Literary Analysis Assignment Overview
A literary analysis asks the writer to analyze a work for its literary content, focusing on the writer's interpretation of the author's work. An effective literary analysis will move beyond basic and obvious interpretation and argue for a unique way of understanding the text.
Content and Audience
For this assignment, choose a compelling text to analyze. Read this text critically and closely. To support your thesis, refer specifically to the text, using summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation from the source as appropriate. It can be difficult, when writing a literary analysis, to stay focused on the thesis. Many students are inclined to spend too much time summarizing the text. Particularly if the assigned paper is short (three pages or less) or the instructor has assigned a specific text, you will want to spend very little time summarizing the text and more time analyzing the text.As you explore your text, consider the following questions:
- What principles of organization govern the text?
- How does the author use literary devices and elements to deliver a specific message to the audience? The six element
- What rhetorical strategies discussed in class does the author use to affect the way that the message of the text is received? (i.e. ethos, logos, pathos)
Once you have responded to the questions above, decide on a unique angle for your analysis.
You will write for the Arkansas State University first-year community. You should consider what you know about your peers (and faculty) as you write. Arkansas State University students (and faculty) are bright, intellectually adventurous, and sophisticated-they know a lot about many things. But they don't know everything about everything. You will have to explain key concepts and define terms. You will also have to persuade your readers that you have something valuable to contribute to their intellectual understanding.
Organization and Format
Your essay should include a thesis that suggests the essence of your analysis with your text and your analysis of it serving as your support. Refer specifically to the text in your analysis, using summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation as appropriate. As a class we will examine sample literary analyses and generate a list of conventions for this genre, conventions you should work to incorporate as you write and revise. Your Literary Analysis should be at least two full pages, but no more than four, and should be written in MLA style. You should create an MLA Works Cited Page for your source.