Literary Analysis Essay Info Sheet

Due dates: Linear Outline / by 11:55pm on Monday, 7 March 2022 (via the Turnitin link on Moodle)

Final Draft / by 11:55pm on Thursday, 1 April 2022 (via the Turnitin link on

Moodle)

Length: 3-4 pages, double-spaced, typed

Font: 12-point Times New Roman only Grade value: 20% (of final course grade)

Assignment: For this essay, you should pick a short story AND a poem from among the course readings we have discussed, and analyze them together based on the official course theme of “structure and agency”. You will use only these two texts and your own interpretive/analytical skills to complete this essay. Do not consult any outside source for ideas or theories.

1. Read the texts several times, until you think you have an idea of each piece’s overall message or meaning. Jot down notes as you read.

2. Identify how the theme applies to each text so you can use it as a connective tissue between them. In other words, think about how the theme seems to enhance, define, or complicate the meaning as you understand it.

3. Go through the texts and mark how each author uses specific language to convey the theme. Now, create a linear outline that contains a tentative thesis, a topic sentence for each body paragraph, and concise quotes you could use to support your argument. Then, write a thesis-driven analysis by tackling both texts together throughout the essay. Refrain from writing two essays in one, i.e. analysis of the short story followed by the analysis of the poem back to back. Let the common theme drive the argument.

4. Your thesis should indicate a) your singular focus, and b) the relation of that focus to the texts selected. Note that there is some latitude in assigning meaning to a literary text. What I see as the major theme may be different than what you see. The important criterion to keep in mind is: can you back it up with textual evidence? Therefore, you need a thesis because you are arguing for your original interpretation. The thesis should not be so obvious that your reader will say “so what?” Don’t settle for trite generalizations. Instead, make a statement which indicates thought and depth, and which requires support and evidence. Your goal should be to illuminate for the readers some point that they might not have noticed upon first reading the text(s).

5. Find evidence in the texts to support your thesis, and organize the rest of your essay around these quotations. Don’t rely on generalizations or paraphrases to convince your reader, but provide specific evidence and discuss the importance of that evidence for your thesis. Please note: you should not insert long quotes in your paper. In fact, the shorter the quote the better. Limit your use to the most suggestive and meaningful part of a passage; that will suffice. Also, quotes are reserved for body ¶s, not the intro or the conclusion.

6. Conclude your paper by summing up your argument using alternate phrasing so that the readers see that your evidence does support your thesis.

    

Format and Conventions:

1. Follow the MLA format.

2. Put double quotation marks around both the story title and the poem title.

3. In-text citations:

For the short story, follow direct quotations with the author’s last name and page number(s) from the text, in parentheses. Close the quotation marks before the citation; put the end punctuation after it. For example: “Thus she passed from generation to generation—dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, perverse” (Faulkner 31).

For the poem, follow direct quotations with the line number(s) from the text, in parentheses. Close the quotation marks before the citation; put the end punctuation after it. Separate individual lines with a slash. For example: “we poets tend to think
/ our words are golden” (lines 6-7).

4. Always write about literature in the present tense.

5. Your essay should be analytical. Thus, you should not waste your (or your reader’s) time

with plot summary, which is the quickest way to get a very poor grade.

6. Your paper should be typed, double–spaced, on 8 1/2" by 11" white paper. In the upper

left-hand corner of your first page, create your header using the example below:

John Smith

ENG102.61

Literary Analysis / Rough Draft 7 March 2022

Below this block of information, center your title; begin your text below that. Use an interesting, informative, original title. Use the header to number your pages (including the first) in the top right-hand corner, with your last name and the page number.

It is important to write succinctly. AVOID RE-TELLING THE STORY AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT risk plagiarism; Keep your discussion completely focused on the main argument as proposed by your thesis; refrain from any type of generalizations about life and people—they have no bearing on the text you’re analyzing; stay with(in) the contextual confines of the text(s), and use specific references to them for textual evidence.

TEMPLATE:

INTRODUCTION (1/2 – 2/3 of a page in length; no less, no more)

1. Introduce the short story and the poem by title (in double quotation marks) and author’s

full name in your opening statement.

2. Provide a brief (1-2 sentence) synopsis for each.

3. Lay down the main argument of your essay (persuasively).

  

4. State your thesis at the very end of the paragraph.

BODY ¶s (same ballpark length as the intro ¶)

1. Start with a topic sentence, i.e. one particular supporting idea that directly backs up the

thesis.

2. Analyze/Explore this supporting claim with textual evidence. Make sure to cite ALL

direct quotes immediately after the quotation using MLA format.

CONCLUSION

Reiterate the main points of your analysis without repeating your phrasing. Leave the reader with a lingering thought, i.e. something to think about.