LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAYLiterary Analysis Essay, Thesis, and Topic Sentence

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Persuasive Writing 1

Persuasive Thesis 2

Persuasive Evidence 3

Persuasive Commentary 4

Effective Introductions and Conclusions 5

MLA formatting 6

Taboo Essay Words 7

Literary Analysis Essay 8

Literary Analysis Thesis and Topic Sentences 9

LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

The goal of a Literary Analysis Essay is to discuss your interpretation of a piece of literature using a specific literary focus (like motifs, themes, symbolism, humor, characterization…)

Things to keep in mind as you write:

Never use “I”, “you”, “we”, “our” (even though this is your interpretation, you may not provide opinions)

Always talk about literature in present tense

Do not retell the story in your essay (this is not a book report)

CONTINUED… Paper set-up

Intro with thesis

1st Body Paragraph- Elaborates on one element of you thesis

2nd Body Paragraph- Elaborates on another element of your thesis

3rd Body Paragraph- Elaborates on yet another element of your thesis

Conclusion

All of your Paragraphs must directly connect to your thesis!!!

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

What is a literary analysis essay? What does it do?

What tense does your essay need to be in?

What are some words you may not use in your essay (unless in your quotes)?

How is this literary analysis essay set up?

THESIS STATEMENTS

Thesis statements make an argument that you work to prove throughout your essay.

Example: Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,

Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion and always “keeping up” with the current fads of the moment no matter how ridiculous they may be.

I am arguing that Twain uses satire to reveal this in his novel.

LITERARY ANALYSIS THESIS AND TOPIC SENTENCES

Thesis: Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes [insert comic

device(s)] to reveal [insert what these devices reveal about people, society, and/or the belief systems they hold].

Example #1: Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes satire to reveal

society’s obsession with fashion and always “keeping up” with the current fads of the moment no matter how ridiculous they may be.

Example #2: Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes hypocrisy,

prejudices, and diction to reveal the stupidity and ignorance of adults.

Example #3: Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes slapstick to

reveal the absurdity of education and adults’ attempt to always be in control of their children.

You may choose any combination of comic elements and what they reveal. Be creative; you get a lot of freedom with this essay so write about what you are most interested in.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

What do thesis statements do in a literary analysis essay?

Give me an example of a thesis statement you could possibly use in your essay?

What are the parameters around your thesis statement (what is acceptable and what is not)?

CONTINUED…

Your topic sentences MUST directly connect to your thesis.

What that means is that you must use the same wording in each of your topic sentences as you use in your thesis.

Pay attention to the following example and how

the topic sentences directly connect to the thesis statement.

CONTINUED… (THIS WILL BE YOUR HOMEWORK TONIGHT)

Thesis Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes satire to

reveal society’s obsession with fashion and always “keeping up” with the current fads of the moment no matter how ridiculous they may be.

o Topic Sentence #1o Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion.o Evidence: Aunt Polly’s glasses

o Topic Sentence #2o Twain also uses satire to uncover society’s attempt to always “keep up” with

the current fads of the moment.o Evidence: The boys’ attempt to be religious

o Topic Sentence #3o Finally, Twain employs satire to expose society’s ignorance when trying to

“keep up” with the current trends.o Evidence: Aunt Polly’s medicinal obsession (finding a cure)

CONTINUED…

Notice: Your topic sentences and thesis statement need

to reveal overall flaws with society. Example:

Do not say, “Twain uses satire to reveal Aunt Polly’s obsession with fashion.”

Instead say, “Twain uses satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion.”

Your evidence of Aunt Polly wearing the ridiculous glasses will prove how Twain uses satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion.

CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING

Rephrase what I do and don’t want you to do with your topic sentences.

What must your topic sentences ALWAYS connect to?

TABLE OF CONTENTS Persuasive Writing 1 Persuasive Thesis 2 Persuasive Evidence 3 Persuasive Commentary 4 Effective Introductions and Conclusions 5 MLA formatting 6 Taboo Essay Words 7 Literary Analysis Essay 8 Literary Analysis Thesis and Topic Sentences 9 Literary Analysis Evidence 10 Literary Analysis Commentary 11 Parenthetical Citations 12

LITERARY ANALYSIS EVIDENCE Evidence must…

directly support your topic sentence and thesis statement

prove your argument

be a quote taken directly from the novel (for each paragraph!!!)

Example: Thesis:

Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion and always “keeping up” with the current fads of the moment no matter how ridiculous they may be.

o Topic Sentence #1:

Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion.

o Evidence to prove my topic sentence and thesis:

“She seldom or never looked through them [glasses] for so small a thing as a boy, for they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style” not service; she could have seen through a pair of stove lids as well” (Twain 1).

CONTINUED… (REVIEW) Your evidence must be imbedded (a part of your

sentence)

Example: Tom Sawyer noticed about Aunt Polly that “she seldom or

never looked through them [glasses] for so small a thing as a boy, for they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style” not service; she could have seen through a pair of stove lids as well” (Twain 1).

If your evidence is a quote from a character’s mouth do not use “SAID”!!!! Try and find other words to go in place of the dreaded “said”. stated, exclaimed, demanded, roared, claimed,

questioned… (this word should depict the tone of the character)

LITERARY ANALYSIS COMMENTARY (THE HEART OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY) The goal of commentary is:

to show the connection between the specific character/event and society (example: how does Aunt Polly needing to “keep up” with the current fashions reflect how all of society wants to stay current).

to answer what Twain is trying to reveal about all of us through his characters?

to answer why it is important to reveal this about society?

Commentary must be 3-5 sentences long!!!

Use your comic element chart to help you with this!!!!!!

CONTINUED… Example:

Thesis:

Throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion and always “keeping up” with the current fads of the moment no matter how ridiculous they may be.

o Topic Sentence #1:

Twain utilizes satire to reveal society’s obsession with fashion.

o Evidence to prove my topic sentence and thesis:

Tom Sawyer noticed about Aunt Polly that “she seldom or never looked through them [glasses] for so small a thing as a boy, for they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style” not service; she could have seen through a pair of stove lids as well” (Twain 1).

o Commentary:

Through Aunt Polly’s need to wear glasses to keep up with the current style, Twain exposes peoples’ obsession with fashion. He shows that people will do anything, even look absolutely ridiculous, in order to be “in style”. He is commenting on this in hopes that people see the ridiculousness of styles to stop adhering to them.

REVIEW

What is evidence?

What does the evidence do?

How do you integrate your evidence into your essay?

What is the goal of commentary (3)?

PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

Why use parenthetical citations? Parenthetical citations tell the reader exactly

where you found your evidence so the reader could technically find you quote if he/she wishes to do more research or confirm where you found your info.

It is absolutely necessary that you follow the correct format (it is part of the MLA guidelines)

CONTINUED…

Format for novels only:

“Quote” (Author’s Last Name page number).

Quote” (Twain 36).

period goes after the citation

No punctuation here! Quotation marks follow the quote.

CONTINUED…

When you set a quote into the middle of a sentence, you always cite at the end of the sentence not the end of the quote.

Example:Tom exclaimed, “Oh don’t cry Becky. I don’t care for her anymore” as Becky tried to blame Tom for liking Amy instead of her (Twain 60).