An analytical literature essay is, at heart, an argument paper. As such, remember to apply the basic concepts of argument papers.
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Clear claim (position that you are asserting/defending as true or valid),
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thesis (clear statement of the intended claim/argument)
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subclaims (those concepts that suggest the validity of your position, building/supporting the overall argument)
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well-reasoned support (evidence)
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You’ll need to rely on close examination of the text.
A literary essay typically attempts to make sense or interpret the ambiguity present in a text. An essay should formulate and present your personal interpretation of your insights and understanding of the text.
By interpreting or analyzing a text, you should be looking to see how the author views a particular concern, how the author addresses it, and what one can learn from reading the text. (Consider our discussion of the Camel fable: we see religious concerns, concerns regarding greed/wealth/social mobility, medical authority, so forth…we even had slight disagreements about what the moral of the text was).
Topics One Can Identify and Analyze for a Narrow Focus
If you are not sure where to begin, perhaps consider one of those categories below and its function within a particular text. The following is a simplified list of general categories:
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Structure of the plot (Organization, etc)
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Role of characters, affect of character development
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Role of narrator
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Role of setting, description
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Role of symbolism
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Point of View
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Development of Theme
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Style, Tone, and Irony
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Role of form/sound/rhyme/meter on meaning in poetry
Then you can build an interpretation and find textual support.
Choose works with something significant in common (but remember, this is not just a comparison paper)
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Choose a focus. Ex: “A Good Character is Hard To Find: The Grandmother in Short Story and Film”
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Focus on a primary element (ex. Character), showing how a few other elements are affected by it, or influence it. How does it connect to the meaning as a whole
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Don’t simply spend half your paper on one work and the second half on the other. Work to draw constant connections throughout
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Draw up a list of points you want to hit.
Ex.: “Adapting to Change: Emily Grierson and Miss Brill”
Argument:
Each story address a character’s inability to adapt to change, exploring the consequences of a society that has no use for unmarried, older women.
Para. 1: portrait of women (how are they described, portrayed, why is it important they look/act the way they do)
Para. 2: imagery (what are the images connected to the women poison/house/rose/fur/park etc. How do they develop the sense of isolation).
Para. 3: plot (How does the order of the events actually emphasize unchanging natures or isolation)
so on…
Conclusion: These stories, while offering very different characters, share a bleak view of age and single women, as they suggest that such women are without use in a society that values youth and the potential for producing offspring. As such, each story, one overtly, another more implicitly, calls attention to these often overlooked and tragic figures.
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Identify what new knowledge or interpretative possibilities emerge by looking at these texts together (why is it significant they share features? What is significant about their divergences? What does it suggest about culture or readers?)
Concluding a Literary Analysis:
You’ll need to restate in a clear way the position/interpretation you have discussed. Show how this analysis is relevant to the person reading your essay. What can they gain from a closer reading of the primary texts that you have selected? What does it reveal about our culture, or the human experience, or history, etc? Don’t leave this out, or your essay is nothing more than a lecture on a text, without the explanation for why you’re going through the effort.
*Revisit Chapter 29 for examples and writing tip