One page reflection
Directions:
I’ve decided to change the summative assessment from a five paragraph in-class essay to a one page typed ( 12 point font, Times or Times New Roman ) or one and half page written (if you have exceedingly large handwriting, make it two pages ) reflection over
The Grapes of Wrath . This won’t be a timed reflection, but it needs to be your own work. In your heading please include your name, class period and my name.
Your reflection will be in the form of a literary analysis. If you’ve done your journal thoroughly, you should be able to flip through it and get some good ideas for your reflection. I’ve also provided quite a few links/downloads to literary criticisms over
The
Grapes of Wrath on lf-doane.wikispaces.com. When you go to the site, look on the right of the page and you’ll notice a link called “Steinbeck Unit.” Click on that and there are multiple literary criticisms. Feel free to look elsewhere on the web if you would like.
Read through the articles, pick the one you like the best or find the most interesting, print it out and read it thoroughly again, annotate, do whatever it takes to understand it. Then formulate a thesis statement. o The thesis statement might explain something new you’ve learned about in the book, a sort of “ahha!” moment. o Or maybe you’ve come up with an entirely new theory that you can use evidence from the article to support your opinion. o Or maybe you run into an old theory presented in an article that you have a new spin on or want to elaborate on further. o Or maybe you’ve made a huge connection to our world today that you want to further explore while referring to your article to help further support your side of the argument. o Or maybe you’ll use the article to present the side of the argument you don’t agree with.
Whatever you decide to do, I want to see depth and discovery in your analysis. Make sure you have a clear intro, body and conclusion. Also, staple the article you used to your reflection/analysis.

Tips on how to write a literary analysis: by H.G. Hess
Oftentimes, people make the mistake of assuming that writing a literary analysis is writing what the piece of literature is about. But literary analysis goes much further than that. Analysis goes beyond the obvious picture to discover what is really going on in a piece of work. Here are some key items to concentrate on when writing literary analysis.
SYMBOLISM- What are the major symbols in this literary piece and what do they represent? How do they affect the theme of the story? What is the author trying to convey through symbolism?
RHETORIC- What is this piece of literature trying to convince the reader of? How does it do this?
Consider the time frame in which it was written and think about major events during that time. Is there a political or social opinion being stated directly or indirectly?
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS- How do the characters see each other? If through first person, what is the narrator like? What are the general attitudes, actions, and feelings of these characters? How do they interact, and why do they interact this way?
Structure of a literary analysis
MAIN TOPIC- Make sure you have proved the main topic of your analysis throughout. Do your best not to stray from the purpose of your analysis and use as many details and quotes in your paper as possible. Be sure to properly cite pages or lines from the piece of work.
BODY- Do not introduce more than one concept or main point per paragraph. Make sure your paragraphs are well thought out. Do not leave your reader lingering. Write several sentences to explain and prove what you are trying to convey. Do not mislead the reader by stating one objective in your main topic and then writing a completely different body. Stick to your points!
CONCLUSION- The conclusion of your literary analysis should summarize the body. No new points should be introduced. Still, you want your ending to have pizzazz, so try to make a connection between all the content in your paper. If this is too confusing, summarize your points and make a generalization based on what you have written.
Do be clear, concise and articulate.
Do not base your analysis solely on your opinion.
Do elaborate.
Do not be too far-fetched in the connections you make to the story.
Do read the literary work thoroughly before you even start!
Do not Cliff Notes it. People will be able to tell