Eight Steps to Writing a Literary Analysis Essay
1.Carefully read and annotate the literary texts:
To begin an essay, you first should become familiar with the literature you will write about. Read the story/poem several times. Write notes in the margin of the text or use sticky notes to jot down your thoughts and impressions of what you read. Some potential things to notice include:
•What role does setting have in this story?
oHow does the author create this setting?
If figurative language is used, what is significant about the author’s techniques?
•What interests you about the story?
•What do you find disturbing about it?
•What did it teach you?
•Are elements of the story similar to others you’ve read? Do any of these elements serve as symbols and/or allegories? If so, how do these symbols and/or allegories connect to the theme of the story?
•What is the pace of the story like?
oHow does the author create this pace?
oHow does this pace connect with the storyline and theme?
•What is the main character like?
oHow do you know this? What about his/her clothing, speech, etc. affects your perception of this character?
Annotations help you to read the text closely and prompt you to think about it in various ways.
2.Brainstorm potential topics and select one that interests you (be sure to include the three
literary techniques required in the assignment in your brainstorm activity)
In the class, you have been supplied with a general topic based on conflict. However, it’s up to you as the writer to devise how you will narrow a topic and find a specific subject to write about. It’s best to write on a conflict that interests you. What conflict in what story/poem/play do you find most compelling? Once you decide on a conflict, you can then begin brainstorming about it. Many brainstorming techniques and templates exist; several can be found on this page: http://www.eslflow.com/brainstorming.html.
In selecting a topic, make sure you devise one that you can easily defend using examples and evidence from the literature.
3.Write a working thesis
On a blank piece of paper, jot down a “working thesis” that will help you focus on the main idea of your essay. A working thesis does not mean that this is the final thesis for your paper; rather, it will help you direct your thoughts and assist you in sketching out an outline (and eventually your draft).
Tips onWriting a Thesis:
•It should be specific, concrete and detailed.
•It should focus on a specific conflict and explain why that conflict is important to readers.
•It should convey the essay’s central point.
•It should include the title of the text that you are writing about.
•It should be arguable.
•It should NOT have any use of the first person (“I” statements).
•It should be one sentence long. (For very long papers, a thesis can be longer; however, for the paper you are writing for this class, one sentence is sufficient).
One place to get started is the “Thesis Generator” found in the Ashford Writing Center: https://awc.ashford.edu/writing-tools-thesis-generator.html.
Some examples of a “working thesis” include:
•Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein expresses a conflict between humans and science; the novel shows how humans do not understand nor take responsibilities of the scientific creations they unleash on the world.
•The novel Gone With the Wind tells of the Civil War and how that conflict not only destroyed people, but allowed some people to prosper, creating a “nouveau riche” class that no longer depend on land to define their status or create their wealth.
•The spy thriller, James Bond, shows that the Cold War conflict centers on how to prevent the villain, who wants to dominate the globe, from using a deadly technological weapon that can annihilate millions of people.
•Okonkwo’s inner conflict and ultimate demise in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is analogous to the conflict and downfall in the tribe, thus revealing the tribe would have “fallen apart” regardless of the missionaries’ arrival.
•Sir Gawain’s struggle with the Green Knight in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is symbolic of the struggle all humans have when confronting their own mortality.
Note: Notice how each working thesis example contains the word “conflict.” This word helps to focus your writing on a specific kind of conflict. This is a suggestion, but is not required.
4.Research and collect evidence (this includes collecting evidence on the three literary
theories that you need to discuss in the essay)
Now that you have a working thesis, do a bit of research and create a list of evidence to support it. Your research may lead you to change your thesis, which is fine since a working thesis is meant to be revised and changed. Evidence should come from both the primary texts (which is the literary works themselves) and secondary resources.
5.Select the best evidence and Interpret It.
With a list of evidence on hand, select the evidence that can best represent your thesis. When you select the evidence, take time to interpret it and write down that interpretation. Whenever you use a quote, it’s best to follow it with an interpretation in your own words. What do the quotes you’ve taken from the text mean? Write that meaning as you understand it.
6.Write an outline
You can find many outline templates online, including a Word template embedded in your Word program. There is also an outline guide at the Ashford Writing Center: https://awc.ashford.edu/writing-tools-outline.html
7.Write from the outline
Think of your outline as a “to-do” list for your essay; you will need to flesh out all the ideas on it. You don’t need to start at the introduction. Start with a body paragraph – write a topic sentence that connect with your thesis, find supporting evidence for it, and comment on that supporting evidence. Do this for each body paragraph
You can write your introduction and conclusion last. Remember the thesis should be in your introduction, and the introduction “points to” what you will argue. The conclusion should recapitulate the thesis and “point back” at the argument you just made.
8.Revise and Develop
This is the step where you make sure that ideas are fully developed, that the order of ideas makes sense, and that paragraphs are connected with transitional language. You might look for sentences that are awkward and/or redundant wording. READING YOUR PAPER OUT LOUD is a fantastic tool to use at this stage. For additional help at this stage, visit the Writing Reviser in the Ashford Writing Center at https://awc.ashford.edu/writing-tools-writing-reviser.html. You can also visit http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/rst/pop5e.cfm.
9. Proofread and Edit.
This is the stage where you look for small errors, run spell check, changewording,
etc. Make sure all your evidence, quotes and sources are citedproperly in APA!
Checklist:
A.___________ Have you carefully read and re-read your text and annotated it?
B.___________ Have you fully brainstormed your topic and arrived at a single, specific, focused topic?
C.___________ Have you written a working thesis that will help you explore and develop your topic?
D.____________ Have you done your research and collected evidence?
E.____________ Have you selected your best evidence to use in the paper and write your interpretations of quotes?
F.____________ Have you written an outline?
G.____________ Did you write your draft from your outline?
H.____________ Have you revised your rough draft? Have you re-organized your draft and added transitional phrases between paragraphs? Have you revised your working thesis into a final thesis?
I.____________ Have you thoroughly proofread and edited your paper? Are all your in-text citations in place and correct? Is your reference page formatted in APA?
Best wishes for a successful literary analysis!
