Short Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis Short Paper

(20% of overall grade)

Requirements

Length: 2  double-spaced pages, not including Works Cited page

Format: MLA style, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1 document margins, double-spaced unless otherwise specified below

*Do not forget a Works Cited page or you will receive an automatic zero.

First, know this:

• Your Literary Analysis should focus on one literary text only.
• This shorter paper is intended to be expanded or synthesized into your final paper; in your final, you will have the opportunity to discuss as many texts of whichever genre you would like as long as it connects somehow to the course theme.

You do not need to know what you want to write your final paper about in order to complete this shorter literary analysis. This shorter paper is meant to help you practice close reading and analyzing a literary genre, to test out ideas, and help prepare you for the synthesis you will do at the end of term in your final paper.

The best thing you can do for this shorter paper is narrow your focus: do not try to write about everything you notice in a text. Pick one or two literary devices to discuss and use them to help you make a larger point about the content: Why is it important to think about how certain literary devices function in a given text? What do they help us realize/understand/think about in our own lives?

Next, choose a text and a literary device. 

If you DONT know which text you want to write about, do some pre-writing and consider: 

1. Is there something that really stands out in your memory from a video, lecture, or discussion? What is it, and why does it interest you?

Example: I really liked the point Prof. Oddis made in the first discussion/video when she talked about I found myself thinking about this more after I didnt understand what was happening with this moment in the text so I still have some questions about it and want to explore a little more I kept returning to the same idea

2. What genre(s) have you enjoyed reading the most so far? Short stories? Poems? 

Example: I liked when Prof. Oddis discussed poetry but Im not sure I understand it on my own I really liked the first short story we read but not the second one, and I liked the first one because This story was really interesting, but I think I might want to write about the play were reading

3. Are you interested in a particular field of research, like philosophy or psychology?

Example: I wrote a paper last semester on psychology and I liked writing about that a lot I really like thinking about how we can connect these themes and elements to our real life, so I want to do something that I can eventually connect to my field of study or personal life

Look at your answers to these questions and then look back at the literary texts we have read so far. Do any of these texts match up with some of the interests above? If so, choose one of those texts to write about in your paper and explore those ideas. 

If you DO know which text you want to write about, but you dont know which LITERARY DEVICES to use, consider:

1. What quotes or parts of the text did you circle/underline/highlight or take notes on? 
2. Why were those moments interesting to you?

Example: I was really stuck on the moment when It interests me because

Thats all you really must do to start identifying literary devices to focus on: look at quotes that interest you and try to think about what theyre saying and whats happening. See if you can identify some devices that are at work within those quotes. 

Example: I really like this line/quote; I think this is an example of symbolism I think this might be an allusion to This quote has some really vivid imagery like [what] and [what]

If you just dont know what certain literary devices are called, use the resource posted on Blackboard that links to . Some common ones are figurative language (simile, metaphor), allusion, foreshadowing, setting, point of view/narration, symbolism, imagery, hyperbole, connotation/denotation, consonance/assonance, foreshadowing, foil, characterization, tone, paradox, motif, personification, irony 

Once youve identified some devices in your chosen text, think about how you would construct a thesis statement around those.

A strong literary analysis requires a strong thesis statement.

In Professor Oddis perspective, a strong thesis statement for a literary analysis contains three elements. Your thesis statement should:

1. Name the literary device being used.
2. Tell what the device is doing.
3. Present the lesson (the so what?/ why do we care?/ why does this matter?).

For example, your pre-writing might look like this:

• What text do I like? Item by William Carlos Williams is a cool poem.
• Whats going on in that poem? What do I notice? I notice similes, repetition, and imagery.
• Is there something that doesnt quite make sense or that Im wondering about? Yeah, what is the significance of the title? Its called Item what are other items in the poem? This gun-butts a note broken shoes a coat a hat
• Whats happening in the poem? Its describing a scene of war, putting the reader in the point of view of a civilian or a soldier.
• Why is that important? Its important to understand multiple perspectives from people in different roles. For instance, when youre a soldier, your experience of war is different than that of a civilians experience In what ways, specifically?
• Yeah, but why does that matter? In life, we try to put ourselves in other peoples shoes. Its about having empathy and respect for others positions and perspectives.

Boom. You have all the pieces you need for a thesis statement. Check it out:

• What text do I like? Item by William Carlos Williams is a cool poem.
• Whats going on in that poem? What do I notice? I notice similes, repetition, and imagery (literary device).
• Is there something that doesnt quite make sense or that Im wondering about? Yeah, what is the significance of the title? Its called Item what are other items (specific examples of the literary device) in the poem? This gun-butts a note broken shoes a coat a hat
• Whats happening in the poem? Its describing a scene of war, putting the reader in the point of view of a civilian or a soldier. (what the device is doing)
• Why is that important? Its important to understand multiple perspectives. When youre a soldier, your experience of war is different than that of a civilians and the specific ways in which that happens in the poem lead me to
• Yeah, but why does that matter? In life, we try to put ourselves in other peoples shoes empathy and respect for others positions and perspectives. (the lesson for readers)
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