Conventions of Literary Analysis

1. Conventions of Literary Analysis What to Do (and What Not to Do) On Your Analytical Essay

2. Quote Integration QUESTION: I want to quote the following passage from page 97 of Into the Wild in my essay: Reading of these monks, one can’t help thinking of Everett Ruess and Chris McCandless. How do I do that?

3. Quote Integration ANSWER: “Reading of these monks, one can’t help thinking of Everett Ruess and Chris McCandless” (Krakauer 97).

4. Quote Integration Let’s try a harder one. QUESTION: I want to quote the following passage from page 132 of Into the Wild in my essay: “I just don’t understand why he had to take those kind of chances,” Billie protests through her tears. “I just don’t understand it at all.” How do I do that?

5. Quote Integration ANSWER: “‘I just don’t understand why he had to take those kind of chances,’ Billie protests through her tears. ‘I just don’t understand it at all’” (Krakauer 132).

6. Quote Integration QUESTION: OK, but I can’t just stick that in the middle of the page. How do I fit the quotation into my body paragraph? (Let’s use the first example, i.e., the quotation from page 97.)

7. Quote Integration ANSWER: When examining Krakauer’s comparisons of McCandless to other adventurers and anchorites, Krakauer’s reverent opinion of McCandless becomes clear: “Reading of these monks, one can’t help thinking of Everett Ruess and Chris McCandless” (Krakauer 97). Here, Krakauer ostensibly sees courage, innocence, and desire as the common threads between McCandless and the monks. However, Krakauer’s choice of monks, religious figures, as a parallel is significant. By comparing McCandless to monks, Krakauer suggests that McCandless has a pious purity worthy of admiration and respect.

8. Present Tense • When we write (or speak) about literature, we use the present tense to describe the characters and their actions. • E.g.: Krakauer regrets his use of marijuana when it makes him so hungry that he carelessly starts a fire in an attempt to cook oatmeal. • NOT: Krakauerregretted his use of marijuana when it made him so hungry that he carelessly started a fire in an attempt to cook oatmeal. • This applies even to characters who have died. • E.g.: McCandless wants independence, no matter the cost. • NOT: McCandless wanted independence, no matter the cost.

9. Present Tense Do these sentences use the right tense(s)? • Krakauer met Rosellini in 1981. • Noticing the stranger’s unkempt appearance, brisk walking pace, and odd behavior, Krakauer deduces that he has just met Rosellini. • Although Billie had struggled to understand Chris’s hunger for independence, she finally sees the beauty he saw when she visits Bus 142.

10. Active Voice • In literary analysis essays, you want to be straightforward and authoritative. One way to accomplish this is to use the active voice instead of the passive voice. • Active voice  the subject acts • Passive voice  the subject is acted upon • Example: • Active voice: The dog bit the boy. • Passive voice: The boy was bitten by the dog.

11. Active Voice • Why is the active voice more effective? • Can you think of any situations in which you would prefer to use the passive voice? • Do these sentences properly use the active voice? • On the third strike, the catcher dropped the ball. • On the third strike, the ball was dropped by the catcher. • On the third strike, the ball was dropped.

12. Active Voice • Do these sentences properly use the active voice? • John has told me that he loves turtles. • Brooke is taken to her ice skating lessons every morning at five o’clock. • Maddie suggests that our class take a field trip to see Bus 142. • Jack is struggling to copy and paste text from Turnitin onto a Word document. • Taylor was surprised by my praise for her analysis of the symbolism of the bus.

13. Third-Person Point of View • When we write literary essays in school, we try to leave ourselves out of the picture. Refrain from using “I,” “me,” or “you.” • Example: McCandless is a heroic young man. • NOT: Despite his flaws, I think McCandless is heroic. • You don’t have to explain that your opinion or interpretation is what you think—that’s obvious. Unless you really need to clarify what’s fact from what’s opinion, we know that this is an argument paper; everything in here is your opinion. • With that said, make sure you back up all of your opinions with textual evidence.

14. Third-Person Point of View Do these sentences properly use the third-person point of view? • It’s hard to say whether Into the Wild is good literature, but, if you ask me, it’s worth reading because it’s a true story. • McCandless comes of age when he realizes that happiness is only real when shared. • Both Krakauer and McCandless are braver than you or I would be in those situations.

15. Third-Person Point of View Do these sentences properly use the third-person point of view? • For those of us interested in transcendental philosophy, Into the Wild is a thought-provoking examination of what happens when you put theory into practice. • While some believe nonfiction cannot be called literature because the storyline was not created by the author, they are missing the bigger picture. • If you want to read a light comedy, IntoThe Wild might not be the book for you.

16. No Contractions • In everyday language, we contract our words all the time. • Examples: don’t, we’ll, I’d, it’s, they’re, wouldn’t • In formal writing, such as analytical essays, avoid using these words to sound more professional. • Examples: do not, we will, I would, it is, they are, would not • That’s not to say you can never use apostrophes. Don’t forget that you’ll use them for possession. • Example: McCandless’s journal

17. No Slang or Abbreviations • Like contractions, slang and abbreviations are a common part of our everyday language. • Examples: ’cuz, b/c, w/o, OMG, YOLO • However, we want to be formal, not informal, in analytical essays, so – for this assignment – slang is out!

18. No Slang or Abbreviations What formal words can you use in place of these informal ones? • Stuff • Crazy • Stupid/Dumb • Awesome • Cool • Blah