What is a literary analysis?



You can write about theme,
characters, plot, point of view,
symbolism, foreshadowing, and more.
It is not a book report.
It requires a minimum of 4 quotes from
the novel and 1 citation from an outside
source.
How to analyze a text
st
1
step – Read novel!
 2nd step – figure out what
you will analyze
rd
3
step – Reread
passages of your novel
What can I analyze?

One thing you can look at is
theme!
Looking at theme
The idea or point of a story.
 You can write your essay
explaining what the theme of
the novel is.
 Some common themes are…

themes in Fahrenheit 451






Censorship
Ignorance vs. knowledge
Life vs. death
Technology conflict with nature
Society vs. individual
Plus more…
What if theme is not your thing?
Characters – what to look at?
Protagonist – major character
at the center of the story
 Antagonist – a character or
force that opposes the
protagonist

Characters
Minor– often provide support
and illuminate the protagonist
 Sometimes a minor character
has a major impact on the plot

Characters
Characterization – the means by
which writers reveal character
 There are many ways an author
reveal character’s personalities
or traits.

Characters

Explicit – narrator gives facts
and comments in a very clear
manner. For example, “Jimmy
was very angry at his father.”
Characters
Implied– narrator gives
description, reader judges
 For example – “Jimmy threw
open the door and stormed into
the room, glaring at his father.”

Characters – what to look for
Connections between
characters
 What function does each
character serve?
 Foils

What if you’re not into
characters?
Plot
Causality – one event occurs
because of another event
 What are the triggers?
 What leads to major events
occurring?

Plot

Conflict – struggle between
opposing forces – may be
internal or external
Plot
Foreshadowing – a suggestion
of what is going to happen
 Think about all the examples
from Of Mice and Men

Plot



Suspense – a sense of worry
established by the author
Scary movies create suspense because
you know something bad will happen at
any moment, just not when.
Fahrenheit keeps mentioning the fighter
planes flying overhead.
Point of view

Narrator – the person telling the
story
1st person? 3rd person?
How different is our story since it was told in 1st
person? What if Mildred told the story?
Not characters?

What do you do if you
don’t want to analyze
characters???????
Irony
Verbal – we understand the
opposite of what the speaker
says
 Example – “war is kind” from
Stephen Crane poem

Irony
Situational – when a character
or reader expects one thing to
happen, but the opposite occurs
 Example – In Chekhov’s “The
Bear” – a woman is happy
when her husband dies

Irony
Dramatic – the reader knows
more than the characters
 Example – Romeo & Juliet or
Titanic – we know the
characters fate, but they don’t

Symbolism
Many stories have elements
that are symbolic
 “Raven” – represents death
 “Mockingbird” – a wonderful
creature that should not be
harmed

Allusions


I think you should be able to find a few.
You can focus your essay on one type.
Ex – look at just literary or biblical or
historic allusions
Language use


You could analyze use of simile,
metaphor or imagery.
There are lots of these to choose from
in Fahrenheit 451

All of these and more could be
analyzed in your essay.