Review of the Literary Analysis Essay

1. Review of the Literary Analysis Essay

2. MAIN PARTS OF LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

3. INTRODUCTION

4. Main Parts of Introduction • 1. Engaging Opening • 2. TAG line (in red in example paragraphs) • 3. Summary/Introduction to Subject • 4. Thesis • A. Thesis • B. Directional Thesis

5. Introduction Begins with engaging opening A very basic summary or background of the work. This is a concise 2-3 sentence description of the work’s setting, storyline, main characters, central conflict—what you deem basic relevant knowledge to the understanding of your paper. Answers “what is this work about?” Like an inverted triangle: Begin with broadest information that engages the reader and bring them to the narrow focus of your paper—THESIS.

6. Introduction-TAG • Introduction always includes the TAG line • Mention the title of the work, the author’s name, and the genre. This is often called the TAG sentence. The title of a poem or short story should be in quotations marks. The title of a novel or play should be italicized. The title of an article or short poem in quotations. • William Golding’s realistic novel The Lord of the Flies • In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible

7. Introduction—Opening • 1. Begin with a universal question or idea • For centuries philosophers have debated the question of whether man is innately evil. • 2. A scenario that relates or contrasts • As this is being written, a jury is deciding how hard Zacarias Moussaoui should be punished for his role in the tragedy of 9/11. The jury is faced with a central question: what punishment fairly meets the crime? The debate is not a new one—people have been arguing about appropriate punishment in criminal cases for hundreds of years. In William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, for example, the Prince must decide who should be punished and who should be pardoned in the wake of the deaths of the two star-crossed lovers.

8. Introduction Cont. • 3. Give information on the historical, social, or political context of the novel. Example of how to do this: From the mid 17th century to the late 18th, New England fell under a cold, deeply religious, and oftentimes brutal religion known as Puritanism. This religion combined the laws of God with the laws of society, and inflicted a dark tyrannical rule over all of its subjects. Nathaniel Hawthorne chooses to expose and criticize this very way of life in his cautionary tale, The Scarlet Letter. In this novel….. THESIS

9. #4 Use a quotation. A quotation can be something you have read in an article or another literary work. It can also be a quote from the text. • #5 Give background on the author’s life as it relates to his writing, or discuss how the author’s themes are meant to be interpreted within the text. Because Nathaniel Hawthorne saw much pain and suffering in the world around him, he often criticized those who believed in the inherent goodness of humankind. In each of his major novels, Hawthorne exposed the evil intrinsic to all humans; and the harrowing effects of this evil. In his acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne chronicles the life of Hester Prynne, a woman caught between the freedom of her own spirit and the dark laws of a Puritan Boston. (rewrite in present tense)

10. The THESIS statement • The central idea or point you are trying to get your reader to accept. It is the statement of the subject and purpose of your paper. • IT MUST BE A DEBATABLE CLAIM • Ex. Nathanial Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter depicts Puritan New England in the late 1600’s. • Presents your readers with the subject of your essay and the claim you are making about this subject. • EVERY PARAGRAPH AND EVERY DETAIL MUST RELATE TO YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.

11. SAMPLE THESIS • The following four elements should be found in your thesis sentence/statement for literary analysis: • 1. Author’s name or reference to author’s last name (In this play, Hawthorne…) • 2. the title of the author’s text or reference to work or reference to it (In this play, … • 3. the element you are writing about (literary element—ie. Symbolism, irony etc) • 4. theme • FORMULA: In [title of text], [author] uses [element] to show/reveal [theme].

12. EXAMPLES • In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses dramatic and verbal irony to reveal the hypocrisy of humankind. • In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the contrast between light and dark to expose the good and evil in a Puritanical society. • In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the symbol of Pearl is used to show the beautiful frailty of the human spirit. (change “is used to show”) • In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes the symbolism of the scarlet letter, the scaffold and Pearl to reveal the effects of sin and guilt upon the individual.

13. Directional Thesis • This statement tells us the direction the paper will take to develop the thesis. Think of it as the “roadmap” of the main points to be developed in the essay. • In a five paragraph essay, it will point out your three main paragraphs

14. THESIS STATEMENT Throughout the play, Miller uses dramatic and verbal irony to address the hypocrisy of the townspeople. DIRECTIONAL THESIS STATEMENT In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes the symbolism of the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the scaffold to reveal the effects of sin and guilt upon the individual in a morally rigid society. Directional Thesis Statement

15. BODY PARAGRAPHS

16. BODY PARAGRAPHS • Topic Sentences-Claims • Lead-in --- Context to Concrete Detail • Concrete Details-Evidence • Commentary-Analysis • Concluding Sentence

17. 1: TOPIC SENTENCE • The main idea that controls the entire paragraph • EVERY TOPIC SENTENCE MUST DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE CLAIM YOU HAVE MADE IN YOUR THESIS STATEMENT

18. 2. LEAD-IN TO CONCRETE DETAIL • This is the context for the concrete detail you have selected. • Avoid leaving a quote standing by itself. • For example, if you are introducing a quotation you need to explain who is being quoted and the context for the quote…Connect the dots for the reader • When the boys first start a fire on the mountain, Piggy holds the conch and attempts to speak. Jack rebukes by saying, “The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain, so you shut up” (Golding 39).

19. 3. CONCRETE DETAIL-EVIDENCE • These are the indisputable FACTS that support your claims • The best evidence comes in the form of quotes • Ex. When the conch is first blown, it brings everyone together: “Ralph found his breath and blew a series of short blasts” (Golding 16).

20. HOW TO INTEGRATE CONCRETE DETAILS-QUOTES

21. Integrate Quotes: Focus • 1. Use an introductory phrase or orienter plus the quotation. Ex. In this poem it is a creation, not the creator, that is superemely awesome. (claim) The speaker asks, “What immortal hand or eye / Dare frame thy fearful desire?” (orienter, then quote) Ex. Gatsby is not to be regarded as a personal failure. “Gatsby turned out all right at the end,” according to Nick. (quote, the orienter)

22. Integrate Quotes: Cadillac 2. Use your own assertion and a colon plus the quotation Ex. Fitzgerald gives Nick a muted tribute to the hero:“Gatsby turned out all right in the end” (176). Ex. Vivian dreams of achieving her goal by destroying Merlin’s: “I have made his glory mine.”

23. Integrate Quotes: Rolls Royce • 3. Use your own assertion with quoted material integrated Ex. For Nick, who remarks that Gatsby “turned out all right,” the hero deserves respect but perhaps does not inspire great admiration.

24. 4. COMMENTARY • An intelligent, concise interpretation of how the concrete detail supports your topic sentence • Once you introduce the facts, it is your job to • ANALYZE-the concrete detail • PROVE – how it relates to your topic sentence At the beginning level, you may use the following after you have introduced a quote. This quote illustrates ___________________________. This imagery portrays __________________________. The narrator conveys ___________________________.

25. Shows Reveals Illustrates Describes Explains Portrays Creates Expresses Constructs Demonstrates Illuminates Evince (show) Exhibit (show, demonstrate) Exemplify Signify Verbs for Commentary and Analysis

26. 5. CONCLUSION • Briefly restates what you proved in your paragraph and may include a transition to next paragraph

27. Formula for Writing • Topic Sentence that supports thesis (may include transition from a previous paragraph (TS) • Lead-In to concrete detail (provides context for evidence) (LI) • Concrete Detail—evidence (CD) • Commentary / analysis – why does this support the topic sentence (CM) • Lead-in or transition to concrete detail (LD-2) • Concrete detail / quotation (CD) • Commentary / analysis —why does this support topic sentence (CM) • Concluding or Clincher Sentence-ties together the paragraph

28. Sample Paragraph • Blue=Topic Sentence & Concluding Sentence • Red=Lead-in or Transition and Concrete Detail • Green=Commentary

29. Gradually, however, the conch becomes less important to the boys, signifying their gradual turn toward evil. When the boys first start a fire on top of the mountain, Piggy holds the conch and attempts to speak. But Jack rebukes him by asserting (saying), “The conch doesn’t count on the mountain so you shut up” (Golding 39). Boys like Jack begin to place limitations on the conch and lose respect for it and one another. The boys treatment of the conch reflects how they begin to turn to darker forces. Then one day at an assembly, Jack places even less importance on the conch excluding more of the boys and thus diminishing the democratic order and authority the conch provides. He proclaims, “We don’t need the conch anymore” (Golding 92). Jack’s assertion clearly connects the demise of the conch to a change in the social order and reflects how he changes (is slowly becoming)into a power-hungry dictator. Through the boys relationship with the conch, one witnesses the orderly influence of the conch replaced by human’s evil impulses.

30. CONCLUSION

31. Follows Triangle Begins narrow in focus And becomes broader in scope

32. Concluding Paragraph • Echo’s thesis in new words and reiterates what you proved in your essay • Sums up the main points without repeating statements from body paragraphs • Ties your thesis and all ends together • Ends broad in scope with reflection on new understandings gained • May end with universal statement about the theme the author examines