras

Practice using quotes on camera essay

practice finding and using quotes from sources

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Writing Effective Paragraphs

Mr. Naymik — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:53:12 +0000

As we learn to write a literary analysis, it is necessary to write good paragraphs. All good paragraphs are focused on a main idea. This is usually expressed in a topic sentence. The key is to have the rest of the paragraph support this main idea. If you can learn to avoid irrelevant information that doesn’t contribute, you will be in good shape.

An essay is basically a giant paragraph. Supporting sentences back up a topic sentence. In an essay, body paragraphs back up a thesis statement. We learned about this when we did the five paragraph essay. Remember squish? This ideas is called unity.

Save the Reader

Another important concept is coherence. This refers to the order of information in a paragraph or essay as well as the way ideas are connected together (transitions). Order of importance and chronological order are the most common.

long in to take quiz

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Finding and fixing fragments

Mr. Naymik — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:03:56 +0000

Login, then double click on any blue section, make changes, then click the check mark. Save, continue at a later time or mark complete for grading. If you prefer to do this on paper, see me. (Works best in FireFox, but some I. E. ok)

, this assignment, Fragments, is not completed. Make changes, SAVE, then click "mark as completed" at the bottom.

Fragments: A fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought.

Fragment	Sentence
At the end of a long path	There is a hut at the end of the long path.
Walking in circles.	The girl, walking in circles, asked for help.
A pen, some notes, and a dictionary.	To the library she brought a pen, some notes, and a dictionary..

Select whether each group of words is a sentence or a fragment.

Since your appointment is later in the day. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
She enjoys waffles and ice cream. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
Two pounds of apples and a bag of potatoes. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
What you asked me yesterday choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
In the morning the police called. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
In the back room of the library. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
Because we wanted it very much. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
My friends, my family, and my teachers. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
This is the absolute truth. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment
Whom you asked me about. choose... sentence:sentence,fragment:fragment

Each item is a fragment. Edit the fragment to make a complete sentence.

In back of the book.
Feeling sad.
When she called.
Bread, milk, and soap.
Which you offered
If you can come.
Walking in the park.
Near us.
As they expected.
Along the road very close to the bridge.

Double click to enter article

Started: Jul 29 2010 21:10 | Updated: Jul 29 2010 21:10

Delete this | Mark as complete | View original | Help?

Started: 3 Completed: 1

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Translating tough passages

Mr. Naymik — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:33:45 +0000

A lot of things we read are either old and use difficult language or new and use big words and such, making them difficult to read. The only way to understand what the author is saying is put parts of the writing into your own words—essentially translating it into language that you understand. As we read the Declaration of Independence, The Crisis, and Letter from Birmingham Jail, use these steps to break down passages and put them into your own words.

Read the passage and try to get a feeling for what is going on.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

Then follow these steps to understanding:

Translating Notes

[Show as slideshow]

Click the slide to view the notes. The key is to replace information you don’t understand with information that you do.

The king has forbidden his governors to pass important laws, or if they do pass laws, they are temporarily stopped from taking effect till the king gives the ok; and when the laws are temporarily stopped, he has completely ignored the laws so they could never take effect.

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Active vs Passive Voice

Mr. Naymik — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:34:59 +0000

Active voice is usual the best way to write, as it sounds smoother and logically has the doer of the action as the subject. You can recognize passive-voice expressions because the verb phrase will always include a form of to be, such as am, is, was, were, are, or been. The presence of a be-verb, however, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is in passive voice. In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts.

Here are the notes from class:

[Show as slideshow]

Listen to the Grammar Girl episode on active and passive voice.

The homework exercises: Active vs Passive

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Formating typed papers

Mr. Naymik — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:07:41 +0000

All typed assignments in literature class must conform to the MLA format. Failure to do so will result in lost points for the assignment. Please don’t be lazy. This is a common format to all high school English courses and college English, History, and other humanities courses. Similar formats are used for science papers.

Example Page 2

Example Page 1

Double-space the text of your paper, and use Times Roman. The font size should be 12 pt.
Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.
Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin if your paper is more than one page.
Use a heading (double spaced like rest of page) that includes: your name, teacher’s name, class (title and period), and date (use due date).

You can download the two pictures here: Paper Format Page 1, Paper Format Page 2

Useful links:

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Audience Purpose Prompt Format

Mr. Naymik — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Recognizing audience, purpose, prompt and format in the things you write and the things you read is an important skill for effective communication. This is something we will work on all year. Here is a recap:

Audience: Who are you writing to? Who did the author intend to reach?

Purpose: What do you want to achieve with your writing? What did the author want to achieve?

Prompt: What is your motivation for your purpose? What happened to make somebody write something?

Format: What form is best for your purpose and audience? Who did the author intend to reach?

While I use writing here, APPF can apply to any form of communication. A movie, a song, a speach, sermon or myth (and much more).

For example, this Website has specific goals.

RAPPF

Audience: My students
Purpose: To provide information and resource; encourage learning
Prompt: Noticed students needing things missed in class; Realized the world is now online
Format: Web page(s)

Every form of communication, whether you produce it or someone else, has these things.

Here is the handout/homework from class: RAPPF (4 hits)

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Effective PowerPoint Presentations

Mr. Naymik — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:07:22 +0000

PowerPoint presentations can be a great way to enhance a presentation. Slides offer visuals for the audience to follow and allow you highlight important information. PowerPoint presentations are not, however, a report and thus should not be crammed with information.

Here are some tips to creating successful presentation.

Hints for a successful presentation

Plan carefully
Do your research
Know your audience
Practice your presentation
Speak at a comfortable pace and project to your audience
Avoid speaking quickly to include more content
Show enthusiasm for and interest in your topic
Time your presentation appropriately (PowerPoint’s Rehearsal feature lets you time your presentation)

Effective PowerPoint slides

First slide should include your presentation title, your name, class and date
Use design template to standardize position, colors and styles
Use colors that work well together (Such as yellow or white on a dark blue background. Avoid use of red)
Limit the information to essentials-you say more than what’s on the slide
Use effects, transitions and animation very sparingly
Limit the number of slides (no more than 12 for a 10-minute presentation)
Do not apologize for any slide. If the content is hard to read, redo it

Text guidelines

Generally no more than 7 words a line
Generally no more than 7 lines a slide
Avoid long sentences
Provide only key points on your slides
Larger font indicates more important information
Font size generally ranges from 18 to 48 point
Be sure text contrasts with background
Fancy fonts can be hard to read
Words in all capital letters are hard to read
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
Limit punctuation marks
Spell check and proofread your work

Clip art, graphic and other features

Use clip art, pictures, charts, tables and diagrams to enhance presentation content
Use sound and video when appropriate to content
Use a chart or graph to present statistics
No more than two graphics per slide
Limit the use of fancy transitions and animations

Here is an example of a good and bad PowerPoint slide:

Good PowerPoint

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Bad PowerPoint"][/caption]

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This is a general test post

Mr. Naymik — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:09:59 +0000

Testing of stuff in this post
ote: This function will not work if it is called from a wp_head action, as the ote: This function will not work if it is called from a wp_head action, as the