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WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Guidelines: Literary Analysis
41b
1. Select a topic. Choose a literary work that interests you. For ideas,
review “What topics should I consider?” at the start of this chapter.
2. Understand the work. Read it thoughtfully several times, looking
carefully at its content, form, and overall effect.
■ For plays, examine the plot, setting, characters, dialogue, lighting,
costumes, sound effects, music, acting, and directing.
■ For novels and short stories, focus on point of view, plot, setting,
characters, style, symbolism, and theme.
■ For poems, examine diction, simile, tone, sound, figures of speech,
irony, form, theme, and symbolism.
■ For songs, (1) use the poetry terms to examine the lyrics and
(2) use music terms to evaluate the score: harmonic and
rhythmic qualities, dynamics, and melodic lines.
3. Gather information. Take notes on what you experienced, using the
list above to guide your thoughts. Seek to understand the work as a whole
before you analyze the parts. Consider freewriting briefly on one or more
aspects of the work to dig more deeply into the work.
4. Get organized. Review the notes that you took as you analyzed the
work. What key insight about the work has your analysis led you to see?
Turn that insight or judgment into your thesis, and then order supporting
points logically in an outline.
5. Write the first draft.
Opening: Use ideas like the following to gain your readers’ attention,
identify your topic, narrow the focus, and state your thesis:
■ Summarize your subject briefly. Include the title, the author, and
the literary form or performance.
Example: “The Darkling Thrush,” a poem written at the end of the
nineteenth century, expresses Thomas Hardy’s gloomy
outlook.
■
■
■
Start with a quotation from the literary work and then comment
on its importance.
Explain the writer’s purpose and describe how well he or she achieves it.
Open with a general statement about life that relates to the focus
of your analysis.
Example: “Hardy compares the world to the dying day and winter.”
■
■
Begin with a general statement about the literary work.
Assert your thesis. State the key insight about the work that your
analysis has revealed.
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Guidelines: Literary Analysis
Middle:
Develop and support your thesis by following this pattern:
State the main points, relating them to the thesis of your essay.
■ Support each main point with specific details or quotations.
■ Explain how these details prove your point.
Closing: Tie key points together to focus your analysis. Assert your
thesis or evaluation in a fresh way, leaving readers with a sense
of the larger significance of your analysis.
■
6. Review and revise. Once you have a first draft written, relax for a
time, and then reread your essay for its logic and completeness. Check
whether you have supported each of your observations with evidence
from the literary work. Test your analysis with questions like these:
■ Did you explore the ironies, if present, or any important images,
vocal nuances, dramatic actions, shifts in setting, or symbolism?
■ Did you bring your analysis to a clear conclusion?
7. Get feedback. Ask a knowledgeable classmate, friend, or tutor to read
your essay, looking for the following:
■ An analytical thesis statement supported by evidence
■ Key insights into both content or meaning on the one hand and
form or style on the other hand
■ Supporting details that clarify what you experienced and how
you responded
■ Clear transitions between sentences and paragraphs
■ A tone that is respectful, honest, objective, and informed
8. Edit and proofread the essay. Once you have revised your writing,
clarified your transitions, and checked your evidence, polish the phrasing
and diction. Make certain your paper is free of awkward syntax or errors
in usage, punctuation, spelling, or grammar.
Web Link: Check that you have used literary terms accurately
in your essay. For help, review the literary terms found in The
College Writer’s Handbook website at <www.thecollegewriter
.com>.
9. Publish the essay.
■ Share your essay with friends and family.
■ Publish it in a journal or on a website.
■ Place a copy in your personal or professional portfolio.
■ If you wrote about a short story, poem, or song, consider sharing
both the artwork and your review with a high school English class.
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