Literary Analysis Essay
In English 7’s Unit 4, you will be responsible for reading a class novel,
completing a Dialectical Journal in your Interactive Notebook, and then writing a
literary analysis essay.
Test Date: ___________
Essay Due Date: ___________
Dialectical Journal Collection Date: _____________
A literary analysis essay is NOT a mere summary or informative writing, but
a type of argument writing. Make sure that your answer to the question is at the
heart of your paper.
Project Checklist
Many (not all) of these steps will be done during class time; however, if you
are absent or if you do not complete the steps in class, you are responsible for
doing them for homework. Here is a checklist to help you keep on-track:
 Read the novel. Do a Dialectical Journal in your notebook as you read.
 Participate and listen actively during class discussions and activities. Hearing
other people’s thoughts will make your own richer and more complex.
 Do a “quickwrite.” Write your answer to your Inquiry Question that you
studied in your DJ. Be as complete and thorough as you can.
 Share your quickwrite with a classmate. Annotate each other’s quickwrites.
It is best to share your thoughts on EVERY sentence of your classmate’s
quickwrite (restate it in your own words, ask a question, or make a
suggestion) so that you both have lots of feedback.
 Decide on your main idea for the essay. This will be an “X but Y” sentence
that summarizes all your thoughts on your topic (see page 3).
 Make an outline for your paper (see page 4-5).
 Write a rough draft.
 Have at least one person read it and make comments.
 Re-read your own rough draft, making corrections.
 Grade the rough draft using your rubric. Brainstorm how to gain back points
in areas where the rubric shows your paper is weak.
 Write another draft. Turn it in if you are happy with it.
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Inquiry Questions
Choose one (and only one) question to guide your reading and Dialectical
Journal.
1. Is Darry a good brother to Sodapop and especially Ponyboy?
2. Is Ponyboy a good brother to Sodapop and Darry?
3. Is Sodapop a good brother to Darry and Pony?
4. Is Dally a good friend to the other greasers?
5. Is Cherry a good friend to Ponyboy? Does she treat the greasers fairly, or
does she remain too biased as a Soc?
Your Dialectical Journal for this novel will be in your Interactive
Notebook on pages 2-5.
You are expected to find at least 10 quotes in the novel.
Do not take all your quotes from the same scene or chapter. Try to
find quotes from different sections of the novel—beginning, middle,
and end.
Go to http://www.lusd.org/Page/5056  Important Class Papers 
Work Samples  Dialectical Journal to see a blank sample Dialectical
Journal and a completed sample Dialectical Journal.
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Examples of “X but Y” Main Ideas
Although Darry is definitely too harsh sometimes, he is overall an
incredibly responsible and loving older brother.
Although Dally has a lot of glamor and even has some good
moments as a friend, the fact is that he is a terrible influence for
Ponyboy.
Johnny is a sweet person and not to blame for a lot of the drama,
but ultimately he causes even more trouble in Ponyboy’s life than any of
the other greasers.
Two-Bit is a bad influence, but he is still a loyal and perceptive
friend.
Example of an Outline
Let’s say you chose the first example for your main idea:
Although Darry is definitely too harsh sometimes, he is overall an incredibly
responsible and loving older brother.
This sentence has three ideas:
1) Darry is too harsh sometimes.
2) Darry is an incredibly responsible older brother.
3) Darry is an incredibly loving older brother.
Bingo! You need 3 topic sentences for your body paragraphs. You already have
them. Your paper outline might look something like this:
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¶ 1: Intro
a. Hook: No one disagrees that guardians and teachers should be kind to
children in their care. But does that they are bad guardians if they are
not always nice and sweet?
b. Connection to novel/summary/TAG: This situation comes to life in The
Outsiders, S.E. Hinton’s amazing novel about growing up in a world where
the deck is stacked against you. In this novel, the protagonist, Ponyboy,
has a 20-year-old brother named Darry, who is his guardian.
c. Main Idea: Although Darry is definitely too harsh sometimes, he really is
an incredibly responsible and loving older brother.
¶ 2: Body Paragraph
a. Topic Sentence: Darry is definitely too harsh sometimes (reword).
b. Quotes from the text WITH EXPLANATIONS:
i.
1st QUOTE:
ii.
2nd QUOTE:
c. Concluding Sentence: I agree that some of these actions are unforgivable,
but you have to bear in mind that Darry is under a lot of stress. Let’s
consider some of the burdens Darry is carrying as head of the family in
the next paragraph.
¶ 3: Body Paragraph
a. Topic Sentence: Darry is very responsible in the tough situation of
keeping his family together.
b. Quotes from the text WITH EXPLANATIONS:
i.
1st QUOTE:
ii.
2nd QUOTE:
c. Concluding Sentence: Darry is making all the right parental sacrifices,
which is really impressive when he’s barely more than a kid himself.
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¶ 4: Body Paragraph
a. Topic Sentence: In addition to being responsible, Darry also shows that
he does love Pony very much on two occasions.
b. Quotes from the text WITH EXPLANATIONS:
i.
1st QUOTE:
ii.
2nd QUOTE:
c. Concluding Sentence: Darry is not a very touchy-feely person, but even so
he demonstrates real affection for his younger brother more than once.
¶ 5: Conclusion
a. Restate the main idea (but reword).
b. Restate the 3 topic sentences.
c. Final “take-home message”: It’s fair to judge people on their actions,
but make sure you know the whole situation first. They may just
have more reasons for their mistakes than you think.
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English 7
________________
Period ____
February ___, 2014
Rubric for Literary Analysis Essay
Remember that a literary analysis essay is an argument, and that an argument is
made on clear explanations, concrete evidence, and consideration for your
audience.
1. MLA format…
____/10
2. Contains 5 or 6 well-developed paragraphs…
____/10
3. Introduction includes a TAG…
____/10
4. Introduction includes an “X but Y” topic sentence…
____/10
5. Body paragraphs are well-organized and have distinct topic sentences…
____/10
6. The topic sentences are well-supported by evidence…
____/10
7. The tone is formal, respectful, and fairly considers other points of view…
____/10
8. Parenthetical citations and Works Cited section are in MLA format… ____/10
9. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar…
____/10
10.
An ANNOTATED rough draft or extensive outline is stapled to the back
to show that the student used the writing process and did not simply turn in
their first draft…
____/10
TOTAL: ______/100
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