HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
Thesis
A thesis statement is a sentence (or sentences) that expresses the main ideas of your paper and answers the question or questions posed by your paper. It is the place where you are the most specific about what you will discuss in the paper, how you will organize the paper, and what significance your topic has (your argument). You must have a specific, detailed thesis statementthat reveals your perspective, and, like any good argument, your perspective must be one which is debatable.
Generally, a thesis statement appears at the end of the first paragraph of an essay, so that readers will have a clear idea of what to expect as they read. As you write and revise your paper, it’s okay to change your thesis statement — sometimes you don’t discover what you really want to say about a topic until you’ve started (or finished) writing! Just make sure that your “final” thesis statement accurately shows what will happen in your paper.Some questions to help you formulate your thesis in a literary analysis paper:
What is my claim or assertion?
What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion?
In what order should I present my reasons?
Introduction
The introduction is where your reader will formulate their first impression of your paper. The introduction should be interesting, provide enough information to tantalize your reader, luring them into reading further. It is not always best to write the introduction first. After you have composed your paper, you will be more apt to write an introduction that is interesting and focused.
A few ways to begin your paper:
Begin with a quotation. Just make sure you explain its relevance
Begin with a question
Begin with an acknowledgment of an opinion opposite to the one you plan to take
Begin with a very short narrative or anecdote that has a direct bearing on your paper
Begin with an interesting fact
Begin with a definition or explanation of a term relevant to your paper
Begin with irony or paradox
Begin with an analogy. Make sure it’s original but not too far-fetched
Begin with a scene or lines from the text you are analyzing.
Body Paragraphs
The body of your essay will be where you present most of your analysis. Traditionally, this section consists of a form of analysis of the text called close reading. We close read a text in order to prove that it means what we say it does. An analysis might also use secondary research to situate the text within a historical or cultural context location.
Close Reading
Close reading carefully considers the elements of a text that make the text literary. In a close reading, you are primarily concerned with how the author uses literary devices (word choice, structure, irony, rhyme, etc.) to convey meaning.
Consider the Langston Hughes poem Harlem:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
A close reading would ask several questions of this poem. What dream is the poem talking about? Why does Hughes choose words that are repulsive to the sense of taste and smell? Why is the first line set off from the rest of the lines? Why is the last line italicized? Why does Hughes choose to rhyme the particular words that he does? Who do we imagine Hughes speaking to? In answering these questions, you always want to consider how a particular answer may relate to the overall themes of the text and what evidence is available to support your assumption. So for example, a close reading of this passage might claim that Hughes chooses a raisin (and not a plum or an apple) in line three because he wants to compare the dream deferred to a fruit that has already been dried and is now on the verge of losing all moisture. For evidence of this claim, you would note how a raisin is a grape that has already been partially dried. The dream deferred is like the raisin because it has been put off for a long time now. If things do not change soon and if the dream does not come true, it may dry up completely like the “raisin in the sun”. Close readings fail when students read selectively and neglect elements of the text that do not support their view. A failed close reading of Harlem might assert that Hughes is saying that dreams are pleasant because he compares it in line 8 to “a syrupy sweet.” Such a statement contradicts many of the themes in the rest of the poem and fails to consider the context in which that statement occurs.
Readings that consider historical or cultural context of a work
In addition to your close reading, you may also choose to bring into your argument the cultural or historical context in which a work was written. Langston Hughes poem Harlem was written in 1951. At this time, America was segregated into black and white communities. In the 1920’s, Harlem was in the center of a literary movement Harlem Renaissance. African-American artists, writers, and musicians were beginning to gain recognition across the nation, and Harlem was a lively cultural center. But by 1951, the gains that African-Americans had made in the first half of the century were stunted, and Harlem, which only thirty years before was a viable part of New York City, was suffering from urban decline. If we place the poem Harlem into the context of the historical and cultural knowledge above, we see that it is highly likely that the dream which Hughes refers to in line one is related to the feelings of frustration that African-Americans felt in the period just after the promise of the Harlem Renaissance failed to produce any major gains. The following lines speculate on how those who have had their dream deferred may react. The uncertainty in the poem mirrors the uncertain future for African-Americans in the United States during the 1950’s
Conclusion
The conclusion is a good place to not only sum up the points made in the paper but to suggest the further implications of your argument. You do not want to simply reiterate the points you have made in your introduction, thesis, or body paragraphs. Instead, use the analyses that you have already presented to ask questions, or suggest the possible next logical step in the argument. You can use the conclusion to draw connections between your chosen text and its genre and historical or cultural contexts. You want to make sure that the claims you make in the conclusion are not too far-fetched or wildly out of step with the rest of your paper. The conclusion should be the final step in the progression of your argument.
Provided by Tutoring Services 1 Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
The Purpose of a Literary Analysis:
A literary analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument
about the work that expresses a writer’s personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical
evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining the literary devices, word choices, or
writing structures the author uses within the work. The purpose of a literary analysis is to
demonstrate why the author used specific ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or
her message.
How to Create a Literary Analysis:
1. Read the text closely several times. Focus on the ideas that are being presented. Think
about the characters’ development and the author’s writing technique. What might be
considered interesting, unusual, or important?
2. Brainstorm a list of potential topics. Highlight important passages in the text and take
notes on these passages. Later, when writing the paper, these notes should help a writer to
remember which aspects of the story caught his/her attention. The topic chosen should
always be based on a writer’s interpretation of the author’s message. Here are some things a
writer may want to consider when brainstorming for a literary analysis.
? Character: What observations might a writer make about the characters? Are there
discrepancies in what they think, say, or do? Are the observations a writer makes
different from what other characters say? How does the author describe the
characters? Are the characters “dynamic” (a dynamic character is a character that
undergoes important changes throughout the work)? Are the characters “static”
characters (a static character is a character that stays the same throughout the work)?
Are the characters “flat” characters (a flat character is a character that does not have
vivid character traits) or “round” characters (a round character is a character that has
vivid character traits)? Are the characters symbolic or representative of some
universal quality? Is it possible that two characters in the text might be compared or
contrasted?
? Setting: Is there a relationship between the work’s setting and its mood? Does the
setting reflect the work’s theme? How does the setting impact the characters? Does a
change in the setting affect the mood, characters, or conflict?
? Plot: How might the beginning of the work be interpreted? How does the plot build
suspense? Does the author use techniques such as foreshadowing or flashback? Are
there patterns of cause-effect relationships? Do events occur in a logical order?
Examine the events that lead to the climax and determine how the work ends?
Provided by Tutoring Services 2 Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
? Theme: What is the major idea or theme of the work? How does the author relay
this theme? Is there a greater meaning to the details given? How do the characters’
moods affect the theme? What allusions are made throughout the work? Are there
repeating patterns or symbols? What does the title say about the theme?
? Dialogue: What is the purpose of the dialogue? Is the dialogue appropriate in terms
of word choice or sentence length? How does the dialogue impact the
characterization? How does the author use the dialogue to show the mood of the
characters? How does this aid the author’s message? How does the dialogue impact
the plot?
? Imagery: In what way might a specific image or series of images be analyzed? How
might the development of images throughout the work be explained? Are the images
important to the meaning of the work? How are images interrelated with other
literary elements?
? Figures of speech: How are figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and
hyperboles used throughout the text? How are these figures of speech important in
relation to the meaning of the text? Are figures of speech interrelated between other
literary elements?
? Tone: How might describe the attitude of the author or the tone of the work be
described? Is the tone serious, playful, casual, formal, or somber? How does the
author achieve this tone? How does the tone impact the author’s message? Does the
author say one thing but mean another? Does the author take the subject seriously or
treat it lightly?
? Rhyme/Rhythm: Do the author’s words, sentences, or paragraphs seem to share a
similar rhyme pattern? What type of rhythm does the author seem to be creating?
How is this rhyme/rhythm impacting the author’s message? Does the author use the
different rhymes/rhythms as a sound device for the literary work? How does the
author do this?
? Point of View: What point of view do the characters display? First, second, or third?
How does this point of view affect the theme, plot, or conflict of the work? How
might the author’s point of view impact a writer’s analysis? Might the character’s first
person point of view draw a writer to feel as though he/she is hearing a personal
account and cause him/her to feel an intimate connection with the character? Might
the author’s third person account cause a writer to feel as if the author is acting as
the narrator of the story? Or might it cause a writer to believe that the narrator is an
omniscient being who is distant but knows the character’s thoughts and feelings?
3. Think about what the author is trying to say. Why is this important? When viewing this
work as a piece of art, what might a writer’s response be? What might a writer’s reactions be
to the ideas presented in the work? Are these ideas truthful or relevant to today and how? If
a writer were asked what they thought of this work how might they respond? What points
might a writer make?”
4. Select a topic that has sufficient supporting evidence. A writer should make sure to
include specific details to support the topic. Use highlighted sections of the book as evidence
to support the topic that has been chosen.
Provided by Tutoring Services 3 Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
5. Write a working thesis. The analysis will need a strong thesis that states a writer’s
perspective but also allows it to be debated. The thesis should state a writer’s opinion, but it
should also allow readers to arrive at their own conclusions.
? Example of a debatable thesis:
Pride and Prejudice is about Elizabeth Bennet’s effort to overcome her own proud
behavior and discrimination towards Mr. Darcy, as well as how her family is affected
by the haughtiness and preconceptions of the society around them.
(This is a debatable thesis because it asks the reader, “Does Elizabeth actually exhibit haughtiness
and preconceptions? Is this why she doesn’t get along with Mr. Darcy? How is Elizabeth’s family
affected by the haughtiness and preconceptions of the society around them?”)
? Avoid a non-debatable thesis:
Pride and Prejudice is about five sisters and their journey to find love.
(This thesis is non-debatable because it is undisputable. The paper is framed as a summary rather
than as a literary analysis.)
6. Make an extended list of evidence. Find more evidence from the text to support the
working thesis. Then select the evidence that will be used in the paper.
7. Refine the thesis. Make sure the thesis fits with the evidence that has been presented.
8. Organize the evidence. Match the evidence to the order of the thesis. Delete any of the
original textual supports that may no longer follow the thesis, and gather new evidence if
needed.
9. Interpret the evidence. When writing a literary analysis, it is very important for writers to
make sure they express their own personal interpretation of the work. Be careful that the
literary analysis is not a summary.
10. Create a rough draft. When writing a rough draft, there are several methods that may aid a
writer in creating a strong final draft. Here are a few methods:
? Outline: An outline will help a writer to organize his/her thoughts and ideas. It will
remind a writer of the order of the thesis, as well as the supporting points he/she
would like each topic sentence to have.
? Free-write: A short, ten minute free-write will help to get all of a writer’s thoughts
on paper. It will allow a writer to focus on the content, rather than the punctuation
and spelling. Once the free-write is complete, a writer can read through it and circle
the points that are strong, as well as omit the ones that are not.
Provided by Tutoring Services 4 Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
? Bubble Map: A bubble map will allow a writer to draw connections from one idea
to the next. It will give a writer a visual idea of the direction of the literary analysis,
as well as help a writer to see the connections between the topics. This can help a
writer transition from one topic to another more fluidly.
11. Revise the Analysis. After completing the first draft, revise the analysis by considering the
following questions:
? Is the thesis clearly stated in the first paragraph?
? Is the sentence structure varied?
? Does the structure of the analysis emphasize the main ideas?
? Is the third-person point of view used throughout the entire essay?
? Has the present tense been used to discuss the work and past tense to describe the
author’s background?
? Have quotation marks been used around direct quotations?
? Have the sources been cited correctly according to MLA style?
? Has extraneous information that does not support the thesis been eliminated?
? Have clear transitions been used between sentences and paragraphs?
12. Proofread. Once the content of the essay is well-developed, it should be proofread for
grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It is often helpful to read the paper slowly and clearly
out loud. If possible, another person should listen and read along as the paper is being read.
The paper should be printed and proofread several times until an accurate final copy is
created. Be alert to common grammatical errors such as sentence fragments, comma splices,
or run-on sentences. Remember to consult a style manual for grammatical or citation
questions, and if further assistance is desired, group workshops and individual appointments
are available free of charge through Tutoring Services.
Basic Tips for Writing a Literary Analysis
1. Write in the present tense.
EXAMPLE: In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” the townspeople visit Emily Grierson’s
house because it smells bad.
NOT: In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” the townspeople visited Emily Grierson’s house
because it smelled bad.
2. Normally, keep yourself out of your analysis; in other words, use the third
person (no I or you). Some instructors may require or allow the first or second
person in an informal analysis if the usage is consistent, however, so check with
your instructor.
FIRST PERSON: I believe that the narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” is a dynamic character
because I read many details about the changes in his attitude toward and relationship
with Sonny.
THIRD PERSON: The narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” is a dynamic character who
changes his attitude toward and relationship with Sonny as the story progresses.
SECOND PERSON: At the end of “Everyday Use,” Mama realizes that Maggie is like
her but has not received the attention you should give your daughter to help her attain
self-esteem.
THIRD PERSON: At the end of “Everyday Use,” Mama realizes that Maggie is like her
but has not received enough attention to build self-esteem.
3. Avoid summarizing the plot (i.e., retelling the story literally). Instead analyze
(form a thesis about and explain) the story in literary terms.
PLOT SUMMARY: In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the mad narrator
explains in detail how he kills the old man, who screams as he dies. After being alerted
by a neighbor, the police arrive, and the madman gives them a tour through the house,
finally halting in the old man’s bedroom, where he has buried the man beneath the floor
planks under the bed. As he is talking, the narrator hears what he thinks is the old man’s
heart beating loudly, and he is driven to confess the murder.
ANALYSIS: Though the narrator claims he is not mad, the reader realizes that the
narrator in “The Telltale Heart” is unreliable and lies about his sanity. For example, the
mad narrator says he can hear “all things in the heaven and in the earth.” Sane people
cannot. He also lies to the police when he tells them that the shriek they hear occurs in
his dream. Though sane people do lie, most do not meticulously plan murders, lie to the
police, and then confess without prompting. Finally, the madman is so plagued with guilt
that he hears his own conscience in the form of the old man’s heart beating loudly.
Dead hearts do not beat, nor do sane people confuse their consciences with the sounds
of external objects.
4. Include a clear thesis statement which addresses something meaningful about
the literature, often about the theme. (See separate thesis handout.)
5. Use literary terms to discuss your points (i.e., character, theme, setting, rhyme,
point of view, alliteration, symbols, imagery, figurative language, protagonist, and
so forth).
NONLITERARY TERMS: To show that women are important, Adrienne Rich writes
about Aunt Jennifer and the tigers that she creates in her needlework.
LITERARY TERMS: The poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” contains vivid images and
symbols which reveal a feminist perspective.
6. Do not confuse characters’ (in fiction or drama) or speakers’ (in poetry)
viewpoints with authors’ viewpoints.
AUTHOR: As a black woman, Eudora Welty faces racism in “A Worn Path.” (Eudora
Welty, the author, was not black.)
CHARACTER: As a black woman, Old Phoenix faces racism in “A Worn Path.” (Old
Phoenix, a character, is black.)
POET: In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost is tempted to drift
into his subconscious dream world, yet he knows he has other obligations to fulfill when
he states, “But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” (The pronoun
“I” refers to the speaker of the poem, not to Robert Frost, the poet.)
SPEAKER: In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the speaker is tempted to
drift into his subconscious dream world, yet he knows he has other obligations to fulfill
when he states, “But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” (Here
the “I” correctly refers to the speaker of the poem.)
7. Support your points with many quotations and paraphrases, but write the
majority of your paper in your own words with your own ideas.
8. When writing a research paper that includes literary criticism, make sure that
you form your own opinion rather than merely restate those of the critics. You
may, however, use the critics’ views to support yours.
9. Cite prose, poetry, drama, critics, and any other sources used according to
specialized MLA standards. (See the current edition of the MLA Handbook for
Writers of Research Papers.)
© 2001 by Sierra College
Copyright Policy: Web site visitors are free to download or reproduce these materials for educational purposes.
However, without prior written permission from the Sierra College Writing Center staff and Sierra College, these
materials may not be published or otherwise reproduced for profit.
Literary Criticism
By reading and discussing literature, we expand our imagination, our sense of what is possible, and our ability to empathize with others. Improve your ability to read critically and interpret texts while gaining appreciation for different literary genres and theories of interpretation. Read samples of literary interpretation. Write a critique of a literary work. Texts that interpret literary works are usually persuasive texts. Literary critics may conduct a close reading of a literary work, critique a literary work from the stance of a particular literary theory, or debate the soundness of other critics’ interpretations. The work of literary critics is similar to the work of authors writing evaluative texts. For example, the skills required to critique films, interpret laws, or evaluate artistic trends are similar to those skills required by literary critics.
Why Write Literary Criticism?
People have been telling stories and sharing responses to stories since the beginning of time. By reading and discussing literature, we expand our imagination, our sense of what is possible, and our ability to empathize with others. Reading and discussing literature can enhance our ability to write. It can sharpen our critical faculties, enabling us to assess works and better understand why literature can have such a powerful effect on our lives. “Literary texts” include works of fiction and poetry. In school, English instructors ask students to critique literary texts, or works. Literary criticism refers to a genre of writing whereby an author critiques a literary text, either a work of fiction, a play, or poetry. Alternatively, some works of literary criticism address how a particular theory of interpretation informs a reading of a work or refutes some other critics’ reading of a work.
Diverse Rhetorical Situations
The genre of literary interpretation is more specialized than most of the other genres addressed in this section, as suggested by the table below. People may discuss their reactions to literary works informally (at coffee houses, book clubs, or the gym) but the lion’s share of literary criticism takes place more formally: in college classrooms, professional journals, academic magazines, and Web sites.
Students interpret literary works for English instructors or for students enrolled in English classes. In their interpretations, students may argue for a particular interpretation or they may dispute other critics’ interpretations. Alternatively, students may read a text with a particular literary theory in mind, using the theory to explicate a particular point of view. For example, writers could critique The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin from a feminist theoretical perspective. Thanks to the Internet, some English classes are now publishing students’ interpretations on Web sites. In turn, some students and English faculty publish their work in academic literary criticism journals. Over the years, literary critics have argued about the best ways to interpret literature. Accordingly, many “schools” or “theories of criticism” have emerged. As you can imagine–given that they were developed by sophisticated specialists–some of these theoretical approaches are quite sophisticated and abstract. Below is a summary of some of the more popular literary theories. Because it is a summary, the following tends to oversimplify the theories. In any case, unless you are enrolled in a literary criticism course, you won’t need to learn the particulars of all of these approaches. Instead, your teacher may ask you to take an eclectic approach, pulling interpretative questions from multiple literary theories.
Note: If you are interested in learning more about these theories, review either Skylar Hamilton Burris’ Literary Criticism: An Overview of Approaches or Dino F. Felluga’s Undergraduate Guide to Critical Theory
Schools of Literary Criticism
New Criticism: Focuses on “objectively” evaluating the text, identifying its underlying form. May study, for example, a text’s use of imagery, metaphor, or symbolism. Isn’t concerned with matters outside the text, such as biographical or contextual information. Online Examples: A Formalist Reading of Sandra Cisneros’s “Woman Hollering Creek” , Sound in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest by Skylar Hamilton Burris
Reader-Respons: Criticism Focuses on each reader’s personal reactions to a text, assuming meaning is created by a reader’s or interpretive community’s personal interaction with a text. Assumes no single, correct, universal meaning exists because meaning resides in the minds of readers. Online Examples: Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”: A Reader’s Response (PDF)
Feminism: Criticism Focuses on understanding ways gender roles are reflected or contradicted by texts, how dominance and submission play out in texts, and how gender roles evolve in texts. Online Example: “The Yellow Wall-Paper”: A Twist on Conventional Symbols, Subverting the French Androcentric Influence by Jane Le Marquand
New Historicism Focuses on understanding texts by viewing texts in the context of other texts. Seeks to understand economic, social, and political influences on texts. Tend to broadly define the term “text,” so, for example, the Catholic Church could be defined as a “text.” May adopt the perspectives of other interpretive communities–particularly reader-response criticism, feminist criticism, and Marxist approaches–to interpret texts. Online Example Monstrous Acts by Jonathan Lethem
Media Criticism Focuses on writers’ use of multimedia and hypertexts. Online Examples The Electronic Labyrinth by Christopher Keep, Tim McLaughlin, and Robin Parmar
Psychoanalytical Criticism Focuses on psychological dimensions of the work. Online Examples: A Freudian Approach to Erin McGraw’s “A Thief” by Skylar Hamilton Burris
Marxist Criticism Focuses on ways texts reflect, reinforce, or challenge the effects of class, power relations, and social roles. Online Example: A Reading of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” by Peter Kosenko
Archetypal Criticism Focuses on identifying the underlying myths in stories and archetypes, which reflect what the psychologist Carl Jung called the “collective unconsciousness.” Online Example: A Catalogue of Symbols in The Awakening by Kate Chopin by Skylar Hamilton Burris
Postcolonial Criticism Focuses on how Western culture’s (mis)representation of third-world countries and peoples in stories, myths, and stereotypical images encourages repression and domination. Online Example: Other Voices
Structuralism/Semiotics Focuses on literature as a system of signs where meaning is constructed in a context, where words are inscribed with meaning by being compared to other words and structures. Online Example: Applied Semiotics [Online journal with many samples]
Post-Structuralism/Deconstruction Focuses, along with Structuralism, on viewing literature as a system of signs, yet rejects the Structuralist view that a critic can identify the inherent meaning of a text, suggesting, instead that literature has no center, no single interpretation, that literary language is inherently ambiguous
Powerful works of literature invoke multiple readings. In other words, we can all read the same story or poem (or watch the same movie or listen to the same song) and come up with different, even conflicting, interpretations about what the work means. Who we are reflects how we read texts. Our experiences inspire us to relate to and sympathize with characters and difficult situations. Have we read similar stories? Have we actually faced some of the same challenges the characters in the story face? In addition, literary theories have unique ways to develop and substantiate arguments. Some theories draw extensively on the work of other critics, while others concentrate on the reader’s thoughts and feelings. Some theories analyze a work from an historical perspective, while others focus solely on a close reading of a text.
Accordingly, as with other genres, the following key features need to be read as points of departure as opposed to a comprehensive blueprint:
Focus
Examine a subject from a rhetorical perspective. Identify the intended audience, purpose, context, media, voice, tone, and persona.Distinguish between summarizing the literary work and presenting your argument. Many students fall into the trap of spending too much time summarizing the literature being analyzed as opposed to critiquing it. As a result, it would be wise to check with your teacher regarding how much plot summary is expected. As you approach this project, remember to keep your eye on the ball: What, exactly (in one sentence) is the gist of your interpretation?
Development
You can develop your ideas by researching the work of other literary critics. How do other critics evaluate an author’s work? What literary theories do literary critics use to interpret texts or particular moments in history? Reading sample proposals can help you find and adopt an appropriate voice and persona. By reading samples, you can learn how others have prioritized particular criteria.
Below are some of the questions invoked by popular literary theories. Consider these questions as you read a work, perhaps taking notes on your thoughts as you reread. You may focus on using one theory to “read and interpret” text or, more commonly, you may compare the critical concerns of different theories.
New Criticism/Formalism
Character: How does the character evolve during the story? What is unique or interesting about a character? Is the character a stereotypical action hero, a patriarchal father figure, or Madonna? How does a character interact with other characters?
Setting: How does the setting enhance tension within the work? Do any elements in the setting foreshadow the conclusion of the piece?
Plot:What is the conflict? How do scenes lead to a suspenseful resolution? What scenes make the plot unusual, unexpected, suspenseful?
Point of View: Who is telling the story? Is the narrator omniscient (all knowing) or does the narrator have limited understanding?
Reader-Response Criticism
How does the text make you feel? What memories or experiences come to mind when you read? If you were the central protagonist, would you have behaved differently? Why? What values or ethics do you believe are suggested by the story? As your reading of a text progresses, what surprises you, inspires you?
Feminist Criticism
How does the story re-inscribe or contradict traditional gender roles? For example, are the male characters in “power positions” while the women are “dominated”? Are the men prone to action, decisiveness, and leadership while the female characters are passive, subordinate? Do gender roles create tension within the story? Do characters’ gender roles evolve over the course of the narrative?
New Historicism Cristicism
How does the story reflect the aspirations and conditions of the lower classes or upper classes? Is tension created by juxtaposing privileged, powerful positions to subordinated, dominated positions? What information about the historical context of the story helps explain the character’s motivations? Who benefits from the outcome of the story or from a given character’s motivation?
Media Criticism
How does the medium alter readers’ interactions with the text? Has the reader employed multimedia or hypertext? What traditions from print and page design have shaped the structure of the text? In what ways has the author deviated from traditional, deductively organized linear texts?
Cite from the Work
Literary criticism involves close reading of a literary work, regardless of whether you are arguing about a particular interpretation, comparing stories or poems, or using a theory to interpret literature.Do not summarize the story. The purpose of the document is not to inform the readers, but to argue a particular interpretation. You only need to cite parts of the work that support or relate to your argument and follow the citation format required by your instructor (see Using and Citing Sources).
Below is an example from Sample Essays for English 103: Introduction to Fiction, Professor Matthew Hurt. Note how the writer uses block quotes to highlight key elements and paraphrase and summarizes the original works, using quotation marks where necessary.
…Twain offers a long descriptive passage of Huck and Jim’s life on the raft that seems, at first glance, to celebrate the idyllic freedom symbolized by the river and nature. . . A close reading of this passage, however, shows that the river is not a privileged natural space outside of and uncontaminated by society, but is inextricably linked to the social world on the shore, which itself has positive value for Huck. Instead of seeking to escape society, Huck wants to escape the dull routines of life.
The passage abounds with lyrical descriptions of the river’s natural beauty. For example, Huck’s long description of the sunrise over the river captures the peaceful stillness and the visual beauty of the scene:
The first thing to see, looking away over the water, was a kind of dull line — that was the woods on t’other side — you couldn’t make nothing else out; then a pale place in the sky; then more paleness, spreading around; then the river softened up, away off, and warn’t black any more, but gray; . . . sometimes you could hear a sweep screaking; or jumbled up voices, it was so still, and sounds come so far; and by-and-by you could see a streak on the water which you know by the look of the streak that there’s a snag there in the swift current which breaks on it and makes the streak look that way; and you see the mist curl up off of the water, and the east reddens up, and the river, and you make out a log cabin in the edge of the woods, away on the bank on t’other side of the river, . . . then the nice breeze springs up, and comes fanning you from over there, so cool and fresh, and sweet to smell, on account of the woods and the flowers; . . . and next you’ve got the full day, and everything smiling in the sun, and the song-birds just going at it! (129-130)
Here Huck celebrates the beauty of the natural world coming to life at the beginning of a new day. The “paleness” gradually spreading across the sky makes new objects visible which he describes in loving detail for the reader. The “nice breeze” is “cool and fresh” and “sweet to smell,” and the world seems to be “smiling in the sun” as the song-birds welcome the new day. However, Huck includes a number of details within this passage that would seem to work against the language of natural beauty. After describing the gradually brightening sky, Huck notes that “you could see little dark spots drifting along, ever so far away — trading scows, and such things; and long black streaks — rafts.” The sun rise reveals not only natural objects (the brightening sky, the “snag,” the “mist”), but also brings into view man-made objects (“trading scows” and “rafts”) that signify human society’s presence in this natural environment. Similarly, Huck speculates that the picturesque “log cabin” on the distant shore is a “woodyard, likely, and piled by them cheats so you can throw a dog through it anywheres.” Here the marker of human society takes on a sinister tone of corruption as Huck describes how unscrupulous wood sellers stack wood loosely to cheat their customers. Finally, although the breeze is “sweet to smell,” Huck assures the reader that this isn’t always the case: “but sometimes not that way, because they’ve left dead fish laying around, gars, and such, and they do get pretty rank.” These signs of society’s presence on the river are largely negative. The woodyard is “piled by cheats” and the stacked fish pollute the “sweet” smell of the breeze. At this point, the opposition between “good nature” and “bad society” remains intact. The signs of human presence suggest a corruption of nature’s beauty. In the paragraphs that follow, however, this opposition is subtly reversed. After Huck’s account of the sunrise over the river, he describes how he and Jim watch the steamboats “coughing along up stream.” But when there are no steamboats or rafts to watch, he describes the scene as “solid lonesomeness” (130). No songbirds, no sweet breezes. Without human activities to watch, the scene suddenly becomes empty and “lonesome,” and nothing captures Huck’s attention until more rafts and boats pass by and he can watch them chopping wood or listen to them beating pans in the fog.
Cite Other Critics’ Interpretations of the Work
Criticism written by advanced English majors, graduate students, and literary critics may be more about what other critics have said than about the actual text. Indeed, many critics spend more time reading criticism and arguing about critical approaches than actually reading original works. However, unless you are enrolled in a literary theory course, your instructor probably wants you to focus more on interpreting the work than discussing other critical interpretations. This does not mean, however, that you should write about a literary work “blindly.” Instead, you are wise to find out what other students and critics have said about the work. Below is a sample passage that illustrates how other critics’ works can inspire an author and guide him or her in constructing a counter argument, support an author’s interpretation, and provide helpful biographical information.
In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedmaotes that when Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” was published in the June 28, 1948 issue of the New Yorker it received a response that “no New Yorker story had ever received”: hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by “bewilderment, speculation, and old-fashioned abuse.”1 It is not hard to account for this response: Jackson’s story portrays an “average” New England village with “average” citizens engaged in a deadly rite, the annual selection of a sacrificial victim by means of a public lottery, and does so quite deviously: not until well along in the story do we suspect that the “winner” will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers.
Organization
The format for literary critiques is fairly standard:
State your claim(s).
Forecast your organization.
Marshal evidence for your claim.
Reiterate argument and elaborate on its significance.
In English classes, you may be able to assume that your readers are familiar with the work you are critiquing. Perhaps, for example, the entire class is responding to one particular work after some class discussions about it. However, if your instructor asks you to address a broader audience, you may need to provide bibliographical information for the work. In other words, you may need to cite the title, publisher, date, and pages of the work (see Citing Sources ). Literary critiques are arguments. As such, your instructors expect you to state a claim in your introduction and then provide quotes and paraphrased statements from the text to serve as evidence for your claim. Ideally, your critique will be insightful and interesting. You’ll want to come up with an interpretation that isn’t immediately obvious. Below are some examples of “thesis statements” or “claims” from literary critiques:
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the window, and the wall-paper which facilitate her oppression as well as her self expression. [“‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’: A Twist on Conventional Symbols” by Liselle Sant]
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman is a sad story of the repression that women face in the days of the late 1800’s as well as being representative of the turmoil that women face today. [Critique of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Brandi Mahon]
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story of a woman, her psychological difficulties and her husband’s so called therapeutic treatment of her aliments during the late 1800s. . . Gilman does well throughout the story to show with descriptive phrases just how easily and effectively the man “seemingly” wields his “maleness” to control the woman. But, with further interpretation and insight I believe Gilman succeeds iothing more than showing the weakness of women, of the day, as active persons in their own as well as society’s decision making processes instead of the strength of men as women dominating machines. “The View from the Inside” by Timothy J. Decker
In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a strong opposition between the freedom of Huck and Jim’s life on the raft drifting down the Mississippi River, which represents “nature,” and the confining and restrictive life on the shore, which represents “society.” [ “‘All I wanted was a change’: Positive Images of Nature and Society in Chapter 19 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from Professor Matthew Hurt’s “Sample Essays for English 103: Introduction to Fiction”]
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” an unexpected visitor comes down from the sky, and seems to test the faith of a community. The villagers have a difficult time figuring out just how the very old man with enormous wings fits into their lives. Because this character does not agree with their conception of what an angel should look like, they try to determine if the aged man could actually be an angel. In trying to prove the origin of their visitor, the villagers lose faith in the possibility of him being an angel because he does not adhere to their ordered world. Marquez keeps the identity of the very old man with enormous wings ambiguous to critique the villagers and, more generally, organized religion for having a lack of faith to believe in miracles that do not comply with their master narrative. [“Prove It: A Critique of the Villagers’ Faith in ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings'” from Sample Essays for English 103: Introduction to Fiction, Professor Matthew Hurt]
Style
Literary criticism is a fairly specialized kind of writing. Instead of writing to a general lay audience, you are writing to members of a literary community who have read a work and who developed opinions about the work–as well as a vocabulary of interpretation.
Following are some common words used by literary critics. More specialized terms can be learned by reading criticism or by referring to a good encyclopedia for criticism or writing, including the Writer’s Encyclopedia:
Protagonist: The protagonist is the major character of the story; typically the character must overcome significant challenges.
Antagonist: The protagonist’s chief nemesis; in other words, the character whom the protagonist must overcome.
Symbols: Metaphoric language; see A Catalogue of Symbols in The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Viewpoint: Stories are told either in the first person or third person point of view. The first person is limited to a single character, although dialog can let you guess at other characters’ intentions. The third person allows readers inside the character’s mind so you know what the character feels and thinks.Viewpoint can be “limited,” where the character knows less than the reader, or “omniscient,” where the reader can hear the thoughts and feelings of all characters. Occasionally writers will use multiple character viewpoint, which takes you from one character’s perspective to another.
Plot: Plots are a series of scenes, typically moving from a conflict situation to a resolution. To surprise readers, authors will foreshadow “false plants,” which lead readers to anticipate other resolutions. The term “denouement” refers to the unraveling of the plot in the conclusion.
WHAT DOES MY PROFESSOR WANT?
In 200-level and 300-level English courses, you’ll be asked to write a formal analysis (sometimes called a “research paper,” a “term paper,” or even a “documented literary analysis”). This paper should present an original argument about an aspect or aspects of literature and should engage with critical sources. It is important to keep in mind that this assignment is not a report. It should not merely rehearse the critical arguments that have already been made about your topic. Rather, the argument should be based on your own close reading of your chosen text(s) and, at the same time, demonstrate the scholarly maturity that comes with situating this argument in relation to the work of other scholars. Material from these sources should be carefully documented using the MLA style of documentation.
Here are some tips:
All professors will want to see a strong argument, cogently advanced and well-supported by evidence from the literature.
Organization counts. Make sure you have a focused, detailed thesis within your introductory paragraph. Succeeding paragraphs should state a topic and supply evidence and argument to support that topic. Don’t forget the conclusion. A strong conclusion leaves your reader with a clear sense of your perspective and helps the reader to recall the most important aspects of your argument.
Don’t let the critics run away with your paper. Subordinate their views to your own, and make sure that the preponderance of the paper is yours. Never cite a critical view that you do not understand.
Remember to revise your work and proof-read carefully. Some professors care more about one aspect of paper writing than others. Some particularly hate to see documentation errors; for others sloppy writing (lots of spelling, punctuation and other mechanical errors) spells doom. Always do your best work, and don’t assume that you caeglect any aspect of your essay.
Your professor will give you specific guidelines for topic selection, but general topics often include: poetry explication, analysis of theme(s), exploration of one or more characteristic(s) of an author’s style and approach, placement of a work or works in literary historical context, the comparison/contrast of works sharing similarities but written by different authors and/or in different literary periods.
The English 200-Level Guide at the LND Library website contains links to a variety of research tools, as well as tips on how to locate articles and books. You may find the MLA Bibliography tutorial particularly useful.
The Help guides page at the LND Library website also can help you use the different databases, find articles and books, navigate the library catalog, and cite sources using MLA style.
APPROPRIATE GENERAL TOPICS
Analysis of theme(s)
A theme is a recurring idea or concept in a text. It is not explicit; therefore, the writer must to look for repeated imagery or symbols, examine the relationships between plot, setting, characters, and structure, and think about the feelings evoked throughout the text. Common themes in literature include love, jealousy, and friendship. If assigned to analyze a theme in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you could analyze the theme of friendship between Huck and Jim.
Exploration of one or more characteristic(s) of an author’s style and approach
Consider analyzing the author’s use of imagery or setting:
Analyzing Setting
“Setting refers to the natural or artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature live and move. Seeing also includes what in the theater would be called props or properties—the implements employed by the characters in various activities. Such things as the time of day and the consequent amount of light at which an event occurs, the flora and fauna, the sounds described, the smells, and the weather are also part of the setting. Paintbrushes, apples, pitchforks, rafts, six-shooters, watches, automobiles, horses and buggies, and innumerable other items belong to the setting. References to clothing, descriptions of physical appearance, and spatial relationships among the characters are also part of setting.” (Edgar V. Roberts, Writing Themes about Literature)
In order to create an argument about the function of the setting in a particular work, you need to identify the principal settings and to see how they work. Here are some steps you can take:
1) Read the story and mark references to setting. Start with the place and time of the action and then focus upon recurrent details and objects.
2) Think about what the story is about. What happens? What is its point? Is it a story about love, jealousy, gain, or loss? What is the main experience here?
3) Look through your setting notes and see if they fall into any pattern. What are the interesting shifts and contrasts?
4) Determine how the setting relates to either the main point of the story (step 2) or to some part of it. In other words what does the setting have to do with character or action? What are its effects? Whatever you decide here will be your thesis statement.
5) Make an outline, indicating what aspects of setting you will discuss and what you intend to say about them. Discard notes that are not central to your plan (you don’t have to discuss everything). Focus on the four or five key passages in the story that you wish to examine. List them in your outline in the order in which they occur.
Analyzing Imagery
As distinct from character, theme, and plot, imagery occurs primarily in language, in the metaphors (i.e. comparisons), similes (comparisons with “like” or “as”), or other forms of figurative (pictorial) language in a literary work. Sometimes setting, i.e., the locality or placing of scenes, or stage props (like swords, flowers, blood, winecups) can also be considered under the rubric of imagery. But whatever the expression, images primarily are visual and concrete, i.e., things which the reader sees or can imagine seeing. Some examples are flowers, tears, animals, the moon, sun, stars, diseases, floods, metals, darkness and light.
In order to create an argument about the significance of an image in a particular work, identify a principal image or image cluster and to see how it works by following these steps:
1) Read the work and mark recurrent images or image clusters. If you are seeing references to roses, e. g., references to other thorns or to other flowers might also be pertinent parts of a cluster. Look at notes to the images carefully. Take out your microscope. You may also track down occurrences of related words with the help of a concordance (See Marvin Spevack’s Concordance to Shakespeare in the library) or electronic word searches. You can use secondary sources for this assignment as well.
2) Think about what the play is about. What happens? What is its point? Is it a play about love, jealousy, gain, or loss? What is the main experience here? Look through your images and image clusters and see if they fall into any pattern. What are the interesting shifts? Do they generally appear in the speeches of certain characters? in certain scenes? Do we have a progression or development? Significant contrasts?
3) Determine how the images or image clusters (step 3) relate to either the main point of the play (step 2) or to some part of it. In other words what do the images have to do with character or action? What are their effects? Whatever you decide here will be your thesis statement.
4) Make an outline, indicating what your image pattern is and what you intend to say about it. Discard images that are not central to your plan (you don’t have to discuss everything). Focus on the four or five key passages in the play that you wish to examine. List them in your outline in the order in which they occur.
5) Read Criticism and watch films to deepen understanding and refine your thesis. Compile a bibliography. Adjust outline as necessary.
Placement of a work or works in literary historical context
By placing a work in its literary historical context, one can trace the influences a historical period had on an author and/or the creation of his/her work(s). In doing this, a literary historical critic gains insights about the nature of a particular historical period. Using the historical context as a lens through which to read literature allows one to gain an understanding of both larger social issues, as well as the personal struggles that everyday people endured. As Janet E. Gardner explains in Writing about Literature, “We may be able to learn from parish burial records, for example, how common childhood mortality was at a particular time in English history, but only when we read Ben Johnson’s poem “On My First Son” do we begin to understand how this mortality may have affected the parents who lost their children. Likewise, the few pages of James Joyce’s story “Araby” may tell us more about how adolescent boys lived and thought in turn-of-the-century Dublin than several volumes of social history” (Gardner 147-8).
Comparison/contrast of works sharing similarities but written by different authors and/or in different literary periods
While there are many forms of compare-and-contrast essays, the best ones use the points of comparison and contrast that they identify between the works in order to make a claim about how one text illuminates the other or how they illuminate each other. Rather than a simple delineation of differences and similarities, your essay should use those differences and similarities to make a larger argument about how comparing the two texts reveals some unexpected or non-obvious about one or both of the works. Most often, such claims work to show how texts do similar things differently. Therefore, often the best structure for this kind of argument is to detail enough similarities between the works (especially works written by vastly different authors and/or in different literary periods) to justify your comparison and to narrow the scope of your discussion. In other words, first show how your two vastly different texts are attempting similar things. Then, focus the remainder of your essay on the nuanced differences between each text’s approach to those similar things and the way in which juxtaposing them illuminates our understanding of one or both.
Poetry Explication
Explication, from explicare meaning “to unfold,” is an exercise in analysis. In it, the writer shows that he or she can read a poem and explain how it the various choices a poet makes shape its message and affect the reader. One writes an explication by paying close attention to the meaning of words, to their sounds, to their placement in lines and sentences. One then explains how the parts contribute to the whole. This exercise trains the ear, eye, and mind. It develops critical faculties and discipline.
1) Read the poem out loud several times. Look up in a dictionary at least 10 words in it for meanings, alternate meanings, and for shades of meaning. Take notes. Jot down some general observations about the poem and your initial reactions.
2) Ask yourself who is the speaker? What is the situation and what is the poem about? Be as precise and as specific as possible. What about tone, diction [level of word choice—high, medium, low, or slang], mood? Jot down your answers.
3) Underline all repetitions or devices of sound that you notice. Pay attention to any surprising shifts of sound or meaning. Ask yourself what effects they have? Jot down your answers.
4) Type the poem out (double-spaced) on a separate sheet of paper. Number the lines and mark all stressed and unstressed syllables. Mark also significant devices of sound: caesuras [breaks within a line, usually signalled by punctuation], alliteration, or assonance (“significant” means important enough for you to discuss later). This does not count in the four pages and must be handed in with the poem.
5) Write in your first paragraph a brief summary of the poem, i.e. a notice of its central statement and constituent parts. Show some emotion or interest here; don’t be flat or effusive (avoid general and meaningless praise: “this is a wonderful or incredible or brilliant poem”).
6) Quote the first few lines of the poem (1-4, or whatever you’re comfortable with). Talk about the speaker and situation, about what is said, how, and why. Note connotations and overtones, how sound creates or enhances sense. Don’t ever notice a poetic device without explaining its effect. Pay attention to sound and sense, to music and meaning.
7) Repeat step 3 for the rest of the poem, working your way through slowly and carefully. Note instances of repetition and their effects; note development of phrases or ideas. Note images and be account for shifts in tone, sound, rhythm, diction, or subject. Discuss the ending of the poem separately.
8) For a conclusion write a brief, specific statement about the effect or meaning or artistry of the poem, about structures or patterns or insights that your analysis has revealed. Look through your opening paragraph for hints that you caow develop in closing. Or revise opening in light of what you have discovered.
ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS
Your thesis must make an argument, not an observation.
An “observation” suggests something that is generally true about the text, like an objective element of the plot or an image used by the author. For example, if we are writing about the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf we might make an observation about the way animal imagery seems to function for the Geat warriors. We might observe that while the Geats feature an image of a boar on their battle helmets (thus seemingly identifying with this ferocious animal), there are other moments in the text when the Geats shun vicious monsters (when they are reluctant to fight the dragon, for example.) Someone who has read the work carefully probably wouldn’t disagree with this observation; it refers to an image used by the narrator and a specific plot point. This observation does, however, pose a question or “problem” for the careful reader: what do we as readers make of this apparent contradiction? Why is this juxtaposition important for the narrative more broadly? What are the consequences of this juxtaposition on plot, theme, or character? So what?
An “argument”—your thesis statement— is your solution to this problem. The thesis answers the “so what” question by explaining the significance of the observation and explaining why an invested reader should care about this detail. For example, one might argue that the juxtaposition of the Geats ferocious helmets and their subsequent unwillingness to approach the dragon suggests an inherent difference between the warriors’ appearance (outward show) and their actions. This seems to be a theme in the work. The Danish coastguard who greets the Geats when they arrive in Denmark remarks that there is often a difference between “what is said” and “what is done,” and at the end of the epic, Wiglaf says that this discrepancy between word and action will ultimately impair the Geats‘ ability to protect their kingdom. A thesis statement could read: “The difference between the Geats ferocious appearance and their later unwillingness to fight fearful monsters like the dragon suggests a devastating discrepancy between their appearance and their actions—a discrepancy that is responsible for the deterioration of the warrior culture in the epic.”
It is important to keep in mind that your thesis statement should argue something with which a reader can disagree. If I argued the thesis above, the body of my essay would not only need to prove that there is, in fact, a contradiction between the Geats’ appearance and action, but would also necessarily provide additional textual examples of how this discrepancy contributes to the deterioration of the warrior kingdoms in the epic. And, I’d need to be aware that other readers might not see the same contradiction. For example, another viable thesis statement could read: “As clear from biblical references in the text, humans identify with animals over monsters because animals are more like humans. Both humans and animals were created by God and thereby remind men of Divinity; whereas, monsters are perversions of God’s nature and thereby indicate a diabolic presence.” Rather than suggesting a contradiction, the imagery on the helmet suggests a righteous identification with God’s creation and an equally righteous aversion to things that are not “of God.” These two thesis statements offer opposite solutions to the problem posed above; both are viable and could be supported with textual evidence; and both make points with which a careful reader could disagree.
CLOSE READING
Before a literary scholar can begin writing about a piece of literature, one must engage in the exercise of close reading. As the term suggests, “close reading” means closely examining the words on a page in order to come up with a reading or an interpretation about the greater meaning of a work.
How does one “read closely”?
The first task involves dissecting a passage or phrase by analyzing literary elements that stick out. For instance, is the tone, diction, syntax, style, imagery, figurative language, theme(s), cultural/historical/religious references, rhyme, rhythm and meter, etc. significant in the passage or stanza? Take notes on whatever seems significant by writing in the margins of your text or keeping a reading journal.
After taking notes, the second task in close reading is looking for patterns or interruptions of patterns. Gather the evidence collected and think about how each one works together to create the work as a whole or how these elements contribute to or complicate larger issues such as theme, setting, characterization.
Finally, think about the purpose and the effect of these significant elements/patterns in the work as a whole. This means asking why and how: Why is an author using a particular metaphor, tone, diction, etc. and how does it affect one’s understanding of the passage? How are they all related to one another? How do they help us understand the larger work?
The steps listed above are a pre-writing exercise, designed to help you identify a potential thesis. Once you have formulated a thesis about how to read a larger work, you can use the smaller significant elements as evidence. This evidence will then need to be analyzed in order to support that thesis.
CRITICAL SOURCES
Defining Literary Criticism Literary criticism is a disciplined attempt to analyze some aspect or aspects of one or more works of art—for our purposes, mostly literary art (plays, novels, short stories, essays, poems). Serious literary critics study their primary materials very closely and repeatedly, examine the contexts in which the works they are studying were produced, and read widely in the work of other literary critics on their subject before producing their own original analysis of a work or works of literature. Generally, literary criticism is published in one of three forms: in a book; in an article published in a professional journal, whether print-based or online; or in an article published in a book as part of a collection. These formats insure that experts in the appropriate field(s) have reviewed the literary criticism and judged its accuracy in points of fact, its attention to scholarship in the field, etc. These formats are peer-reviewed sources (also known as “refereed sources”). Peer-reviewed means that a source has been rigorously scrutinized by other experts before publication.
Why consult and cite literary criticism? • Reading a variety of views increases your knowledge of your subject and helps you to demonstrate to your reader that you have considered views other than your own. • Reading literary criticism enables you to weigh your conclusions against others’ to check your logic and to see whether you have covered all significant aspects of your argument. • Citing others’ views makes you appear a more knowledgeable writer to your readers. • Citing literary critics whose views agree with yours can strengthen your case (although you must still supply the appropriate evidence). • Taking issue with a critic with whom you disagree can also strengthen your case if you present your counterargument effectively. • Literary criticism can enable you and your readers to see how evaluations and analyses of literature have changed over time.
Where do I find literary criticism? Encyclopedia articles do not offer true literary criticism, nor do Cliff’s Notes, Spark Notes, or “overviews” of authors, works, or literary topics available online. Some websites post serious scholarship, but many are run by fans or students who may or may not know more than you do(!) Wikipedia, for example, is not a peer-reviewed source; any one can post and update information on this site and, as a result, it is not a reliable resource. If you find your sources either through the SHARC catalogue or the MLA Bibliography database online (the bibliographical resource of the Modern Language Association), you are unlikely to go wrong:
• Use books and articles from the Loyola/Notre Dame Library or other libraries and articles located via the library databases. Internet material must have been published in a book or journal before being placed online. (Recall your library workshop.) • Good sources can be found through Project Muse and the MLA Bibliography database, but avoid the “Biographies” and “Overview” tabs in the Literature Resource Center. This information can be useful to provide background for your research, but you should not use it in your paper as one of the documented sources. • The MLA Bibliography database is the primary research database for researchers in literature. If a this database doesn’t supply a .pdf of an article you want to look at, write down the full publication information, and search for the journal in the ejournals section of our library’s homepage.
FORMAL ANALYSIS
Formal analysis involves a close reading of the literary elements of a text. A formal analysis examines elements such as setting, imagery, characters, tone, form/structure, and language. The goal of a formal analysis is to create meaning by exploring how these elements work together in any given text. You can compare parts of a text or you can analyze how parts of a text relate to the whole text.
MLA STYLE OF DOCUMENTATION
Follow the MLA style of documentation, which is a parenthetical style. Remember that you need a “Works Cited” page and a “Bibliography” page, and these should follow MLA format, not one you create on the spur of the moment or borrow from some other discipline. The “Works Cited” page lists all works you cite in the essay, the “Bibliography” lists all the works you consulted, including all of those cited. You should always note your professor’s requirements as to minimum number of sources. The Department’s handbook (A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker) provides information under the MLA tab about how to provide parenthetical documentation and prepare a bibliography and list of works cited. You may also consult dianahacker.com/resdoc/ for online help. Use the “Humanities” resources tab. A quick look at the sample MLA paper in the Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference will give you a general sense of how MLA documentation works.
ORGANIZATION
Every paper must contain an introduction (which states the argumentative thesis), subsequent argument paragraphs, and a conclusion.
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
As Janet E. Gardner writes in Writing About Literature, “Essentially, and introduction accomplishes two things. First, it gives a sense of both your topic and your approach to that topic, which is why it is common to make your thesis statement a part of the introduction. Second, an introduction compels your readers’ interest and makes them want to read on and find out what your paper has to say. Some common strategies used in effective introductions are to begin with a probing rhetorical question, a vivid description, or an intriguing quotation. Weak introductions tend to speak in generalities or in philosophical ideas that are only tangentially related to the real topic of your paper. Don’t spin your wheels: get specific and get to the point right away.”
Your introduction is your opportunity to catch your reader’s attention and involve that person in the ideas you put forth in your paper. Imagine riding in an elevator with someone you’d like to strike up a conversation with about a specific topic. How do you do it? How do you catch that person’s attention before the ride is up? You can’t just immediately throw your claims and evidence at that person, yet at the same time, he or she is unlikely to be compelled by vague general statements about “the history of time” or where and when a certain person was born. And you can’t stand there all day getting to the point. Instead, you look for compelling point of interest that is both related to where you’d like to go with your discussion, and is of shared interest between you and that person. After raising the topic through this point of common ground, you can then put forth what you will claim about it.
SUCCEEDING PARAGRAPHS
A complete argument paragraph consists of the following components:
1. Topic Sentence: Suggests generally what the paragraph is talking about; often includes a transition from previous paragraphs.
2. Claim: Makes a very specific claim that the paragraph will argue is true; you’ll likely derive this claim from your thesis statement (together, all your paragraph claims will work to prove your thesis).
3. Evidence: Provides the textual support for the claim.
4. Analysis: Explains how the evidence actually relates to the argument. This is typically the most challenging part of composing your paragraph, and it is often forgotten (much to the peril of both reader and writer!). Here, you must articulate how the passage you’ve just cited supports the paragraph claim/argument premise. You must explain how the textual evidence means what you think it means. Never rely on the reader to be able to interpret the evidence on his or her own. That is, if your argument is a statement with which the careful reader can disagree, this means that the evidence you provide can likely be interpreted in many different ways. You need to guide your reader in interpreting the evidence so as to argue why your claim is true.
5. Conclusion: Offers implications of the argument and evidence, often transitions to the next paragraph. This often answers the “so what?” question. It articulates why what you’ve just proven matters and usually articulates how your argument claims relates to/proves the thesis statement.
After the explanation of evidence, a well-developed paragraph might also include: Additional Evidence/Explanation: What other evidence is there to support your claim?
Concession/ Nonclusion (these are an inseparable pair!): What evidence might contradict your claim? (The concession acknowledges the perceived opposition (perhaps in the form of another critic) or the skeptical reader). And, why, despite this evidence, is your argument still more effective than the concession? (The nonclusion is essential—never end a paragraph with a concession; take the concession into account while further proving your argument!)
CONCLUSION
As Janet E. Gardner points out in Writing About Literature, “Your conclusion should give your reader something new to think about, a reasoot to just forget your essay. Some writers like to use the conclusion to return to an idea, a quotation, or an image first raised in the introduction, creating a satisfying feeling of completeness and self-containment…. Some writers use the conclusion to show the implications of their claims or the connections between literature and real life. This is your chance to make a good final impression, so don’t waste it with a simple summary and restatement.”
This doesn’t mean that your conclusion should not restate your thesis. Your conclusion is the place in which you draw together all the threads of your argument and neatly tie them up. When Gardner says not to “waste” your conclusion with “simple summary and restatement,” she means don’t ONLY summarize and restate. Your should absolutely recap your main points, but a good conclusion ALSO does more. Additionally, treading the path betweeot giving your reader anything new in the conclusion and introducing more unsupported claims can be tricky. The conclusion is a good place to SUGGEST the further implications of your argument, for life, for literature, for an author’s body of work, etc., but be careful that you don’t find yourself making new claims your reader is unlikely to agree with. These implications should follow naturally from the structure of your argument and often are best expressed with less-definitive phrasing (i.e. “perhaps,” implies,” “suggests,” “hints,” “may,” etc.).
POST-WRITING
1) Revise again and again. All good writing is rewriting. Clarify, define, smooth-out rough spots. Work to develop ideas, and round out paragraphs. Try to be more accurate and graceful, to clean up mistakes, and to correct embarrassing errors. Look hard at your evidence. Be tough and cut out the nonsense.
2) Proofread carefully, by means of spell-check and by your own reading. Make sure you have supplied a title, page numbers for the paper. (No decorative bindings; use 12-point type, double spaced, with standard page margins.)
3) Make sure you have provided accurate documentation for every quotation and outside source cited or consulted.
QUOTING CRITICS
• It is a good idea to include a full quotation when the critic says something particularly well. Paraphrase when the idea is important, but the wording is nothing special. (Document both.)
• Don’t let the critics run away with your paper. Instead, keep their ideas subordinated to your own and use them to support your own claims. Typically, your paragraphs should begin with your topic sentence, then provide your evidence from the text, and then (perhaps) include a comment or comments from critics. A rare exception might be when you are disagreeing with a critic. In this instance, you may wish to state the opposing idea first, and then follow up by expressing your disagreement and presenting the evidence for your point of view.
• Cited passages should be integrated into your text and be attributed to thier originators. For example, “Elgin Slapworthy has observed that ‘Dickens remembered this period in his boyhood as both painful and humiliating’ ” (237). Don’t just pop in a quotation without making the context and source of the quotation clear. Attribution in the text makes the essay read more smoothly and cuts down on the amount of parenthetical documentation that must be provided.
• Quotations of more than three lines should be indented and set off in the text. Setting off indicates quotation, so quotation marks are not needed, unless you have a quotation within a quotation.
As Prof. Bladderstock argues: Austen’s prose has often been imitated but never matched. Even my own brilliant Austen parody, Sense and Susceptibility, fell short in regard to dialogue. Austen’s uncanny ability to combine sense and wit, while suiting words and phrasing to character, is difficult, perhaps impossible to reproduce. (132)
• A quotation within a quotation—say you quote a critic who quotes a passage from Dorothy Sayers—this should be indicated by using single quotation marks: According to Evangeline Pink, “Sayers’ use of the line, ‘So, you’re one of them,’ echoes a statement in the trial of the infamous Madeline Smith” (299).
EVIDENCE FROM LITERATURE
Just as scientists provide data to support their results, literary critics must use evidence from literature in order to convince their audience that they have a cogent argument. Evidence must be provided in every body paragraph in order to support your claims. Where will you find evidence? First, you must do a close reading of the text. It is much easier to first analyze and think about how the smaller literary elements work together to create the whole work, rather than randomly thumbing through a work to find support for your thesis. When you provide evidence, you are providing proof from the text that shows your audience that your thesis is valid. Critics most commonly provide evidence by quoting a line or a passage from a work. When you provide evidence, it is imperative not to take it out of context. For example, if a character is joking with another character that he will kill himself if he fails his chemistry test and there’s no other mention of death in the work, it would be unfair to represent this character as suicidal by eliminating the context of him joking. Accurately quoting and fairly representing events/characters/etc. adds to your credibility as a writer. If you find evidence that counters your thesis, you should still engage with it. Think about what your critics would say and come up with a response to show how that particular piece of evidence might still support your stance. Once you’re done gathering evidence, you can move on to the analysis portion in which you explain how the evidence supports your claims.
