LITERARY ANALYSIS
ESSAY COMPONENTS
British Literature
January 21, 2015
WARM-UP – 1/22/2015
• Complete the “Literary Analysis:
British Literature Pre-Assessment.”
• If you do not know the answer to a question,
respond with your best educated guess.
• When you are finished, take out your rough
draft and journal.
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to demonstrate mastery of
the literary terms and analysis applied to Hamlet
in their essays.
HOW?
Lecture Notes
Hamlet Workshop – Part Two
Irony in Hamlet Assignment
DICTION (AKA WORD CHOICE)
• Denotation (Dictionary Definition)
• Connotation (Complex feelings, associations, and connections
that evolve from human usage).
• Example – Plump and fat have the same denotation. Plump has a
positive connotation and fat has a negative connotation.
Formal vs. Informal vs. Slang
They are not perturbed. (formal)
They aren’t mad. (informal)
They ain’t ticked. (slang)
ARE THE SENTENCES BELOW
FORMAL, INFORMAL, OR SLANG?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Let’s go get some dinner.
It is vital to understand the text one reads.
Computers are a pain in the neck.
The Mona Lisa looks weird from up close.
Pickett’s charge at the Battle of
Gettysburg was surely an awe-inspiring
sight.
http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Services/Writing-Center/Writing-Resources/Style-Diction-Tone-andVoice
HOW DOES DICTION CHANGE
THE TONE?
Choose the word that makes each sentence the
most negative.
1. The leader was his nation’s most (notorious,
well-known, famous) advocate.
2. Immigrants (thronged, flocked, swarmed) to
the large cities.
3. Where did you find that (outfit, get-up, attire)?
http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Services/Writing-Center/WritingResources/Style-Diction-Tone-and-Voice
ANALYZE THE DICTION
IN “THE GREAT FIGURE”
Among the rain
And lights
I saw the figure 5
In gold
On a red
Firetruck
Moving
Tense
Unheeded
To gong clangs
Siren howls
And wheels rumbling
Through the dark city.
In the rain
And lights
I watched the figure 5
In yellow
On a red
Firetruck
Driving
Stiff
Unrecognized
To loud noises
Siren beeps
And wheels moving
Through the city at night.
SYNTAX
Syntax is the arrangement of words
and sentence structure.
We are going to read a poem about syntax, that also
illustrates the power of syntax, by Gary Provost called
“This Sentence Has Five Words.”
ANALYZE THE SYNTAX IN “THE
GREAT FIGURE.”
Among the rain
And lights
I saw the figure 5
In gold
On a red
Firetruck
Moving
Tense
Unheeded
To gong clangs
Siren howls
And wheels rumbling
Through the dark city.
I saw a figure 5 in the rain. It was
gold. It was on a red firetruck. It
moved stiffly and unnoticed with
loud noises. The wheels moved
through the city at night.
Drenched in gold, I peered
through the rain and lights to see
the figure 5 moving tense,
unheeded to the gong clangs. The
siren howls. The wheels rumble.
The city is dark.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF EVERY
SENTENCE
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
BASIC ELEMENTS
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
Mary
plays tennis.
SIMPLE SENTENCE
Pronoun
Verb
Prepositional phrase
We went to San Juan .
Simple subject
Complete predicate
SIMPLE SENTENCE
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
Mary
plays tennis.
one subject
one predicate
COMPOUND SENTENCE
Subject
Verb
Prepositional phrase
We went to San Juan,
Predicate
Coordinating
Conjunction
and most of us danced all night .
Subject
Verb
Modifying phrase
COMPOUND SENTENCE
USE OF COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
SUBJECT
Either a conjunction or
a semi-colon.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
If you have a comma,
then it is a comma splice.
PREDICATE
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO
SEMICOLONS
“If the relation between the ideas
expressed in the main clauses is very
close and obvious without a
conjunction, you can separate the
clauses with a semicolon”
(Little, Brown Handbook, 9th Edition, p.
361).
PUNCTUATING COMPOUND
SENTENCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Tom has benefited from his exercise
program; he is slim and energetic.
Read through your essay. Do you have any two
independent clauses connected with only a
comma?
Fix It!
• Use a semi-colon.
• Use a conjunction (in most cases with a
comma)
COMPLEX SENTENCE
Since my friends and I wanted to have fun,
we went to San Juan yesterday.
A complex sentence has at least two parts: one
that can stand alone and another one that cannot.
The part that cannot stand alone is linked to the
rest
of
the
conjunction
sentence
by
a
subordinating
COMPLEX SENTENCE
Since we wanted to have fun,
Subordinating
Conjunction
Part that cannot stand alone
Subject
Predicate
we went to San Juan yesterday.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
even though
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
COMPLEX SENTENCE
Bob
is popular
even though
he
is ugly.
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
The most common subordinating
conjunctions are "after," "although,"
"as," "because," "before," "how,"
"if," "once," "since," "than,"
"that," though," "till," "until,"
"when," "where," "whether,” and
while."
One Method to Revise Dropped
Quotes
1. Look over your essay to locate a
dropped quote (or “quote vomit”)
2. Revise the introduction to the
quote using subordinate
conjunctions and portion quotes.
SWITCH YOUR ESSAY WITH A PARTNER.
AND FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: Read and annotate the essay.
STEP 2: Edit the essay paying attention to sentence structure: identify
run-ons, comma splices, fragments.
STEP 3: Check each in-text citation: “Quote” (I.ii.65-67).
STEP 4: Review the guidelines for MLA format below.
Your font must be 12pt in
Times New Roman doublespaced.
IRONY
IRONY IS NOT COINCIDENCE.
IRONY IS ALL ABOUT EXPECTATIONS.
IRONY = OPPOSITE OF EXPECTATION
VERBAL
Opposite of what someone has said is meant
SITUATIONAL
The outcome is opposite of what is expected
DRAMATIC
The audience knows more about the situation than the
characters
VERBAL IRONY VS. SARCASM
Opposite of what someone has said is meant. It is
intentional to say one thing and mean the opposite.
“Soft like concrete”
“Clear like mud”
“Pleasant like a root canal”
Verbal irony sounds sarcastic but the purpose of sarcasm
is to cause pain or harm. Verbal irony is just to imply the
opposite meaning. Sarcasm can be a form of verbal irony
but verbal irony is not necessarily sarcastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiR-bnCHIYo
SITUATIONAL IRONY
IS NOT JUST COINCIDENCE.
Situational irony occurs only when the exact opposite
of what is meant to happen, happens.
When you wash your car and then it rains…Is that ironic?
There MUST be something that leads a person to think that a
particular event or situation is unlikely happen for it to be
ironic.
When a meteorologist washes their car and it gets rained on would be ironic because a
meteorologist would expect it to be sunny since it is his/her job to predict the
weather.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqg6RO8c_W0
DRAMATIC IRONY
The audience knows more about the
situation than the characters.
This form of irony is used as a tool for engaging the audience by
building curiosity about what will happen since the audience knows
something that the characters don’t.
By allowing the reader and audience to know more things ahead
of the characters, the irony puts the reader and audience above
the characters and encourages them to hope, to fear, and
anticipate the moment when the character would find out the
truth behind the situations and events of the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZFYuX84n1U
HAMLET
IRONY ASSIGNMENT
What is the assignment?
You are going to create a visual representation of some irony or an
ironic moment in Hamlet.
• Be careful as what you choose to depict is not coincidence, but
truly irony—THE OPPOSITE OF EXPECTATIONS.
Requirements
• You must include at least two quotes (with proper in-text citations)
from Hamlet that exemplify the irony.
• Your depiction of irony is due on Monday, if you do not finish in
class (which all of you should do).
HOMEWORK
• Your final draft is due tomorrow, Friday
(January 23rd).
• Your essay must be in MLA format or it will not be
considered for grading.
• Your Hamlet irony assignment is due on Monday if
you did not finish in class today.