1 / 28

Writing About Literature or Literary Analysis

Writing About Literature or Literary Analysis. First Best Drafts and Process Pieces. Some information taken from Writing About Literature by Edgar V. Roberts. Two Types of Prompts. Literary Analysis Purpose – to analyze Argument Purpose – to convince. Literary Analysis.

marli
Download Presentation

Writing About Literature or Literary Analysis

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Writing About LiteratureorLiterary Analysis First Best Drafts and Process Pieces Some information taken from Writing About Literature by Edgar V. Roberts

  2. Two Types of Prompts • Literary Analysis • Purpose – to analyze • Argument • Purpose – to convince

  3. Literary Analysis • An analysis of a literary work may discuss • How the various components of an individual work relate to each other • How two separate literary works deal with similar concepts or forms • How concepts and forms in literary works relate to larger aesthetic, political, social, economic, or religious contexts

  4. Literary Analysis – Sample Prompt • How does Scout’s narration reveal Harper Lee’s attitudes toward the subjects she addresses? Write an essay in which you explore the tone of the novel. Be sure to address theme and other characters in your response.

  5. Notice • Almost all of the thesis statements reveal that their paper will include a discussion of the RELATIONSHIP between/among more than one literary or figurative device

  6. Literary Analysis • Character • Setting and Mood • Plot and Structure • Point of View • Theme • Imagery • Metaphor and Simile • Symbolism and Allegory • Tone • Historical context • Social, political, economic contexts • Ideology • Multiple voices • Various critical orientations

  7. Analyzing Character • Traits • Characterization • Actions • Descriptions • Speech and Thoughts • What others say about him/her • In “The Necklace” Guy de Maupassant uses setting to reflect the character and development of MathildeLoisel; her changing character may be related to the first apartment, the dream-life mansion rooms, the attic flat, and the public street.

  8. Analyzing Setting • Setting may be a strong guide to character • Setting may be used as an organizing element • Setting may serve as a literary symbol • Setting may be used to establish mood • Setting may be used ironically • In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe establishes a mood of horror and repulsion through the following details of setting: descriptions of underground rooms, space, and sound.

  9. Analyzing Plot and Structure • An analysis of plot – analyzing the conflict(s) and its developments • Formal structure – exposition, rising action (complication(s)), climax, falling action, and resolution • Unique structure • Flashback

  10. Analyzing Point of View • Point of View – speaker, narrator, persona, voice • 1st, 2nd, 3rd? • Reliable, unreliable? • By writing a narrative in the dramatic point of view as the frame of a narrative in the third-person limited omniscient point of view in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce reveals that it is an individual’s mind, not the actual passage of time, that governs time perception.

  11. Analyzing Theme • Theme is always expressed in a statement! • In Anton Chekhov’s play The Bear, a major theme is that love and desire are powerful enough to overcome even the strongest obstacles. This idea is shown as the force of love conquers commitment to the dead, renunciation of woman kind, unfamiliarity, and anger.

  12. Analyzing Imagery • In the poem “Cargoes” by John Masefield, positive and lush images as well as negative and stark images create a negative impression of modern commercial life.

  13. Analyzing Simile and Metaphor • In “Sonnet 30” Shakespeare’s metaphors drawn from the public and business world of law courts, money, and banking create new and fresh ways of seeing friendship.

  14. Analyzing Symbol and Allegory • What does the object (symbol) represent? • In Hawthorne’s allegory “Young Goodman Brown,” the theme that rigid belief destroys even the best human qualities is developed through the symbols of the sunset, the walking stick, and the path.

  15. Analyzing Tone • Through a rich mixture of situational, cosmic, and dramatic irony in “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin reveals her attitude of disapproval toward marriage.

  16. Steps in the Writing Process • Prewriting • Drafting • Revising • Editing • Publishing

  17. Prewriting - Thesis Creation • All thesis statements should contain the following: • 1. CLAIM– what claim are you making about the text • 2. DIRECTION – how the essay will be organized • Ex-literary analysis, compare/contrast, cause/effect, argument • 3. DIVISIONS – the elements of support • 2-3 divisions • 4. SO WHAT? – Why should we care? Why is your claim important? Must be arguable

  18. Prewriting - Thesis Creation Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel. • What’s wrong with this thesis statement? • An opinion about the book, not an argument.

  19. Prewriting - Thesis Creation In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore. • Better? How so? What is still missing? • Doesn’t answer the “so what?” What is the point of the contrast? What does the contrast signify?

  20. Prewriting - Thesis Creation Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American ideals, one must leave ‘civilized’ society and go back to nature.

  21. Drafting • Write your body paragraphs first, then your introduction and conclusion • The best way to start an essay is to just write freely – you can revise and edit later

  22. Drafting - Body Paragraphs

  23. Drafting - Topic sentences • Thesis – • In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe establishes a mood of horror and repulsion through the following details of setting: descriptions of underground rooms, space, and sound. • Topic sentences • The most horrific of Poe’s graphic descriptions is the story’s evocation of gloomy and threatening vaults. • The rooms not only provoke horror, but are also spatially arranged to complement Montresor’s horrible act of vengeance. • Within this interior of death, Poe adds the eeriness of fearsome sound to enhance the mood of horror and repulsion.

  24. Drafting - Body Paragraphs • At this point, most of your essay should be analysis – avoid too much plot summary • Evidence must be chosen wisely – it should directly support the topic • Evidence – quotes and paraphrase from the text • Each body paragraph needs to be appropriately developed – 8-10 sentences

  25. Drafting - Intro Paragraph • Should follow a “broad to narrow” approach • 1st sentence should not repeat the prompt: OR Ask generic questions: What is a theme? • 1st sentence should say something original to grab the reader’s attention

  26. Parts of an Introduction

  27. Drafting - Conclusion • Should restate the thesis in some way. DO NOT SIMPLY REPEAT! • Give one-sentence summaries of your divisions. • Try to offer a lesson to be learned from the topic of the essay or provide some sort of real-life connection. Leave the reader with some food for thought.

More Related