How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay
The Elements of a Literary Analysis Essay
What is analysis?
What is literary analysis?
Separation or breaking up of a whole
into its fundamental elements or
component parts.
A detailed examination of the
component parts of complex literature
(a novel, poem, play or short story) made
in order to understand its nature or
determine its essential features.
Adapted from Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
What can I use as source material for a successful literary
analysis?
As it says above, it will need to be complex. By complexity, we mean the following:
 it deals with “big ideas”: can we fight fate? do we control our destinies? is
conflict between parents and children inevitable? how do we redeem
ourselves? etc.
 it uses indirect ways to tell us about these big ideas: characters fight fate
and try to control their destinies, metaphors are used, the narrator lets the
characters’ actions and words tell us about the big ideas, symbolic language
is used to convey the big ideas
 it is substantial enough (there is enough there) to sustain a discussion of an
absolute minimum of five paragraphs
What are the different types of literary analysis and which
one should I choose?
Type
Description
Example Assignment
Analyzing an
Element of
Literature
In this type of analysis,
the writer chooses one or
more elements of
literature and focuses on
how well the author used
the element(s) and for
what purpose. Notice the
focus of the analysis is
very narrow.
Discuss the author’s intent in
using a particular element of
literature and the effect of
that element:
 characterization
 imagery
 figures of speech
 symbolism
 plotting/sequencing
 point of view
Works well for almost any
novel, short story, play, or
poem.
Thematic Analysis
In this type of analysis,
the writer focuses on
analyzing the major
theme(s) of a text and
how the author crafted
that theme through the
elements of literature.
Works well for novels and
plays because there is
more time to develop the
theme
Thesis: Smith’s use of symbols
allows us to see Mr. X’s moral
degradation more clearly as the
story progresses.
Discuss the theme of the story
with supporting evidence from
the text.
Thesis: Oedipus Rex centers on
the idea that we cannot fight
our fate and that doing so
brings disaster.
This type of analysis
involves a close reading of
the text in order to
analyze the author’s style.
Style or Prose
Analysis
Works well for poems and
for any piece of literature
that has an unusual style
or structure
Discuss the author’s style and
its effect through an analysis
of:
*diction
*use and choice of details
*point of view
*organization (non-linear
plotting)
Thesis: Hemingway’s use of
short, almost brutal, sentences
aligns with the nature of his
characters and contributes to
the themes of his novels.
This very sophisticated
type of analysis involves
critiquing a text using a
well-known method of
literary criticism.
Critical Analysis
Works well for any piece
of literature or philosophy
that comes from a readily
identifiable author, era,
and philosophical tradition.
Works best when you can
find a lot of
autobiographical
information on the author.
Critique a text using one of the
following critical theories:
 Historical Criticism
(examining the work in light
of the time in which it was
written OR in light of
current values and norms)
 Multicultural Criticism
(examining what is says
about the state of
interaction between
cultures)
 Feminist Critical Theory
(examining what it says
about the relationship
between genders)
 Marxist Critical Theory
(what it says about power
relationships)
 Deconstructionism
(examining how the writer
creates meaning)
Thesis: Using feminist critical
theory to examine Hamlet’s
relationship to Ophelia allows us
to see her as a more rounded
character.
Writing Strategies for a Literary Analysis Essay
Thematic Analysis
1. Read the question or essay prompt. Identify the
theme you want to discuss
2. Develop a thesis statement that identifies the
theme and says what the theme contributes to
the novel
3. Find examples from the text to support your
thesis. Write them down along with page or line
numbers.
4. Develop the body paragraphs of your essay with
supporting details and commentary for each
paragraph.
5. Develop a conclusion that evaluates the success
this piece of literature has in exploring this
theme.
Analyzing an Element of
Literature
1. Read the question or essay prompt. Identify the
elements you want to discuss
2. Develop a thesis statement that identifies the
elements you plan to discuss and says what their
inclusion brings to the story.
3. Support your thesis by discussing elements of
literature (between 2 and 4) in the text.
4. Develop the body paragraphs of your essay with
supporting details and commentary for each
paragraph
5. Develop a conclusion that evaluates the
contribution that these elements bring to this
piece of work.
Style or Prose Analysis
1. Read the question or essay prompt. Identify the
stylistic element you want to analyze.
2. Develop a thesis statement that identifies and
describes the stylistic element and explains how
its use affects the work.
3. Find examples from the text that support your
thesis.
4. Develop the body paragraphs of your essay with
supporting details and commentary for each
paragraph
5. Develop a conclusion that evaluates how these
stylistic elements affect the work.
Critical Analysis
1. Read the question or essay prompt. Determine
which critical theory will best fit your text.
2. Critical theory analyzes a text looking for
different traits or through different focal
3.
4.
6.
5.
points. Determine what traits or which focus
best suits the critical theory you will use to
analyze the text.
Now develop a thesis statement that identifies
the critical theory to be applied and states what
the use of this critical theory allows readers to
see in this work.
Find examples from the text that support your
thesis.
Develop the body paragraphs of your essay with
supporting details and commentary for each
paragraph
Develop a conclusion that evaluates how these
stylistic elements affect the work.
The style in which literary analysis is written
Literary analysis essays are a little different from other essays in a few key ways:
Point of view
Types of evidence
The way the evidence is used
Point of View in Literary Analysis
A literary analysis is a formal academic essay in which the writer presents a
thesis, or opinion on a subject. In such formal academic writing, the proper point of
view for the essay is third person (using the pronouns he, she, it, they). It’s
redundant to use first person (using the pronoun I) in an essay that requires a
writer’s opinion. The audience already knows it is your opinion!
INCORRECT: First Person
I think that the death of Piggy in William Golding’s Lord of Flies symbolizes the
death of civilization.
CORRECT: Third Person
The death of Piggy in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies symbolizes the death of
civilization.
Evidence & Citations
Literary analysis essays rely on the inclusion of direct evidence from the text.
You will need to quote extensively to be successful.
Why use quotes?
1. They demonstrate you read the text closely.
2. They serve as concrete evidence to support a generalization (or opinion
statement).
3. They provide a deeper level of detail and understanding.
Where can evidence come from? What can I quote from?
You can only use three things for a literary analysis essay: the text itself, criticism
of the writer written by other writers or literary critics, and (in very small
amounts) biographical or autobiographical works on the author.
What can’t I use?
Wikipedia, encyclopedias, other student essays, etc.
How should I weave in quotes and commentary?
The S-C-C-C Format
1. Set it up. Set up the context that the
quote is from, so that the reader knows
when and where the quote is from and
who is doing the speaking/writing.
This is a very useful format for citations 2. Citation. Write the quote out, in
if you are not very familiar with
quotation marks.
citations and need to practice a tried
3. Commentary: Explain how the quote
and true method. As writers become
supports your topic/thesis. (Commenting
experienced with citations, they can
on the quote.)
move away from this format and mix
4. Commentary: further commenting on
elements up as they see fit.
the quote
EXAMPLE:
In an effort to make Othello jealous,
Iago uses reverse psychology when he
warns Othello, “O Beware, my lord, of
jealousy! /It is the green-eyed monster”
The Embedded Citation
This is useful when you would prefer to
pick out very small phrases to prove your
points.
( III.iii.180-181). The master of
emotional manipulation, Iago controls
Othello by warning him unnecessarily
against jealousy, thus planting the seeds
of jealousy in within Othello’s heart. It
also gives Iago the opportunity to tell
others that he warned Othello, thus
absolving Iago of any responsibility.
Write your own sentence beginning,
include the quote, and write your own
sentence ending. The quote flows into
and out of the sentence.
EXAMPLE: It is Othello’s “green-eyed
monster” that is the ultimate cause of
his destruction (III.iii.181).
Some specifics about citing
Citing Lines of Poetry
1. Cite verse (plays and poems) by divisions (act, scene, canto, book, part) and
lines, using Arabic numerals for the various divisions.
2. Use periods to separate the various parts.
3. If you care citing lines only, use the word “line” or “lines” in your first
reference and numbers only in parenthesis in the additional references.
When she learns that Romeo is a Montague, Juliet exclaims, “ My only love, sprung
from my only hate!/Too early seen unknown, and known too late” (1.5.138-139).
Note: A diagonal “/” is used to show where each new line of verse begins.”
Citing Verse Quotations
Verse quotations of more than three lines should be indented 10 spaces and singlespaced, after double spacing away from the main body of the text. Each line of the
poem or play begins a new line of the quotation. Do NOT run the lines together or
separate them with diagonals. Diagonals are used to separate lines only when you
are quoting within the main text of your paper. Put the line numbers in parenthesis
after the punctuation mark in this case. Skip two spaces before you begin the
citation.
Example:
Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish” contains layer upon layer of specific concrete
details:
He was speckled with barnacles,
Five rosettes of lines
And infested
With tiny white sea lice,
And underneath two or three
Rags of green weed hung down. (16-21)
Citing Novels or Books
Citing from one text:
1. To cite other texts like stories and novels, list the page number in
parenthesis after the work.
2. Include the word “Page” only the first time you reference the work.
3. After that, use simple page numbers (16-17).
Example:
In Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton presents Steven Kumalo as “a man
who lives in a world not made for him, whose own world is slipping away, dying,
being destroyed, beyond recall” (Page 14).
Citing more than one book by the same author:
If you are planning on discussing more than one book by the same author, you will
need to cite the title of the book every time, instead of the author’s name. The
title of a book should be italicized, or underlined if you are hand writing a
document. The author should be implied in the body of your text.
Example:
(Great Expectations, 14)
(A Tale of Two Cities, 13)
Citing books by different authors in the same paper:
If you are planning on discussing more than one book by different authors, you will
need to cite the author’s name every time.
(Paton, 145)
(Mathabane, 45-46)
Really Long Citations
When you are quoting prose more than four typed lines long, indent each line of the
quote 10 spaces and single space it. In this case, you place the parenthetical
citation outside the end of the punctuation mark of the quotation itself. Skip two
spaces before you begin the citation. This is in the same basic style as quoting more
than four lines of poetry above.
How to Write Commentary
Of all the skills students must learn in style analysis, writing commentary is
considered the most difficult. Writing commentary means giving your own opinion
and interpretation about something, which requires a higher level of thinking than
most students are used to demonstrating. Using commentary makes an essay
interesting to read and shows that you can analyze and evaluate information.
When you write commentary, you are commenting on a point you have made.
Synonyms for commentary:







analysis
interpretation
insight
evaluation
explication
discussion
speculation
There are two methods for developing commentary in a body paragraph:
Method One:
The SCCC format - for direct quotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Set-up the context of the quote
Quote
Commentary on quote
Commentary on quote
Method Two:
Concrete Detail Format – for concrete details
1. Topic Sentence
2. Concrete Detail Sentence
3. Commentary about the concrete detail
4. Commentary about the concrete detail
Source: Jane Schaeffer Publications, Style Analysi s (1998)
The Basic Outline for a Literary Analysis
1. Hook (Catching the reader’s attention)
2. Context of the work (includes author, text title
and any background info needed to understand
the thesis)
3. Thesis Statement
Introduction
Body Paragraphs and their topics should be ordered in
the same order that the topics were introduced in the
introduction.
Body
A. Major Point #1
1. supporting evidence/commentary
2. supporting evidence/commentary
3. supporting evidence/commentary
B. Major Point #2
1. supporting evidence/commentary
2. supporting evidence/commentary
3. supporting evidence/commentary
C. Major Point #3
1. supporting evidence/commentary
2. supporting evidence/commentary
3. supporting evidence/commentary
A minimum of two pieces of evidence per major
point is required for proficiency. More is better!!!
Conclusion


Restate or reemphasize the thesis.
Evaluate what the ideas contribute to the text, to
any discussion of the big ideas it discussed, or to
readers in general

End with a final observation that leaves the reader
thinking.