HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of

literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the

subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not

an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of

literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of

images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to

analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the

main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed

through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like

the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer

suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain

how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions.

REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop

your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing

ultimately boils down to the development of an idea. Your objective in writing a literary analysis essay

is to convince the person reading your essay that you have supported the idea you are developing.

Unlike ordinary conversation and classroom discussion, writing must stick with great

determination to the specific point of development. This kind of writing demands tight

organization and control. Therefore, your essay must have a central idea (thesis), it must have

several paragraphs that grow systematically out of the central idea, and everything in it must be

directly related to the central idea and must contribute to the reader’s understanding of that

central idea. These three principles are listed again below:

1. Your essay must cover the topic you are writing about.

2. Your essay must have a central idea (stated in your thesis) that

governs its development.

3. Your essay must be organized so that every part contributes

something to the reader’s understanding of the central idea.

THE ELEMENTS OF A SOLID ESSAY

The Thesis Statement

The thesis statement tells your reader what to expect: it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative

sentence that states the purpose of your essay -- the point you are trying to make. Without a

carefully conceived thesis, an essay has no chance of success. The following are thesis

statements which would work for a 500-750 word literary analysis essay:

Gwendolyn Brooks‟s 1960 poem “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” demonstrates how the

poet uses the conventional poetic form of the ballad to treat the unconventional poetic

subject of racial intolerance.

The fate of the main characters in Antigone illustrates the danger of excessive pride.

The imagery in Dylan Thomas‟s poem “Fern Hill” reveals the ambiguity of humans‟

relationship with nature.

Typically, the thesis statement falls at the end of your introductory paragraph.

The Introduction

The introduction to your literary analysis essay should try to capture your reader‟s

interest. To bring immediate focus to your subject, you may want to use a quotation, a

provocative question, a brief anecdote, a startling statement, or a combination of these.

You may also want to include background information relevant to your thesis and

necessary for the reader to understand the position you are taking. In addition, you

need to include the title of the work of literature and name of the author. The

following are satisfactory introductory paragraphs which include appropriate thesis

statements:

A. What would one expect to be the personality of a man who has his wife

sent away to a convent (or perhaps has had her murdered) because she took too

much pleasure in the sunset and in a compliment paid to her by another man? It

is just such a man—a Renaissance duke—who Robert Browning portrays in his

poem “My Last Duchess.” A character analysis of the Duke reveals that through

his internal dialogue, his interpretation of earlier incidents, and his actions, his

traits—arrogance, jealousy, and greediness—emerge.

B. The first paragraph of Alberto Alvaro Rios‟s short story “The Secret Lion”

presents a twelve-year-old boy‟s view of growing up—everything changes. As

the narrator informs the reader, when the magician pulls a tablecloth out from

under a pile of dishes, children are amazed at the “stay-the-same part,” while

adults focus only on the tablecloth itself (42). Adults have the benefit of

experience and know the trick will work as long as the technique is correct.

When people “grow up,” they gain this experience and knowledge but lose their

innocence and sense of wonder. In other words, the price paid for growing up is

a permanent sense of loss. This tradeoff is central to “The Secret Lion.” The key

symbols in the story reinforce its main theme: change is inevitable and always

accompanied by a sense of loss.

C. The setting of John Updike‟s story “A & P” is crucial to the reader‟s

understanding of Sammy‟s decision to quit his job. Even though Sammy knows

that his quitting will make life more difficult for him, he instinctively insists upon

rejecting what the A & P represents in the story. When he rings up a “No Sale”

and “saunter[s]” out of the store, Sammy leaves behind not only a job but the

rigid state of mind associated with the A & P. Although Sammy is the central

character in the story, Updike seems to invest as much effort in describing the

setting as he does Sammy. The title, after all, is not “Youthful Rebellion” or

“Sammy Quits” but “A & P.” The setting is the antagonist of the story and plays a

role that is as important as Sammy‟s.

The Body of the Essay and the Importance of Topic Sentences

The term regularly used for the development of the central idea of a literary analysis

essay is the body. In this section you present the paragraphs (at least 3 paragraphs

for a 500-750 word essay) that support your thesis statement. Good literary analysis

essays contain an explanation of your ideas and evidence from the text (short story,

poem, play) that supports those ideas. Textual evidence consists of summary,

paraphrase, specific details, and direct quotations.

Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence (usually the first sentence of the

paragraph) which states one of the topics associated with your thesis, combined with

some assertion about how the topic will support the central idea. The purpose of the

topic sentence is twofold:

1. To relate the details of the paragraph to your thesis

statement.

2. To tie the details of the paragraph together.

The substance of each of your developmental paragraphs (the body of your essay)

will be the explanations, summaries, paraphrases, specific details, and direct quotations

you need to support and develop the more general statement you have made in your

topic sentence. The following is the first developmental paragraph after one of the

introductory paragraphs (C) above:

TOPIC SENTENCE

EXPLANATIONS AND

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

Sammy's descriptions of the A & P present a

setting that is ugly, monotonous, and rigidly

regulated. The chain store is a common fixture

in modern society, so the reader can identify

with the uniformity Sammy describes. The

fluorescent light is as blandly cool as the

"checkerboard green-and-cream rubber tile

floor" (486). The "usual traffic in the store

moves in one direction (except for the swim

suited girls, who move against it), and

everything is neatly organized and categorized

in tidy aisles. The dehumanizing routine of this

environment is suggested by Sammy's offhand

references to the typical shoppers as "sheep,"

"house slaves," and "pigs” (486). These regular

customers seem to walk through the store in a

stupor; as Sammy indicates, not even dynamite

could move them out of their routine (485).

This paragraph is a strong one because it is developed through the use of quotations,

summary, details, and explanation to support the topic sentence. Notice how it relates

back to the thesis statement.

The Conclusion

Your literary analysis essay should have a concluding paragraph that gives your essay

a sense of completeness and lets your readers know that they have come to the end of

your paper. Your concluding paragraph might restate the thesis in different words,

summarize the main points you have made, or make a relevant comment about the

literary work you are analyzing, but from a different perspective. Do not introduce a

new topic in your conclusion. Below is the concluding paragraph from the essay

already quoted above (A) about Browning's poem "My Last Duchess":

If the Duke has any redeeming qualities, they fail to appear in the poem.

Browning's emphasis on the Duke's traits of arrogance, jealousy, and materialism

make it apparent that anyone who might have known the Duke personally would

have based his opinion of him on these three personality "flaws." Ultimately, the

reader‟s opinion of the Duke is not a favorable one, and it is clear that Browning

intended that the reader feel this way.

The Title of Your Essay

It is essential that you give your essay a title that is descriptive of the approach you are

taking in your paper. Just as you did in your introductory paragraph, try to get the

reader's attention. Using only the title of the literary work you are examining is

unsatisfactory. The titles that follow are appropriate for the papers (A, B, C) discussed

above:

Robert Browning's Duke: A Portrayal of a Sinister Man

The A & P as a State of Mind

Theme in "The Secret Lion": The Struggle of Adolescence

Audience

Consider the reader for whom you are writing your essay. Imagine you are writing for

not only your professor but also the other students in your class who have about as

much education as you do. They have read the assigned work just as you have, but

perhaps they have not thought about it in exactly the same way. In other words, it is

not necessary to "retell" the work of literature in any way. Rather, it is your role to

be the explainer or interpreter of the work—to tell what certain elements of the work

mean in relation to your central idea (thesis). When you make references to the text of

the short story, poem, or play, you are doing so to remind your audience of something

they already know. The principle emphasis of your essay is to draw conclusions

and develop arguments. Be sure to avoid plot summary.

USING TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

The skillful use of textual evidence -- summary, paraphrase, specific detail, and

direct quotations -- can illustrate and support the ideas you are developing in your

essay. However, textual evidence should be used judiciously and only when it directly

relates to your topic. The correct and effective use of textual evidence is vital to the

successful literary analysis essay.

Summary

If a key event or series of events in the literary work support a point you are trying to

make, you may want to include a brief summary, making sure that you show the

relevance of the event or events by explicitly connecting your summary to your point.

Below is an effective summary (with its relevance clearly pointed out) from the essay

already quoted above on "The Secret Lion" (B):

The boys find the grinding ball, but later attempt to bury it (SUMMARY).

Burying it is their futile attempt to make time stand still and to preserve

perfection (RELEVANCE).

Paraphrase

You can make use of paraphrase when you need the details of the original, but not

necessarily the words of the original: paraphrase to put someone else's words into your

own words. Below is an example (also from the paper on "The Secret Lion") of how to

"translate" original material into part of your own paper:

Original: "I was twelve and in junior high school and something happened

that we didn't have a name for, but it was nonetheless like a lion,

and roaring, roaring that way the biggest things do."

Paraphrase: Early in the story, the narrator tells us that when he turned twelve

and started junior high school, life changed in a significant way that

he and his friends could not quite name or identify.

Specific Detail

Various types of details from the text lend concrete support to the development of the

central idea of your literary analysis essay. These details add credibility to the point you

are developing. Below is a list of some of the details which could have been used in the

developmental paragraph from the paper on John Updike's short story "A & P" (see the

paragraph again for which details were used and how they were used).

"usual traffic"

"fluorescent lights"

"checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor"

"electric eye"

shoppers like "sheep," "house slaves," and "pigs"

neatly stacked food

dynamite

Using Direct Quotations

Quotations can illuminate and support the ideas you are trying to develop. A judicious

use of quoted material will make your points clearer and more convincing. As with all

the textual evidence you use, make sure you explain how the evidence is

relevant—let the reader know why the quotes you cite are significant to your

argument. Below are guidelines and examples that should help you effectively use

quotations:

1. Brief quotations (four lines or fewer of prose and three lines or fewer of poetry)

should be carefully introduced and integrated into the text of your paper. Put

quotation marks around all briefly quoted material.

Prose example:

As the "manager" of the A & P, Lengel is both the guardian and enforcer of

"policy" (487). When he gives the girls "that sad Sunday-school-superintendent

stare," the reader becomes aware of Lengel‟s character as the A & P's version of

a dreary bureaucrat who "doesn't miss much" (487). Make sure you give page

numbers when necessary. Notice that in this example the page numbers

are in parenthesis after the quotation marks but before the period.

Poetry example:

From the beginning, the Duke in Browning's poem gives the reader a sense of

how possessive he really is: "That's my last Duchess on the wall, / Looking as if

she were alive" (1-2). The reader cannot help but notice how, even though the

Duke is talking about her portrait, his main concern is that she belongs to him.

Notice that line # 1 is separated from line # 2 by a slash. Make sure you

give the line numbers when necessary.

2. Lengthy quotations should be separated from the text of your paper. More than

four lines of prose should be double spaced and indented ten spaces from the

left margin, with the right margin the same as the rest of your paper. More than

three lines of poetry should be double spaced and centered on the page.

Note: do not use quotation marks to set off these longer passages because

the indentation itself indicates that the material is quoted.

Prose example:

The first paragraph of "The Secret Lion" introduces the narrator as someone who

has just entered adolescence and is uncertain what to make of it:

I was twelve and in junior high school and something happened that we

didn't have a name for, but it was there nonetheless like a lion, and

roaring, roaring that way the biggest things do. Everything changed. Just

that. Like the rug, the one that gets pulled -- or better, like the tablecloth

those magicians pull where the stuff on the table stays the same but the

gasp! from the audience makes the staying-the-same part not matter. Like

that. (41-42) Make sure you give page numbers when necessary.

Notice in this example that the page numbers are in parenthesis after

the period of the last sentence.

Poetry example:

The Duke seems to object to the fact that his "last Duchess" is not discriminating

enough about bestowing her affection. In the following lines, the Duke lists

examples of this "fault":

Sir, 'twas all one! My favor at her breast,

The dropping of the daylight in the west,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace -- all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech.

(Browning 25-30)

Be sure to provide the line numbers.

3. If any words are added to a quotation in order to explain who or what the

quotation refers to, you must use brackets to distinguish your addition from the

original source.

Example:

The literary critic John Strauss asserts that "he [Young Goodman Brown] is

portrayed as self-righteous and disillusioned" (10). Brackets are used here

because there is no way of knowing who "he" is unless you add that

information.

Brackets are also used to change the grammatical structure of a quotation so

that it fits into your sentence.

Example:

Strauss also argues that Hawthorne "present[s] Young Goodman Brown in an

ambivalent light” (10). Brackets are used here to add the "s" to the verb

"present" because otherwise the sentence would not be grammatically

correct.

4. You must use ellipsis if you omit any words from the original source you are

quoting. Ellipsis can be used at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the

quotation, depending on where the missing words were originally. Ellipsis is

formed by either three or four periods with a space between each period.

Original: "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

Example (omission from beginning):

This behavior ". . . makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Ellipsis formed

by three dots after the quotation marks.

Example (omission from middle):

This maxim claims that "Early to bed . . . makes a man healthy, wealthy, and

wise." Ellipsis formed by three dots used in place of the words "and early

to rise."

Example (omission from end):

He said, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy . . . ." Ellipsis is

formed by four dots before the quotation marks -- the fourth dot is really a

period which ends the sentence.

5. Use a single line of spaced periods to indicate the omission of an entire line of

poetry.

Example:

The Duke seems to object to the fact that his "last Duchess" is not discriminating

enough about bestowing her affection:

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The dropping of the daylight in the west,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, while the white mule

She rode around the terrace -- like and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech….

(Browning 24-30)

Punctuating Direct Quotations

You will be able to punctuate quoted materials accurately if you observe the following

conventions used in writing about literature:

1. When the quoted material is part of your own sentence, place periods and

commas inside the quotation marks.

Example:

According to the narrator of "The Secret Lion,” change was "like a lion," meaning

that its onset is sudden and ferocious. The comma is inside the quotation

marks.

2. When the quoted material is part of your own sentence, but you need to include a

parenthetical reference to page or line numbers, place the periods and commas

after the reference.

Example:

The narrator of "The Secret Lion" says that the change was "like a lion" (Rios 41).

The period is outside the quotation marks, after the parenthetical reference.

3. When the quoted material is part of your own sentence, punctuation marks other

than periods and commas, such as question marks, are placed outside the

quotation marks, unless they are part of the quoted material.

Example (not part of original):

Why does the narrator of "The Secret Lion" say that the change was "like a lion"?

The question mark is placed after the quotation marks because it does not

appear in the original -- it ends a question being asked about the story.

Example (part of original):

The Duke shows his indignation that the Duchess could like everyone and

everything when he says, "Sir, 'twas all one!" (Browning 25). The exclamation

point is placed inside the quotation marks because it appears in the

original.

4. When the original material you are quoting already has quotations marks (for

instance, dialog from a short story), you must use single quotation marks within

the double quotation marks.

Example:

Lengel tries to stop Sammy from quitting by saying, “„Sammy, you don't want to

do this to your Mom and Dad‟" (Updike 486).