Unit Activity
Unit: How Do You Analyze Internal and External
Struggles?
This activity will help you meet these educational goals:
You will write routinely over extended time; apply grade 8 reading standards to
literature; produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,
and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience; develop and strengthen
writing as needed by planning and revising.
Introduction
In this activity, you will expand upon the thesis statement and introductory paragraph
that you wrote in the lesson “Writing About Short Fiction.” You’ll use an outline to help
you write the first draft of a literary analysis essay. After you’ve completed your first
draft, you’ll proofread your essay and revise the document.
__________________________________________________________________________
Directions and Analysis
Task 1: Writing a Literary Analysis Essay
a. In this unit you learned about literary elements such as point of view, setting, plot,
characters, structure, word choice, and theme by reading and analyzing the
following short stories:
 “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan
 “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
 “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
 “Federigo’s Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio
 “An Episode of War” by Stephen Crane
In this task, you’ll select one of these short stories and explore its literary elements.
You’ll use an outline to develop a first draft of your essay. If you completed the
“Writing About Short Fiction” lesson, you can use the story you analyzed there. If
you did not complete this lesson, take some time to read one of the stories.
Recall that the purpose of a literary analysis essay is to closely examine elements of
a literary work. A literary analysis essay begins with an introductory paragraph. The
introduction should include a brief summary of and background information about
the literary work. This type of essay also has a clear thesis statement that includes
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the central idea of the essay. The introductory paragraph is followed by three body
paragraphs. Each body paragraph includes an argument that supports and develops
the thesis statement. The argument should be supported by relevant evidence from
the literary work. Parenthetical citations should be included for textual evidence so
that readers know where the quotes and other information come from. Each
paragraph also includes a commentary or analysis on the quotes taken from the
literary work, which further develops the argument. The essay ends with a
conclusion that restates the thesis statement and briefly summarizes the main points
covered in the essay.
Here is the writing prompt for the literary analysis essay from the lesson “Writing
About Short Fiction”:
In a work of literature, conflict is the struggle between opposing characters or
forces. Each of the five stories in this unit deal with either internal conflict (a
character’s personal struggle) or external conflict (a character's struggle with the
environment or another character). In a five-paragraph essay, explain how either
internal or external conflict is demonstrated within one of the stories. Cite specific
examples from the story to support your theory.
You’ll use the following template to outline your literary analysis essay. If you
completed this outline in the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson, you may want to
start by copying the outline into a word processing program or printing it out for
reference. If you have not already created an outline, use the template to create one.
Introduction
Body Paragraph 1
Body Paragraph 2
Body Paragraph 3
Conclusion
hook
summary or background
information
thesis statement
main idea 1
textual evidence
analysis of evidence
main idea 2
textual evidence
analysis of evidence
main idea 3
textual evidence
analysis of evidence
restate thesis statement
summary of the main
ideas
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b. If you completed the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson, copy and paste the essay
outline here.
Type your response here:
c. Write a thesis statement for your essay, or copy and paste the thesis statement you
wrote in the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson.
Type your response here:
d. Write an introductory paragraph for your essay, or copy paste the introductory
paragraph you wrote in the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson.
Type your response here:
e. The next step is to write the first draft of your literary analysis essay. As you write,
keep in mind the following checklist of elements.
Essay Writing Guidelines
Check
(√)
The introduction paragraph should include the following elements:



something that grabs the reader’s attention
background information about the story being analyzed
a clear thesis statement that includes the three claims being made in
the essay
Each of the three body paragraphs presents a new claim.
Each body paragraph includes at least one quote or piece of evidence that
supports the claim being presented.
The direct quotes used as support include a parenthetical citation.
Transitional words and phrases between paragraphs help maintain the
flow.
A concluding paragraph follows from and supports the claims presented in
the paper.
A clear and consistent point of view and style is used throughout the
essay.
The essay includes the correct use of verb types, moods, and modals.
Refer to these sources to learn more about helping and modal auxiliary
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Essay Writing Guidelines
Check
(√)
verbs:


Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Modal Verbs
You can also use this annotated literary analysis essay as a reference while writing
your essay.
Type your first draft here:
Task 2: Proofreading and Revising an Essay
In this task you will proofread and revise the first draft of your literary analysis essay.
a. Read about how to proofread your paper. While proofreading, keep the checklist
items below in mind and make comments about your observations and suggestions.
If possible, share your essay with an adult to get his or her opinion. Or trade papers
with another student to do peer reviews for each other.
Essay Writing Guidelines
The introduction paragraph should include the following
elements:


something that grabs the reader’s attention
background information about the story being
analyzed
 a clear thesis statement that includes the three claims
being made in the essay
Each of the three body paragraphs presents a new claim.
Each body paragraph includes at least one quote or piece
of evidence that supports the claim being presented.
The direct quotes used as support include a parenthetical
citation.
Transitional words and phrases between paragraphs help
maintain the flow.
A concluding paragraph follows from and supports the
claims presented in the paper.
A clear and consistent point of view and style is used
throughout the essay.
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Comments
Essay Writing Guidelines
The essay includes the correct use of verb types, moods,
and modals.
Comments
Refer to these sources to learn more about helping and
modal auxiliary verbs:


Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Modal Verbs
Print out your first draft to proofread by hand, or copy and paste it below to proof
on your screen.
Paste your first draft here for proofreading:
b. After proofreading, the next step is to revise your essay into a final draft. Read
about revising an essay.
Type your final draft here:
After revising your essay, submit your first draft, the proofread essay and the
proofreading checklist, and your final draft to your teacher.
__________________________________________________________________________
Resources
Sample Literary Analysis Essay
Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Modal Verbs
Proofreading
Revising
__________________________________________________________________________
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Evaluation
Your teacher will use this rubric to evaluate the completeness of your work as well as
the clarity of thinking you exhibit.
Task 1: Writing a Literary Analysis Essay
Beginning
(1 point)
Developing
(2 points)
Proficient
(3 points)
Distinguished
(4 points)
Criteria
 The outline of the essay is well organized and includes all the relevant information.
 The introductory paragraph of the essay includes a comprehensive summary of the literary work
being analyzed, complete background information, and a clear thesis statement.
 Each body paragraph includes a clearly stated argument or claim that supports the thesis
statement, with relevant evidence to back the claim and parenthetical citations for the evidence.
 The essay includes a conclusion that restates the thesis statement and summarizes the main
points in a highly efficient manner.
 The paragraphs are well organized, written in a consistent style and point of view, and make use
of a variety of transitional words and phrases and auxiliary verbs.
 The outline of the essay is mostly well organized and includes most of the relevant information.
 The introductory paragraph of the essay includes an adequate summary of the literary work being
analyzed, some background information, and a sufficient thesis statement.
 Each body paragraph includes a somewhat clear argument or claim that supports the thesis
statement, with considerable relevant evidence to back the claim and parenthetical citations for
the evidence.
 The essay includes a conclusion that restates the thesis statement and summarizes the main
points in a mostly efficient manner.
 The paragraphs are well organized, written in a mostly consistent style and point of view, and
make use of some transitional words and phrases and auxiliary verbs.
 The outline of the essay is somewhat well organized and includes some relevant information.
 The introductory paragraph of the essay includes a weak summary of the literary work being
analyzed, limited background information, and a weak thesis statement.
 Each body paragraph includes a weak argument or claim that supports the thesis statement, with
some relevant evidence to back the claim and parenthetical citations for the evidence.
 The essay includes a conclusion that restates the thesis statement and summarizes the main
points in a somewhat efficient manner.
 The paragraphs are somewhat well organized, written in a somewhat consistent style and point of
view, and make use of a few transitional words and phrases and auxiliary verbs.
 The outline of the essay is not well organized and does not include all the relevant information.
 The introductory paragraph of the essay is missing a summary of the literary work being analyzed,
background information, and a thesis statement.
 Each body paragraph does not include a clearly stated argument or claim that supports the thesis
statement, with relevant evidence to back the claim and parenthetical citations for the evidence.
 The essay does not include a conclusion that restates the thesis statement, nor does it
summarize the main points.
 The paragraphs are not well organized, not written in a consistent style and point of view, and do
not make use of transitional words and phrases and auxiliary verbs.
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Task 2: Proofreading and Revising an Essay
Beginning
(1 point)
Developing
(2 points)
Proficient
(3 points)
Distinguished
(4 points)
Criteria
 The essay has been considerably proofread and revised.
 The essay has no spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
 The essay has been mostly proofread and revised.
 The essay has very few spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
 The essay has been somewhat proofread and revised.
 The essay has some spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
 The essay has not been proofread and revised.
 The essay has several spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
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