LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY -

#1

American
Literature
 PURPOSE

● A literary analysis broadens

understanding and appreciation of a piece
of literature.
● Think as you read:
○ What theme is the author attempting to
convey? In other words, what is the author
saying about life and/or people?
○ What techniques are employed to convey
theme, mood, etc.?
 LITERARY ANALYSIS

● A literary analysis should focus on one or a

combination of the following major literary
elements to convey the theme of the piece.
● You will argue the theme in your thesis, not as an
element within body paragraphs.
● Theme is developed through use of other
techniques (symbolism, setting, imagery, etc.)
○ What message about life and/or people is the author
trying to convey?
 QUOTES

● An effective literary analysis essay relies upon

quotes to strengthen the analysis.
● A quote should not be more than a few words.
Generally, there is no need to quote an entire
sentence.
● Choose only the most important word(s) to
quote.
● Explain the quote without referencing it directly
by saying “This quote shows…” or “This
proves…”
● Cite all quotes: “Quoted” words (Page #).
 QUOTE INTEGRATION

● Quotes must be smoothly integrated into a sentence of

your own. Without quotations marks, the reader should not
be able to tell where your words end and the quoted words
begin.
● Contextualize quotes by providing the context and speaker
(if quoting dialogue):
○ When he hears her answer, Jessup “flies off the handle”
and tells her to “Get lost!” (94).
● If you need to change words within a quote, use brackets
[new word] around the new word.
○ After the trial, Scout tells Jem that she “heard [Miss
Gates] say it’s time somebody taught [the black people
of Maycomb] a lesson” (247).
 THE ESSAY

● This essay will be a 4-paragraph essay:

○ Introduction
○ 2 body paragraphs, each exploring one literary
element
○ Conclusion
○ No Works Cited necessary
○ Parentheticals (page numbers) are required
ESSAY STRUCTURE
 INTRODUCTION

The introduction should:

1. Hook attention (4-5 Sentences)
2. Transition sentences (connect hook to plot
summary)
3. Summary of story, including story title, genre, and
author (3-5 sentences)
4. Transition sentences (connect plot summary to
thesis) and introduce theme
5. Thesis
 HOOK STATEMENTS

● Start with an interesting or little-known fact:

○ As a young child, Charles Dickens was forced to work in
a shoe polish factory. In Hard Times, Dickens taps into
his childhood experience to explore the evils of social
injustice and hypocrisy.
● Start with the title and setting:
○ To Kill a Mockingbird, the award-winning book by Harper
Lee, takes place in a small town in Alabama during a
challenging period in American history.
 HOOK STATEMENTS CONT’D

● Start with a meaningful quote within the

work/story itself:
● “Are there no prisons?” This offhand question was the
response of Ebenezer Scrooge when confronted with the
tragic state of hundreds of fellow citizens in Victorian
London.
● Start with a surprising fact, an interesting piece of
information (cite the statistic properly):
● The rate of crashes for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10
times that of adult drivers aged 25 or older (Wisconsin
Department of Transportation).
 HOOK STATEMENTS CONT’D

● Start with a universal statement about people or

life:
● It is easy to love people when they’re lovable. It’s harder
when they’re not.
● Friendship is an important part of daily life and many
people find their friends to be very important to their
overall emotional and mental health. In The Outsiders by
S.E. Hinton, the characters experience the importance of
friendship on a daily basis since they rely on their
friends for almost everything.
● Education has long been considered a major force for
American social change, righting the wrongs of our
society.
 THESIS

The thesis will include the following elements:

● Author’s name
● Story title
● Literary elements - 2
● Action verb the author does with the lit elements
○ The author - exposes, challenges, explores,
questions...etc.
● So What?
○ Statement of theme (author’s purpose in this
piece)
 THESIS STATEMENT

● A thesis for a literary analysis must be

persuasive in nature.
● A formula for the most basic analysis thesis could
look something like this:
■ In (title), (author's name) uses (1st literary device) and
(2nd literary device) to (analyze/criticize/explain/etc.)
(some aspect of human nature).
■ In "If you Were Coming in the Fall," Emily Dickinson
uses simile and syntax to expose how people wait,
hoping to fall in love.
 SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS

● Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry

Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American ideals, one
must leave ‘civilized’ society and go back to nature.
● Through the characterization of Hester, Arthur, and Roger, Nathaniel
Hawthorne condemns the hypocrisy of Puritan society.
● Through the characterization of Paul and his experience at a Russian
prisoner of war camp, and especially under bombardment in the
trenches, Erich Maria Remarque realistically depicts how war
dehumanizes a man.
● In the characters of Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby himself, Fitzgerald’s The
Great Gatsby criticizes the corruption of the traditional American Dream.
● Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 novel Babbitt relies upon the author’s use of satire
to critique the ignorance, mediocrity and conformity of the American
middle class.

Sources:
http://www.chs.d211.org/english/
 Every year, more than 1,220,100 people are diagnosed with cancer. 36,600 of these cases
Attention-Ge
affect the limbs, including arms and legs. Although some cases can be cured by
tter/Hook
chemotherapy, others require amputation to take care of the problem. While they still have
their lives, people who lose a limb often feel as though they have lost much more. Sadly.
34,000 people die each year from cancer in these areas.
Transition The short story "Learning to Drive", written by Ron Rindo, tells the tale of one such
sentence unfortunate man.
Plot The protagonist, nameless throughout the story, had his leg amputated because of the cancer
summary that was threatening his life. He comes home from the hospital with a prosthetic leg and a
pair of silver crutches to be greeted by his three children and his daughter's boyfriend, Neon.
Everybody gives him gifts, even Neon. At first it seems as though the protagonist has
accepted his fate. He feels that his life should go on as usual, including his independence in
simple tasks such as taking a shower, climbing the stairs, and walking the dog. One day,
however, his doctors inform him that his cancer has returned and he will die. Immediately, he
slips into depression.
Theme At this point, the protagonist is faced with the decision of whether to continue wallowing in
Transition to self-pity or to overcome his problem and live the rest of his life with an optimistic attitude.
thesis Throughout the story there are certain items and events plainly incorporated into the story
line that serve as symbols for this process. They assist in explaining different emotions and
situations that are associated with working past barriers. Whether they are as simple as a
floor or as complex as learning how to drive, all of them have a profound impact on the effect
Thesis: lit the story will have on the reader.
elements Rindo effectively uses certain cars, items, and events in order to portray the process of
plus theme overcoming obstacles in life.
 BODY PARAGRAPHS: TIQA (3) + C

T - Topic sentence/Transition
I - Introduce Quote #1
Q - Give Quote #1 (integrated)
A - Analyze Quote #1 (support thesis)
T - Transition
I - Introduce Quote #2
Q - Give Quote #2 (integrated)
A - Analyze Quote #2 (support thesis)
T - Transition
I - Introduce Quote #3
Q - Give Quote #3 (integrated)
A - Analyze Quote #3 (support thesis)
C - Clincher
 TOPIC SENTENCES

● Topic sentences must:

○ provide the paragraph topic (lit element)
○ persuade the reader
○ support the thesis by including the So
What? from the thesis
 INTRODUCTION SENTENCES

● Introduction Sentences
○ Transition from the topic sentence to quote
○ Provides context of quote
○ Provides rationale for choosing upcoming
quote.
 INTEGRATING QUOTES

● Integrated Quotes (3 in each paragraph)

○ Choose quotes that support the topic sentence
○ Choose only part of a quote to use
○ Integrate the quote into a sentence of your
own
○ Cite each quote: “Quote” (#).
 COMMENTARY: SO WHAT?

● Each quote/evidence MUST be explained.

○ You have to tell me why it’s important and how it
supports your thesis (without saying shows)
● Answer So What? after each quote to reinforce
your thesis.
 CLINCHERS

● Effective clinchers:
○ restate the main point of the paragraph
(rephrase the topic sentence).
○ persuasively support the thesis by including
the So What? from the thesis.
● Ineffective clinchers:
○ simply restate the topic sentence.
○ say nothing, such as “That’s why sacrifice is
important” or “That is how this story has
symbolism.”
 TRANSITIONS

● Effective transitions within paragraphs:

○ Appear THREE times (minimum)
○ Signal new quotes/points
○ Connect ideas to create flow
● Effective transitions between paragraphs
○ connect body paragraphs to the one before it
with a transitional expression:
■ Ex: “In addition to sacrifice, healthy
relationships thrive when both people
develop trust within each other.”
 In "Learning to Drive" different objects, such as the floor, the dismantled Statue of
Topic Sentence: Liberty puzzle, and the cemetery, illustrate the way that people are able to
element and overcome the various obstacles that they face during their lives. Affected by a
Theme devastating event such as cancer, a person often ends up battered by the emotional
conflicts that accompany adversity.
In the same way, the floor was scuffed and dented where the protagonist had
Intro/explain
stumbled with his crutches. Thus, the floor represents the scars people carry after
supporting
detail #1 they battle with crisis. Originally, the tile was in perfect condition.
The protagonist says, "We have had the cleanest floors in the neighborhood for
Integrate
twenty-two years" (39).
quote
People can go through their lives with trivial problems—a money shortage, a broken
Analyze quote leg—and therefore have completely spotless surfaces until they find themselves
scarred by the difficulties they face, just as the floor was marked from the crutches,
the result of the protagonist's struggle with cancer.
So What? In an attempt to heal these scars, people will try whatever they can to remove
them. Elaine uses ammonia on the floor in an effort to clean the skid-marks and
scratches. Just as in real life, the ammonia only makes the eyes of the people
around the area water; it only adds to the pain of the situation. Although scars are
inevitable when facing hurdles, people are still able accomplish their goals.
Clincher: Continue pattern for TWO MORE supporting details
element and The tile floor, jigsaw puzzle, and cemetery are all symbols used to display how
theme people are able to overcome any obstacles they face with the right amount of
optimism.
 CONCLUSIONS

● An effective conclusion:
○ Restates thesis (different wording)
○ Summarizes each main point of paper in the
order discussed in body paragraphs
■ 1-3 sentence summary of each point
● A conclusion should come “full circle” and
return to the method used in the hook
● Reflect on how the author(s) developed
the idea from your hook
 Ron Rindo illustrates how his symbols of agony, faith, and reconstruction are
Restate important to produce the chain of events that leads to the final acceptance of
Thesis the challenges created by cancer and other such hindrances.
Sarah's red Pinto helps to show that nobody is perfect; everybody has
disastrous encounters with obstacles. Seeing the hearse tells how death will be
Summarize caused at some point by his cancer. The Toyota Corolla that he and his wife
body drive symbolizes the effort it takes to overcome adversity. How the
paragraphs protagonist's life falls apart is portrayed with the amputation of his leg. The
welcome home party assists in showing how the family works together to
accept his new life. The process of learning to drive again symbolizes a new life
and the overcoming of various difficulties. Using the ruined tile floor, Rindo
depicts the effect that dilemmas have on a person. The puzzle depicting the
Statue of Liberty's revolution stands for the loss of freedom with the loss of this
leg. A single piece of the puzzle may be viewed as the time where the
protagonist is struggling to rise from the shadows of the inevitable. The
cemetery speaks as the final acceptance of where his cancer will eventually
bring him.
Although this deadly disease affects over one million people every year, many
Connect to
find ways of dealing with illness. Overcoming the difficulties produced by
attention-g
cancer, millions of cancer victims, doomed to perish or not, adapt their
etter
lifestyles in order to continue living fulfilling and meaningful lives.