The Literary Analysis
Paragraph
A McParagraph Model
A good paragraph is a like a good
hamburger…
Topic
sentence
Topic
sentence
Topic
sentence
Evidence/Support
Evidence/Support
Evidence/Support
Evidence/Support
Evidence/Support
Evidence/Support
Concluding
Sentence
Concluding
Sentence
Concluding
Sentence
okay
good
best
From Burger to Analysis Paragraph
Topic sentence
Context-Quotation-Citation
Explanation
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation
Explanation
Analysis
Concluding
sentence
Topic Sentence
•  Gives the main idea
of the paragraph
Context-Quotation-Citation •  In literary analysis,
Explanation
includes the element
or device
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation •  In a complete essay,
ties back to the thesis
Explanation
statement.
Analysis
Topic sentence
Concluding
sentence
Context
•  Sets up background
for your quotation:
Context-Quotation-Citation
who? to whom?
when? where? what
Explanation
is happening?
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation •  Tells reader what they
need to know to
Explanation
understand the
Analysis
quotation
Concluding
sentence
Topic sentence
Quotation
•  The actual words from
the text
Context-Quotation-Citation •  Make it as brief as
Explanation
you can by cutting out
the fluff!
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation •  Limit yourself to a few
words or short
Explanation
phrases, if possible
Analysis
•  Incorporate/blend into
Concluding
your own sentence
sentence
Topic sentence
Citation
Topic sentence
Context-Quotation-Citation
Cite according to MLA
format:
“quote quote” (4).
Explanation
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation
Explanation
Analysis
Concluding
sentence
novel: page
(#)
poem: line
(#)
essay: paragraph (par. #)
play: Act.Scene.Lines
(2.3.10-12)
Explanation
•  Interpret/summarize/
paraphrase what the
Context-Quotation-Citation
quotation means or
what the author is
Explanation
saying or doing
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation •  Try using “Here” to
start your sentence:
Explanation
Topic sentence
Analysis
Concluding
sentence
“Here the author
indicates/shows/
demonstrates…”
Analysis
•  Connect the quotation
to the literary device to
Context-Quotation-Citation
your topic sentence
(and your thesis
Explanation
statement)
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation •  What is the writer’s
effect/purpose?
Explanation
•  Use words like “effect”,
Analysis
“because”, and “in
Concluding
order to”
sentence
Topic sentence
Concluding Sentence
•  Refers back to the
topic sentence (and/
Context-Quotation-Citation
or thesis statement)
Explanation
•  Include the name of
the rhetorical device
Analysis
or literary element
Context-Quotation-Citation
•  Connect to overall
Explanation
theme/purpose
Analysis
Topic sentence
Concluding
sentence
Analysis Paragraph TOTALS
Topic sentence
ONE literary/rhetorical
device
Context-Quotation-Citation
Explanation
Analysis
Context-Quotation-Citation
Explanation
Analysis
Concluding
sentence
TWO pieces of
evidence from the text
EIGHT sentences
minimum
In “Civil Disobedience”, Henry David Thoreau uses metaphor and imagery in
order to show his readers that unless citizens make deliberate and thoughtful
decisions about their participation in government, they can become
Topic
dehumanized by the system. In the fourth paragraph, Thoreau writes that “the
Sentence
mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with
their bodies… [putting] themselves on a level with wood and earth and
C-Q-C
stones” (par. 4). Here Thoreau compares the majority of people in a society to
non-living materials often used in construction. He uses this imagery in order to
E
explain that these people follow the laws of their government unthinkingly,
giving up their free will to serve the state; such people, Thoreau contends,
A
might as well be tools of the government rather than humans. Another
example of metaphor can be found in paragraph 11, where Thoreau issues a
C-Q-C
call to all conscientious citizens: “If the injustice is a part of the necessary
friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go… but if it is of such a
E
nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say,
break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine” (par. 11).
A
Here Thoreau compares the system of government to a mechanical machine,
recognizing that all machines (and all government systems) have natural,
Concluding
frequently self-correcting, friction, but also insisting that a thoughtful citizen
Sentence
should draw the line at becoming an “agent of injustice” to another citizen. He
uses this comparison of government to machine and individual citizen to
“counter-friction” in order to further his comparison of men to unthinking
machines. Ultimately, Thoreau uses these images and comparisons to support
his point that citizens of a government must be thoughtful and deliberate about
their role in their government or lose the very free will that makes them human.
Highlighting Code
•  Pink: Quotation/Paraphrase (Direct
evidence from the text)
•  Green: Analysis (HOW and WHY a writer
uses language, imagery, literary elements;
"because”/”in order to”/”effect”)
•  Yellow: Explanation/Interpretation/
Summary or anything else you add
In “Civil Disobedience”, Henry David Thoreau uses metaphor and imagery in
order to show his readers that unless citizens make deliberate and thoughtful
decisions about their participation in government, they can become
Topic
dehumanized by the system. In the fourth paragraph, Thoreau writes that “the
Sentence
mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with
their bodies… [putting] themselves on a level with wood and earth and
C-Q-C
stones” (par. 4). Here Thoreau compares the majority of people in a society to
non-living materials often used in construction. He uses this imagery in order to
E
explain that these people follow the laws of their government unthinkingly,
giving up their free will to serve the state; such people, Thoreau contends,
A
might as well be tools of the government rather than humans. Another
example of metaphor can be found in paragraph 11, where Thoreau issues a
C-Q-C
call to all conscientious citizens: “If the injustice is a part of the necessary
friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go… but if it is of such a
E
nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say,
break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine” (par. 11).
A
Here Thoreau compares the system of government to a mechanical machine,
recognizing that all machines (and all government systems) have natural,
Concluding
frequently self-correcting, friction, but also insisting that a thoughtful citizen
Sentence
should draw the line at becoming an “agent of injustice” to another citizen. He
uses this comparison of government to machine and individual citizen to
“counter-friction” in order to further his comparison of men to unthinking
machines. Ultimately, Thoreau uses these images and comparisons to support
his point that citizens of a government must be thoughtful and deliberate about
their role in their government or lose the very free will that makes them human.
Revise your paragraph for
Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
PROMPT
Describe the effect(s)
of Plato’s use of the
imagery of "chains"
and a "cave" to
describe the state of
the unenlightened in
the "Allegory of the
Cave".
PARAGRAPH FORMAT