Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.
literary analysis essay and works cited
A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis, nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.
Table of contentsStep 1: Reading the text and identifying literary devices
Step 2: Coming up with a thesis
Step 3: Writing a title and introduction
Step 4: Writing the body of the essay
Step 5: Writing a conclusion
By definition, a character analysis is the process of evaluating the specific traits of a literary character. This will include consideration of additional elements such as the role they play in the story and the various conflicts they experience.
In a critical analysis essay, you not only analyzeTo make a thoughtful and detailed study of something. the contentThe text in a writing that includes facts, thoughts, and ideas. The information that forms the body of the work. or ideasA thought, opinion, or impression. of an author'sA person who wrote a text. work, but also how the author presents them. You only summarizeTo give a short version of the main points of a text. the author's main pointsThe most important idea in a paragraph. Main points support the main idea of a reading. at the beginning of the essay; your analysis and evaluationTo make a judgment about the quality of something. For example, you can evaluate an essay by examining the accuracy of the information or the strength of the arguments. of the author's argumentA set of statements or reasons making a case for or against something. make up the majority of your writing. In this lesson, you will learn how to write a multi-page critical analysis essay using quotationsAn exact copy of the words from a speech or text. These words are placed inside quotation marks to show that they are a perfect repeat of the original. and paraphrasesThe use of different words to express the meaning of an original text or speech. to support your claims.
Understanding your specific assignment is the first step in writing a critical analysis essay. Remember that what makes a critical analysis essay unique is that you are evaluating the quality of someone else's work; you are offering your perspectiveThe point of view from which an author considers a subject or issue. on it. Since you should strengthen your argument by including quotations and ideas from other authors, you will need to include in-text citationsInformation about a source, such as the author, date, and page number, in an essay or research paper that helps readers find the source in the works cited or references page. There are different rules for how to use in-text citations depending on the context of the citation and the style of formatting you are using. and a works cited pageAn alphabetized list of publication information about the sources used in an MLA-formatted essay or research paper. in your essay.
The next step is to gather ideas for use in your essay. Generally, there are four categories to focus on when doing a critical analysis: the work's message, the foundation (thesisAn overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis for a work., supporting claimsA statement that something is true, such as the thesis of an essay. A successful writer must present evidence to prove his/her claim., and evidenceFacts, statistics, or expert testimony that supports a claim.), structure (organization and cohesiveness), and purposeThe reason the writer is writing about a topic. It is what the writer wants the reader to know, feel, or do after reading the work./impact. The following are some specific questions you might ask yourself about an author's work or a topicThe subject of a reading. to help you explore these categories further as you gather ideas:
At this point, you will be ready to develop a working or tentative thesis statementAn early form of a thesis statement that can be developed into a more formal thesis statement by creating supporting details. and create a rough or informal outlineA simplified outline that presents an overview of the placement of information in a reading. of your essay. You will almost certainly adjust the thesis statementA brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader? and outline as you work through your essay and think more deeply about your topic; they function as a starting point. In a critical analysis essay, your thesis statement should include the topic, subjectThe people, places, things, or ideas being discussed or described. , or item that you are analyzing and the point that you are making about it.
As you conduct your research, be sure to focus on reputable sources. Peer-reviewedWritings that have been evaluated by experts in a subject before they are published. journals and well-established magazines, authors, and websites are generally reputable sources; many blogsA website that hosts a series of articles, photos, and other postings, sometimes by a single writer (blogger) or by a community of contributors., Wikipedia, research articles without citationsA reference within a text to an outside source of ideas, quotes, or information. Citations can be placed within sentences or in a separate works cited or reference section, as specified by the style guide in use., and materials that are over fifteen years old or otherwise dated are not. Anything that someone self-publishes is suspect. Do not automatically trust any one source; you should always cross-reference your factsA piece of information that can be proven. Something that is true and indisputable. to verify their validity.
Finally, as you research, be sure to take clear notes on the sources of the information that you incorporate into your essay and note any particularly compelling ideas or writing that you encounter. You may want to incorporate some of these ideas as quotations or paraphrases. Carefully noting where they come from will be important when you write your essay and create your works cited page.
Any ideas or quotations that come from other sources must be properly cited in your essay. You do this by providing in-text citations, attributive phrasesA short introduction to source material that identifies the author and often the title of a work that will be quoted or discussed in an essay or research paper. , and eventually, a works cited page or reference list. In-text citations give the readers the necessary information to find the original source and typically include author's name, page number, and/or the year published within parentheses. Check to see whether your professor requires MLAA grammar and reference guide used mainly by students and scholars writing about the humanities (languages and literature). - or APAA set of guidelines for citing sources used in literary and academic writing. APA style is most commonly used in the social sciences.-style citations because the two styles differ.
The in-text citations do not necessarily include all the information to find the original source, but they do when combined with the works cited or references pageAn alphabetized list of publication information about the sources used in an APA-formatted essay or research paper.. MLA format uses a works cited page while APA uses a references page. Both types of citation pages come at the end of the work and include information required to locate a source, including author(s) name(s), title of the work, publication date, and location information such as the name and volume of a journal, url of a website, or network of a television broadcast. Because you will potentially use a wide variety of sources, there are many specific rules for how to do this. Be sure to consult the most recent MLA or APA style guideA set of rules for punctuation, grammar, and other facets of writing, used to produce consistency and promote understanding. Different publications and types of writing often follow different style guides. Well-known style guides in the U.S. include The Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Style Manual, and the Associated Press Stylebook., and use the exact process described.
Follow the twelve steps above and observe how to write a multi-page critical analysis essay. This example follows MLA citation style. The same essay following APA style can be found at the end of the section.
Follow the twelve-step writing process to write a multi-page critical analysis essay of a film of your choosing. Make sure to include at least one direct quote and one paraphrased citation. You may use either MLA or APA format for your citations, depending on your instructor's preference. (The sample student work follows MLA style; an alternate version of the final essay using APA style is also provided.)
On this page we clarify the purpose of using literary quotations in literary analysis papers by exploring why quotations are important to use in your writing and then explaining how to do this. We provide general guidelines and specific suggestions about blending your prose and quoted material as well as information about formatting logistics and various rules for handling outside text.
Although this material is focused on integrating your ideas with quotations from novels, poems, and plays into literary analysis papers, in some genres this advice is equally applicable to incorporating quotations from scholarly essays, reports, or even original research into your work. 2ff7e9595c
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