To better understand different works of literature, learn how to write literary analysis. This will prove helpful.
Writing a literary analysis is a skill you must master. In this article, we will look at literary analysis and how you need to structure it. Despite the subject’s text theme, literary analysis has much more to offer, such as plot, events, characters and other elements of the literary piece.
A literary analysis is not just about entailing a summary of events or writing a book report. Writing a literary analysis is difficult, but here we will make this easy for you.
You must learn how to write a literary analysis; the writer must be able to build a strong thesis before actually analyzing it. Writing a good analysis comes with a lot of hurdles. Meanwhile, it’s quite easy to share your tone rather than the approach you have studied to analyze a work.
Let’s first have a look at what is meant by literary analysis.
What is meant by literary analysis?
Literary analysis means studying a text in detail, interpreting its meaning or discovering why the author has made certain choices. You can apply it to various texts such as novels, short stories, plays, poems or any other form of writing.
In other words, you can say that literary analysis is an essay whose main aim is to examine and evaluate a particular aspect of a work. Moreover, a literary analysis outline also studies elements such as character development in work, the plot twists, chronological sequence of events to offer readers thoughtful insight.
You must first learn to read and think critically to write a literary analysis. Literary analysis’s main goal is to draft a work’s synopsis or deliver an opinion on it rather than to discuss certain text elements. So you must be familiar with how to analyze a literary work.
Thus, literary analysis is an argumentative essay in which you need to analyze specific elements such as language, point of view, and structure of the text and describe how the author uses literary devices to convey his idea.
What should a literary analysis include?
No specific list of elements must be included in a literary analysis. The question arises of what factors you need to pay attention to. So the answer is the nature of literature.
Here are some of the common elements that are usually helpful if you add them to literary analysis and these are
● The type and genre of the analyzed piece of literary works
● A detailed evaluation of the main characters
● A quick review of the main theme of a literary text
● An outline of the main ideas presented in the literary piece
● Description of the symbolism found in the content piece
● An examination of the structure of the work
● Identify the writing style used in the text
Five different types of literary analysis
You need to get deeply involved in the piece you have considered and also get a clear-cut idea of which elements need to be analyzed. There is no fixed way to go about it, and you also need to follow your interests when analyzing a literary piece.
There exist five general approaches that help you to write a good literary analysis.
1. Theoretical analysis
The theoretical analysis emphasizes mapping onto the literary piece one or more theories related to it. Moreover, it also broadens the relationship between them. From the perspective of these theories, you need to review the author’s arguments in a theoretical literary analysis.
2. Applied analysis
It is usually based on a highly subjective essay. Moreover, applied literary analysis also discovers how different text elements are put under analysis related to your encounters.
3. Historical or contextual analysis
The main focus of contextual analysis is to pay heed to the external elements such as historical framework or social peculiarities of time and place in the literary work. So you must learn how to write a literary analysis.
4. Close reading analysis
The close reading analysis aims to examine the literary work thoroughly. Thus you also need to discover details that appear minor but are fruitful. So using this analysis, you will get a close insight into the author’s choices, such as language and other elements.
5. Comparative or synergistic
It puts the literary work in a large context and compares it with similar types of write-ups. This is a comparative or synergistic analysis in which you compare other works by the same author.
How to write a literary analysis?
Follow these amazing steps to create a thorough and related literary analysis.
1. Read your text carefully
Once you embark on a journey to start literary analysis, you must read the text carefully. Before jotting down your ideas on paper, you need to read the text multiple times before you write it. This is how you get to know how to work and understand the workpiece at its best.
For example, if the piece is short, just like a poem, you must read it many times to understand the message and purpose clearly. For longer work, highlight the main points as you read the text. This makes it easy for you and provides a direction for your literary analysis.
Skipping this step will bring disastrous results. You must get plenty of time to read and reread the text to lay a strong foundation for your literary analysis.
2. Brainstorm ideas:
The second step to writing an excellent literary analysis outline is brainstorming ideas. This is one of the difficult parts for students as it demands creativity and a more critical eye. Ask yourself a general question about what you want to write about a text.
There is a chance that any character or particular setting motivates you to write. Ask about your claims or concerns about the piece of work or text you will analyze. Maybe you just want to prove a certain character as an antagonist above other characters in the story.
Or maybe you want to compare and contrast one character in the text to another character from a different text. Ask yourself what literary elements or devices are utilized in the text. Must keep this fact in mind that the claim you made at the start of writing, you have to prove it. Use your time carefully to generate different ideas so you can write effectively.
3. Understand your literary terms
Literary analysis will become hard for you if you are unaware of key literary terms. You must understand what you are searching for in the text. Also, don’t forget to take notes and annotate the text you plan to read. So taking notes will be helpful in writing.
4. Collect evidence to support your thesis
One of the most important steps about how to write a literary analysis is to collect the evidence so that you can support your thesis. Creativity is important, and you must strive to select an idea that might not seem true. Still, be careful while choosing the evidence, as it will give you a tough time supporting your argument.
On your way to collect evidence, your early highlighting and close reading will be helpful for you. If you feel it is hard to collect it, simply move to the thesis step. Also, don’t neglect the contradictory evidence either; in this way, you will be able to find some points supporting your thesis.
5. Write down your introductory paragraph
Explain in a few sentences what your literary analysis is about. Take a fresh start by writing about general ideas related to your title. Later on, provide some background details about the author or text as you find it convenient. With each topic, go from a broad topic and switch to a specific one you want to write about in literary analysis. Remember that each sentence follows the previous one and should be to the point as you reach your thesis.
6. Thesis statement
It is the central argument you represent in your literary analysis, and then defend your thesis and make your points debatable. Don’t take your thesis as a statement containing facts. Your thesis should be clear, concise and easy to find. In most cases, it is the end part of the introduction.
Topic sentence and writing body:
Each paragraph must have a topic sentence describing what the paragraph is about. Moreover, each topic sentence originates from the thesis statement.
Make sure that you support each topic sentence with three pieces of evidence. You also need to utilize in-text citations for each piece of evidence you are showcasing, but it is not present in the idea of the text.
7. Create a rough draft
Start writing your literary analysis with the help of a rough draft, and also make sure that this version of your literary analysis doesn’t need to be perfect. Don’t just get stuck in the fact that you are using accurate grammar, and your choice of words is good. The work of writing a formal document comes later. This is what a literary analysis should include.
Now you just need to focus on making your arguments strong and then stating all the points you have found. Find out the spots where you need to put a little more explanation and points in the text that support that. Organize your literary analysis to make sense to you, and perfection comes after that.
8. Refine and review your stated points
When you finish placing your thoughts on the page, it’s time to refine and review your stated points. Are there any places in the texts where you have written things repetitively? Is there any alternative way to make your points clear and concise?
After analyzing the text closely, you discovered that some of the evidence you collected doesn’t go well with the text. Be cold-hearted as you edit your rough draft. This is where you need to pay extra attention to the grammar and structure of the sentence. Keep checking your thesis statement so that your essay doesn’t drive off the topic, and also make sure that each paragraph brings you closer to the point in your thesis statement.
9. Get another opinion and finalize the literary analysis
Before you close your literary analysis, ask someone to review it and give you feedback. Fresh eyes can catch small mistakes related to spelling and grammar, even the big errors in the structure of analysis or content. Remember, your review r knows you are in search of honest feedback.
Components of literary analysis:
A smart literary analysis focuses on how an author uses a book or story’s plot, characters, settings or themes. Moreover, you will also like to find out how the author produces meaning through these literary elements. While in other cases, you may like to criticize the author’s methods and the message conveyed through the written text.
When analyzing the text, you must consider the following elements differently than when reading a book. Smart analysis means you are approaching your text like a detective. Characters, plot and setting all leave clues to deep meaning, and your job is to explore them.
1-Plot
Plot is the sequence of events that complete a story. In your literary analysis, you will like to focus on whether these events are important for your claim.
2. Conflict
Conflict is the fight between two opposing forces, the protagonist and the antagonist. Conflicts usually obey the traditional form, but in many cases, some of the characters encounter internal conflict. It comes either in the shape of a supernatural force. The story’s main conflict can be the author’s opinion about the world they are currently residing in or maybe the issues of the day.
This is how you will learn about the literary analysis outline.
3. Characters
Characters are the leading people in the story, and they are perfect for the story because they are the ones that make you react to the events in the story. So that their outlook, actions and beliefs can be analyzed. You can also take a fresh start with characters in a literary analysis. The reason is that authors usually reveal their opinions about race, culture, religion and gender through the representation of the character.
4. Setting
Just like the characters, it’s very easy to analyze the setting as the author may demonstrate certain opinions about what they have to convey about the places through their characters.
Follow the 5 W’s:
Think about what, who, where, when and why/how when you are all set to write your notes and outlines.
What: is occurring in the story, and what events are important and why?
Who: is the author, and what kind of impact does background have on the writing? What kind of links can you establish between the life of the author and those of the characters in the story?
Where: New story took place, and why is this vital for your literary analysis?
When: is the setting of the story? How does this leave an impact on the interpretation? Also, think about the background history, as this is equally essential.
Why/how: How to satisfy your claims, and what support from the text will you use?
Meanwhile, most literary analysis is typically kept in MLA format, so you must correct this. You are sometimes also expected to cite the book or story you analyze in MLA. To create your citations for literary analysis, you can use tools such as easybib but keep checking for accurate results.
How to set the tone for writing literary analysis?
Train your voice to walk and talk like me to write the best literary analysis.
● Concise not wordy
● Confident not cocky
● Critical but fair
● Skeptical not cynical
● Logical not biased
It’s better to go with a third-person perspective for successful literary analysis. This is what a literary analysis includes. Write your rough draft first.
Literary analysis outline
1. Introduction
Background information
Thesis statement at the end
2. First body paragraph
Topic sentence one
The first piece of evidence with an explanation
2nd piece of evidence with an explanation
The third piece of evidence with an explanation
2.2nd body paragraph
Topic sentence
The first piece of evidence with an explanation
2nd piece of evidence with an explanation
The third piece of evidence with an explanation
3.3rd body paragraph
Topic sentence
The first piece of evidence with an explanation
2nd piece of evidence with an explanation
The third piece of evidence with an explanation
4. Conclusion
Frequently asked questions about literary analysis
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about literary analysis.
What is the best way to start a literary analysis?
Start with a general idea about your title. Moreover, start by providing background information about the author or the text. Go from a large topic about your literary analysis to specific points you want to write about.
What are the four steps how to write a literary analysis?
To write a literary analysis, you need to read the text first, work on developing the thesis statement, interpret a detailed list of evidence and then write an essay.
What should a literary analysis include-list the components?
The five components of literary analysis that need to be analyzed are plot, setting, characters, point of view and style.
How to write a strong conclusion for literary analysis?
A conclusion paragraph should be written by restating your thesis, summarizing the key supporting ideas and providing a final impression of the main idea.
How to write a literary analysis?
A good literary analysis contains an explanation of your main ideas and evidence that goes well with your ideas.
Conclusion:
Paragraphs concluding literary analysis should describe its thesis statement. It also depicts how the concepts explained in the body argue for the accuracy of ideas exhibited in the analysis. This is how you get to know how to write a literary analysis. Follow this article if you are searching for guidelines for writing literary analysis.
