Literary Analysis Essay

LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
A literary analysis presents an interpretation of a work of

literature and supports that interpretation with appropriate
responses, details, quotations, and commentaries
STRUCTURE OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS
TITLE uses a creative twist to invite the reader into the essay
INTRODUCTION names the author and the work; contains a thesis statement expressing an
interpretation of some aspect of the work
BODY supports the thesis statement with responses, detail from the work, quotations from respected
sources and the text, and commentary (use MELELELEC paragraph format)
CONCLUSION summarizes, clarifies, or adds an insight to the thesis statement
As you draft your literary analysis, consult your notes and fill in details, using your outline as a guide. The
guidelines below will help you draft your literary analysis.
GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING A LITERARY ANALYSIS
In the introduction, identify the title and the author of the work you are analyzing. Begin with a strong
lead sentence that grabs the readers attention (Go to Bartleby.com and look up quotations related to the
theme or topic of your analysis; pull a powerful quotation from the work you are analyzing).
Do not retell the story. You can assume your readers have read the work you are analyzing.
Keep yourself and your feelings out of the analysis. Use the third person point of view, and do not use I.
Use present tense to discuss the work. (For example, write, “The character appears needy at first…” or
“In the third stanza, the speaker describes…”)
Work your thesis statement into the introduction as smoothly as possible. You want to end with your
thesis to lead the reader into your analysis. Revise it if necessary as you develop your draft.
In the body of your literary analysis, present your supporting details in a clearly organized form.
Put each main topic into its own MELELELEC paragraph. Use transitions to show how one detail relates to
another.
Throughout your literary analysis, use direct quotations from the work to strengthen the points you
want to make. Be sure you document any citations Embed your quotes into your own thinking wherever
possible.
In the conclusion, draw together your details to reinforce the main idea of your literary analysis.
Restate the thesis in a different form.
Add a title that cleverly suggests the focus of your literary analysis.
USING QUOTATIONS
As you read your work, completed your entries, included passages from the work, and gathered outside
evidence to support the thesis of your literary analysis, you developed notes to help assemble your essay.
In drafting your analysis, you should include this evidence in a way that will convince the reader of your
thesis. You can strengthen your argument by using quotations whenever and wherever they directly
support a point.
When you use quotations, you should not drop them randomly into the analysis. Work them smoothly
into your writing and punctuate them correctly. The following guidelines will help you.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING DIRECT QUOTATIONS

Always enclose direct quotations in quotation marks.
Follow the examples below when writing quotations in different positions in the sentence. Notice that
quotations in the middle or end of a sentence are not ordinarily capitalized.
BEGINS SENTENCE “He wore overalls and a torn shirt,” observes the narrator (462).
“In his “grave gray-blue eyes,” the narrator sees a rare and
INTERUPTS SENTENCE
precious quality (463).
The narrator feels that Jerry’s integrity makes him “more than
ENDS SENTENCE
brave” (464).
BODY PARAGRAPHS (MELELELEC paragraph format)

The body of your analysis essay is where you back up what you say in your thesis statement. In it, you
need to address connections to the theme of the course through the following:
Major questions and inferences you had throughout the novel (the big ones only!!!)
Significant connections to other works, or other things outside of the novel
Major plot points, or character development
Major things that you identified when discussing synthesis
As well, throughout the essay, you should comment on the writer’s craft, their style, where appropriate.
Below is a suggested format for structuring these body paragraphs. Please take into consideration that
there may be times that you need more than one paragraph to deal with something, and won’t follow
the pattern exactly.
Main Idea (Topic sentence that makes a claim): NOTE: You may NOT start a paragraph with a quote or a
useless observation of fact from the work
Explain (How your topic sentence helps prove your thesis)
Link (Textual evidence)
Explain (Analysis of your textual evidence)
Closing (Conclude your thinking on this idea.) NOTE: You may NOT end a paragraph with a quote

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LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

A literary analysis presents an interpretation of a work of

STRUCTURE OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS

GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING A LITERARY ANALYSIS

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING DIRECT QUOTATIONS

BODY PARAGRAPHS (MELELELEC paragraph format)

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