Literary Analysis Essay

What is a literary analysis essay?

This is your response to a prompt, where you support your position with lines from the piece of literature. You must base your analysis on a close and careful reading of the work. Present your ideas in an organized manner, connecting all of your main points with specific references to the text. Use only third person – no “I” or “You.”

What steps should I follow as I prepare to write?

  1. Select your focus for the paper.
  2. Write your thesis statement. Remember that your thesis is the statement that you are going to prove by using examples from the text.
  3. Develop 3 main points to support your thesis statement.
  4. Choose passages from the text that support each of those main points and be sure to include the page numbers.
  5. Write your outline, rough draft, and final copy.

How do I include the page numbers from the book?

  1. When you include a quote from the book, you end with the author of the work and page number in parenthesis. Be sure to place your end punctuation after the parenthesis.

Example: The last reason the princess would have chosen the tiger is that she is a lot like her semi-barbaric father. “This semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own” (Stockton 2).

  1. If the passage you want to include is too long, you can use parts of it by including an ellipsis (…) to connect the parts.

Example: In Jericho’s mind, Geneva was always critical of him. She had a certain way of deflating anything he was interested in or wanted to share. For example, after receiving the note about pledging the Warriors of Distinction, Jericho heads home for dinner. “[he]…did not intend to tell her about the invitation…she’d find a way to makeit seem less important” (Draper 35).

3. If the passage ends with a question mark or exclamation point, include that along with the passage, and then finish with the author and page as usual at the end.

Example: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle does not by any means skimp on a ferocious villain in his story, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” The crook, as portrayed in this next passage, tries his best to intimidate Holmes. “I am a dangerous man to fall foul of!” (Doyle 10).

What format should I use to type the literary analysis?

  1. The opening paragraph should introduce the author, the literary work, a very brief overview of the story and the characters. Include your thesis (focus) of the paper as well which you will prove in the rest of the paper.
  2. The next few paragraphs should take each key point from the outline and explain it. This is where you should include the passages from the book.
  3. The final paragraph simply re-states the main points in different words.