Ms. Gokturk
Trends in Lit
A Formula for Writing Persuasive Literary Analysis
A basic outline for your literary analysis would be to introduce your thesis and then analyze each work separately. You might then compare all the works together before concluding.
The outline is a roadmap to
your essay’s success. Please think your ideas through before writing and
organize them in a clear and logical way. Here is a sample outline, BUT
REMEMBER: this is a simplified outline. You may need to use more paragraphs for
logic and readability:
I
Introduction. Intro sentence(s): ___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpretation/Thesis
Statement + title(s) and author(s):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
a.
Supporting point #1 to be discussed in essay: _________________________________
b.
Supporting point #2 to be discussed in essay: _________________________________
c.
Supporting point #3 to be discussed in essay: _________________________________
d.
ETC. i.e., You might have a compare contrast section
II A
#1 Topic of paragraph or section (focus on supporting point #1 from intro):
____________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
ETC.
You might have more examples but no less than three
III B
#2 Topic Sentence (focus on supporting point #2 from intro):
____________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
ETC.
You might have more examples but no less than three
IV C
#3 Topic Sentence (focus on supporting point #3 from intro):
____________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
ETC.
You might have more examples but no less than three
IV D
#4 Topic Sentence (focus on supporting point #4 from intro): This might be the
compare contrast section, which would probably call for multiple paragraphs
broken down by topics.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting
point/Assertion: ________________________________________________
TBE Example
_______________________________________________________
Explain
Example/Make connections for reader
_____________________________________________________________
ETC.
You might have more examples but no less than three
V
Conclusion
(Summary
Statement):
A PARAGRAPH is just like a
TOPIC SENTENCE: Thesis about paragraph that is related to thesis of essay = TOP BUN
Assertion/statement to support
TBE: quote proof from text
Build a bridge to connect the assertion to the TBE
Assertion/statement to support
TBE: quote proof from text
Build a bridge to connect the assertion to the TBE
Assertion/statement to support
TBE: quote proof from text
Build a bridge to connect the assertion to the TBE
TRANSITION
or CONCLUSION SENTENCE = END BUN
A literary analysis essay provides a strong thesis and then
sets out to prove it with literary works. This analysis can be said to follow a
pattern, which includes making a point, providing evidence, and then explaining
how the evidence supports the point. This
is the basic formula anyone can follow is, although there may be variations:
Sentence 1: Topics sentence (thesis)
Sentence 2: Example 1: Your assertion
Sentence 3: TBE 1
Sentence 4: Explain how example supports your assertion
Sentence 5: Example 2: Your assertion
Sentence 6: TBE 2
Sentence 7: Explain how example supports your assertion
Sentence 8: Example 1: Your assertion
Sentence 9: TBE 2
Sentence 10: Explain how example supports your assertion
Sentence 11: Conclusion or transition
A STUDENT SAMPLE to illustrate the formula
This paragraph compared a song with The Catcher in the Rye. The paragraph has been numbered so you can recognize what the author is doing.
Guster’s "What You Wish For"
1. Guster’s “What You Wish For” strongly echoes the theme of depression that appears throughout the novel.
2. Holden’s growing sense of dread grows manic as he senses the futility of his existence in a world full of phonies that don’t understand him, yet he continues on his quest in trying to find someone to talk to who isn’t phony.
3. “What You Wish For” begins, "Woke up today to everything gray. And all that I saw just kept going on and on.”
4. The mood of the song is bleak and depressing, which very much relates to Holden’s depression (“Everything is gray”) as he does not see light and happiness around him.
5. As the days go on, everything keeps getting more miserable and his depression mounts. Everything demoralizes him, even going to the movies, an activity that gives most people pleasure.
6. He says, "I can understand somebody going to the movies because there’s nothing else to do, but when somebody really wants to go, and even fast so as to get there quicker, then it depresses hell out of me" (116).
7. In
other words, how others (and himself) rush to sit through and be lulled by the
phoniness of
8. “What You Wish For” echoes not only Holden’s depressed mood, but also his poor coping skills.
9. The next verse states, "Sweep all the pieces under the bed. Close all the curtains and cover my head."
10. Holden’s avoidance to addressing his problems, he, just like the song, “sweeps all the pieces under the bed” by running away from school, home, and even himself. He also closes the “curtains and cover[s] [his] head by masking his pain in journeying and drinking. The "pieces" and the "curtains" are all of Holden’s problems.
11. Holden, like Guster’s song, has a sad approach to life, often finding ways to not cope with his problems, which causes his depression to worsen.
USING LIT
TERMS
Your essay should also incorporate LITERARY TERMS to demonstrate your
understanding of the author’s purpose. The basics, and easiest to incorporate
are: theme, setting, characterization, conflict, tone, mood, etc. See below for
others that might work. I like to read each definition and then ask myself<
“Hmmm. Does this apply to work A? Work B? Work C?
|
1.
prose |
language
that is not in verse |
|
2.
diction |
word
choice |
|
3.
denotation |
the
dictionary definition of a word |
|
4.
connotation |
the
emotional associations or overtones of a word |
|
5.
syntax |
sentence
structure [loose, parallel, cumulative, periodic, inverted, interrupted] |
|
6.
coherence |
cohesiveness,
connectedness |
|
7. a
dialect |
a
regional variety of a language, with a distinctive accent, grammar, and
lexicon |
|
8.
lexicon |
vocabulary
|
|
9.
colloquial |
extremely
casual or informal in expression |
|
10.
ambiguous |
expressing
more than 1 meaning |
|
11.
bland |
lacking
in color, liveliness, or individuality |
|
12.
euphony |
pleasing
sounds [adj "euphonious"="agreeable to the ear"] |
|
13
cacophony |
disagreeable
sounds, discord |
|
14.
imagery |
language
that awakens the 5 senses [sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell] |
|
15.
tone |
emotional
attitudes of speaker/narrator/author toward the subject of a poem/story |
|
16.
figurative language |
(figures
of speech) language that can't be taken literally |
|
17.
a metaphor |
f.o.s.
(figure of speech): an implied comparison between unlike things |
|
18.
a simile |
f.o.s.:
an explicit or stated comparison between unlike things |
|
19.
personification |
f.o.s.
in which something not human is given human qualities |
|
20.
a paradox |
f.o.s:
statement that is self-contradictory yet true [e.g., that the disobedience of
Adam and Eve was a "fortunate fall"] |
|
21.
an oxymoron |
f.o.s:
a briefly stated paradox, e.g., ~jumbo shrimp," "the Fortunate
Fall" |
|
22.
hyperbole |
f.o.s.:
deliberate exaggeration or overstatement |
|
23.
understatement |
f.o.s.:
deliberately restrained or subdued language (opposite of hyperbole) |
|
24-26.
irony |
(l)
VERBAL IRONY (f.o.s.): the speaker says the opposite of what she means; |
|
27.
sarcasm |
bitter,
cutting ridicule (sometimes ironic) |
|
28.
a symbol |
a
concrete object that has abstract meaning [a wedding ring is a symbol of
love, commitment, and union] |
|
29.
an allegory |
a
story in which characters, events, and objects become symbols in a universal,
mythic, or religious narrative (e.g., "the Fisher King" undertakes
a "quest" to "the "Chapel Perilous" to recover the
"Holy Grail"). |
|
30.
an allusion |
a
passing reference to another piece of writing |
|
31.
an apostrophe |
an
exclamatory address to an imaginary or absent person. |
|
32.
a monologue |
a
speech or writing with one speaker [cf. "dialogue"] |
|
33.
a soliloquy |
a
monologue spoken alone on stage |
|
34.
a moral |
a
simple uplifting or warning lesson expressed in a literary work |
|
35.
a theme |
a
complex truth or mystery about life expressed in a literary work |
|
36.
the protagonist |
the
leading character |
|
37.
the antagonist |
the
character opposing the protagonist |
|
38.
point of view |
perspective
of the person telling the story (first-person narration, omniscient narrator,
limited omniscience, etc.) |
|
39.
a tragedy |
a
literary work in which persons of greatness are destroyed, in part because of
their greatness |
|
40.
a comedy |
a
literary work treating serious subjects in a light manner and ending happily |
|
41.
a satire |
a
work that ridicule vices and follies for the purpose of trying to reform
people |
|
42.
a parody |
a
humorous imitation of a serious work |
|
43.
sentimental |
excessively
emotional, weepy, sappy |
|
44.
to scan |
to
find the meter of a poem |
|
45.
meter |
a
set rhythm, a repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem
|
|
46.
free verse |
poetry
without meter or rhyme |
|
47.
iambic pentameter |
"5-foot
meter," each foot "iambic," i.e., having 1 unstressed and 1
stressed syllable (the most common meter in English poetry: da Da / da DA /
da DA / da DA / da DA) |
|
48.
blank verse |
unrhymed
iambic pentameter [Shakespeare's usual meter] |
|
49.
English sonnet |
14-line
iambic pentameter poem, 3 quatrains+couplet usu. rhyming abab/cdcd/efef/gg. |
|
50-2.
Italian sonnet |
14-line
iambic pentameter poem, 2 quatrains (an 8-line octave) + a 6-line sestet
rhyming "abbaabba/cdecde"; "abbaabba/cdcdcd," etc. |
|
53.
alliteration |
the
repetition of the initial sounds of words |
|
54.
assonance |
the
repetition of vowel sounds |
|
55.
onomatopoeia |
use
of a word that sounds like the denoted noise (e.g., boom, clang, tweet) |
|
56.
fable |
a
simple narrative illustrating a truth about human nature or life in general |
|
57.
denouement |
the
final resolution or "untying" of a plot |
|
58.
hubris |
excessive
pride |
|
59.
catharsis |
the
purging of emotions in an audience |
|
60.
novel |
a
fictional prose narrative |
|
61.
plot |
the
structure of action as presented in fiction or drama |
|
62.
foil 63.
anachronism 64.
antithesis |
a
character whose traits serve to contrast and set off traits of another
character something out of its normal time. involves a direct contrast of
structurally parallel word groupings, generally for the purpose of
contrast. (e.g., sink or swim) |
|
|
|
65.
archetype : The term is applied to an
image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs
frequently I literature, myth, religion, or folklore and is, therefore,
believed to evoke profound emotion because it touches the unconscious memory
and thus calls into play illogical but strong responses.
66. controlling
image: An image or metaphor which runs throughout the work.
67.
dialect: The form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or
group. Pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure are affected by
dialect.
68.
diction: Work choice. To discuss a writer's diction is to consider the
vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the vividness of the
language.
69.
epiphany: A sudden understanding or realization which prior to this was not
thought of or understood.
70.
euphemism: A device where being indirect replaces directness to avoid
unpleasantness.
extended
metaphor: An extended metaphor differs from a regular metaphor in that several
comparisons are being made.
71.
flashback: A section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events
to relate an event from an earlier time.
72.
foreshadowing: The use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that
have yet to occur.
73.
hyperbole: A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
image:
A word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses-sight, hearing,
touch, taste, or smell.
74.
imagery: The descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create
word pictures for the reader.
75.
inversion: A change in the normal word order.
76.
juxtaposition: A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated
ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another.
77.
metonymy: A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for
that of another closely associated with it.
78.
monologue: A speech by one character in a play, story, or poem.
79.
motif: A simple device that serves as a basis for an expanded narrative. The
motif is a recurring feature in the word.
80.
paradox: A statement that seems contradictory or absurd but that expresses the
truth.
81.
parallelism: The repetition of a grammatical structure.
82.
personification: A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is
given human characteristics.
83.
repetition: The use, more than once, of any element of language-a sound, a
word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.
84.
rhetorical shift: A change from one tone, attitude, etc. Look for key words
like but, however, even though, although, yet, etc.
85.
understatement: Saying less than is actually meant, generally in an ironic way.
86.
catharsis: A moral and spiritual cleansing; an empathic identification with
others (e.g., watching a protagonist overcome great odds to survive can create
catharsis; confession purges the soul)
87.
characterization: The act of creating and developing a character.
88.
mood: The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.
89.
suspense: a feeling of curiosity or uncertainty about the outcome of events in
a literary work.
90.
theme: A central message or insight into life revealed through the literary
work. It is not a condensed summary, but rather a generalization about human
beings or about life that the literary work communicates.
91.
tone: The writer's attitude toward his or her audience and subject. Tone can
often be described by a single adjective. Often referred to as attitude.
92.
bildungsroman: a coming of age story usually for males.