Literary Analysis

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Essay Assignment

Write a literary analysis of the story of your choice. In this 3–4-page essay, you will analyze some aspect of a story we’ve already read using details from the text to support your assertion (thesis).Your job will be to share a thoughtful, deep understanding of the story as you interpret it. You will not be doing any outside research for this essay and you are expected to consider only the story itself, not any additional resource information.

Your thesis for this essay must be argumentative, meaning your goal is to convince your reader that your assertion about the story is accurate. You will do this by providing evidence from the text (quotations and paraphrases) to support each point you make. In choosing a thesis, keep in mind the “So what?” factor. You should not choose a thesis that will make readers respond, “Yes, that’s true, but so what?” Instead, you need to provide a thoughtful analysis of the story that extends the reader’s understanding of it.

Please note that this essay is not an extended summary; however, at times you may summarize the text to clarify or prove the assertions you make in your analysis of the text

Examples of poor thesis statements:

“A&P” is about a young man who works at a grocery store. (Yes, of course that’s true. This is just a fact from the story and, as such, is not something you can create an argument about.)

In “A&P” the narrator is interested in girls.(Yes, that’s true, but so what? Anyone reading the story would figure that out immediately; it’s vital to understanding the basic plot of the story. You need to choose a thesis that expresses deeper, more insightful analysis of the story.)

Examples of stronger thesis statements:

Through most of the story “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” Julian appears to despise his mother; however, at the end of the story Julian’s true feelings for her are ultimately revealed.

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery to set the tone of the story.

In “Paul’s Case,” the reason Paul never seemed to fit in is that he was hiding his homosexuality from his teachers, his father, and the small world in which he lived.

Essay Requirements:

Make an assertion about one or more elements of the story.

Include details (quotations and paraphrases) from the story to support the assertion.

Use proper MLA parenthetical citations for each text reference.

Include a Work Cited in MLA format to document your source.

Note: We will have lessons later on using MLA in-text citations and Works Cited correctly.

Sample Topics:

1.Analysis of a theme of a story

2.How the true nature of a character is revealed in a story

3.How a character changes in response to circumstances in a story

4.How symbols or images in a story contribute to its overall meaning

5.How symbols or images in a story contribute to the work’s effectiveness

6.How a major conflict in the text affects the story’s outcome

Feel free to modify any of the sample topics or create a new one entirely.

NOTE: Like fine wine, an essay can deepen and become more delicious with time. To make this a strong essay, you should go through each step of the writing process: prewriting, rough draft, rethinking and rewriting, and then final draft. Allow yourself a few days to think before revising to create your final draft. Don’t sell yourself short by submitting your first draft for grading!