Get Cheap Custom Essay Help-Paper Two: A Literary Analysis
Paper Two: A Literary Analysis
If you decide to use Thor, I suggest that you watch it ahead of the class schedule, as we’re not watching it until the end of the semester.
You should also carefully look at my remarks on your previous paper to see where you might have gone wrong or what you might need to improve.
REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities.
Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea. Your objective in writing a literary analysis essay is to convince the person reading your essay that you have supported the idea you are developing.
Unlike ordinary conversation and classroom discussion, writing must stick
with great determination to the specific point of development.
- Your essay must cover the topic you are writing about.
- Your essay must have a central idea (stated in your thesis) that
governs its development.
- That thesis must be challenging – not something that anyone who reads the text would get immediately
- Your essay must be organized so that every part contributes
something to the reader’s understanding of the central idea.
- Your paper should ultimately help your audience to better understand the text(s).
- 1500 words, double spaced
- MLA format – make the effort to check a sample to see how this is formatted
- NO FIRST PERSON
- Citation of the work is required, as you will be using quotes from it to support your thesis
- As always, papers are to be free of major spelling and grammatical errors
- Thesis statement due Apr 4
- Outline due Apr 16
- Final draft is due Apr 25
Below are some suggestions from ehow.com on how to write your Literary Analysis
How you write a literary analysis essay will differ depending on course requirements, but all essays should cover four key areas of literary analysis: theme, structure, plot and character. Every literary analysis essay should also include a motivating question or argument that drives the rest of the paper. Whether you want to provide a broad overview of a book or focus on a specific area, discussing the following five characteristics will result in a well-rounded literary analysis.
- 1
Every essay begins with a motivating question.writing image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
The Purdue Online Writing Lab recommends choosing a thesis, also called a motivating question or argument, before beginning your paper. An example of a thesis for an essay on Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” could be “What is the significance of the whale’s white color?” State your thesis at the end of your first paragraph and use the remaining paragraphs of your paper to explore your question or support your argument.
- 2
Identify several important motifs and themes in the work and explain what purpose they serve. The Writing Center at University of Iowa cautions against selectively ignoring parts of a book that contradict your chosen theme; only write about a theme you are certain you can fully support. For example, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” provides one example of a literary theme: The protagonist Dorothy meets characters such as the Tin Man who desire something they unknowingly already possess; this repeated theme sets up Dorothy’s final realization that rather than wanting to live in a new place, “There’s no place like home.”
- 3
Why does the author structure his book in a given way?an opened book image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
Consider the structure of the book in terms of the rhythm of sentences, pace and how the work is broken into smaller segments. What effect does the length of sentences, paragraphs and chapters have on the feel of the story? Does the work have more dialogue, interior monologue or description? Why do you think the author chose to structure his story this way? An example of a book where structure is important to the story is James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” a novel divided into 18 sections that mimic the aging process through changes in narrative style.
- 4
A book’s plot is an analytic consideration related to its structure. Goshen College’s English Department suggests exploring the sequence of major events in your work and understanding how they build to the book’s climax. Why did the author choose to describe occurrences in a given order? For example, an analysis of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” could discuss how the order in which Ebeneezer Scrooge revisits past life events affects his final change of heart.
- 5
Think about why your author created certain characters.comedy tragedy masks on side of old church building image by Steve Johnson from Fotolia.com
Consider the characterization choices your author made. The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests discussing how the author’s assignment of certain characteristics to each individual advances the story. How does the inclusion of different characters help the plot? Does the author seem to feel positively or negatively about his protagonist? Also consider how the book’s point of view enhances the story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” for example, it is important that the narrator, Nick, is a social outsider to the glamorous society he observes.
