English II
The Literary Analysis Essay Introduction: Begin with an Anecdote and
Let the Author Do the Work for You!
Examples:
A. They Are All Beasts
Painted and festooned, Jack Merridew sits on a log, waited upon and served the recent
kill by his newfound tribe as if he were a god. Seeing the approaching boys, he stands up and waves a spear, commanding his tribe to, “Take them some meat” (138). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of stranded young boys discover and face their inner darkness no longer hidden by the rules of society. Surrounded by the growing fear of the beast, Jack uses his instinct to manipulate and oppress the other boys as he fights to gain dominance.
B.Men Control Mice
As a little water snake swims across a stagnant pool, the watchful heron exerts its power over the inferior snake, carrying it off in its strong beak to be devoured later. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, George and Lenny, two downtrodden migrant workers, travel to a ranch to work and to escape Lenny’s past. The two friends find themselves in an even more dangerous position after only a few days when Lenny accidentally kills a young woman. This story ends tragically because the mentally challenged Lenny is as vulnerable to cruelty as the water snake is to the powerful heron. Although everyone on the ranch should be considered of equal worth as human beings, Steinbeck shows the danger created by a hierarchy of power through the characters of George and Curly as they dominate and ultimately destroy the “inferior” people they control.
3.A Hero Alone
Imagine a place so war torn and hostile that even common sheepherders could be a potential threat to American life. The country is barren, covered with almost impassible terrain. The government is in shambles and men with machine guns and high explosives crowd every city and countryside. This real-life nightmare is the mid-Asian country of Afghanistan. Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell, is the story of one U.S. Navy SEAL officer’s heroism in the desolate mountains of Hindu Kush, Afghanistan. After all three of his teammates are brutally killed, he must trek alone across deadly mountains filled with enemies. Lutrell’s unshakable courage, his drive to survive, and his teammates’ loyalty are the reasons he is alive and well today.
4. Into Africa
Charlie Marlow travels silently up the Congo River, every moment coming closer to the
agent Kurtz and the true heart of darkness—the center of Africa. As he journeys inward, Marlow senses a loss of sanity going on around him, symbolized by the increasing appearance of savage and uncivilized natives. Joseph Conrad, in Heart of Darkness, depicts Marlow’s journey to the heart of depravity as a voyage that is surrounded by chaotic and barbarous Africans. His portrayal of human corruptibility as the core of African culture only serves to perpetuate the racist stereotypes that existed during his time. Although Conrad presents a strong critique of the corrupt colonialist mentality in Heart of Darkness, the novella simultaneously reinforces the racist stereotypes that are the foundation of colonialism.