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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.
Writing a literary analysis
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 (No hits)