Unit Three: Writing About Literature

1. Unit Three: Writing About Literature “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

2. Book Review • A book review evaluates the quality of a piece of literature. • The writer introduces the novel, oftentimes through summary. • The writer then provides their opinion of the novel, discussing both its strengths and weaknesses.

3. Format of a Book Review • Introduction: provides a brief summary (without giving too much away), and presents an overall opinion of the novel. • Body: discusses the novel’s strengths and weaknesses, supported by specific scenes, descriptions, and quotes. • Conclusion: discusses the writer’s overall opinion and the novel’s value (what we may gain from reading it).

4. Literary Analysis • A literary analysis is a more detailed and formal form of writing. • Rather than evaluate the novel, the writer tries to interpret the meaning of the novel based upon the author’s use of literary elements. • A literary analysis provides a deeper understanding of the novel’s themes and the author’s craft.

5. Format of a Literary Analysis • Introduction: introduces the novel’s plot, its major theme(s), and provides a thesis statement to guide the analysis. • Body: analyzes three different literary elements and how these elements culminate into the novel’s theme –OR – carefully analyzes one element of the novel, key to an understanding of the theme. • Conclusion: connects the literary element(s) to the overall theme of the novel.

6. For additional information... Book Review: • Guidelines for Writing a Book Review (407) Literary Analysis: • Guidelines for Writing a Literary Analysis (412) • Model Literary Analysis: Novel (413) • Tips for Writing an Analysis (416) ** Both: • Ideas for Literary Analyses (415) ** • Literary terms (417-425)