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Literary Analysis Essay Preparation

Summary
A brief statement or
account of something

Analysis
Detailed examination of
the elements or structure
of something, typically as a
basis for discussion or
interpretation
Summarize!
 Watch
the video from Kansas State
University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46v
yR9o
 Summarize the contents of the video in 5-7
sentences.
 Discuss your findings with a partner.

What is the purpose of the
text?

Who is the intended
audience of text?

What is the author’s
stance on (subject)?

What are the
conventions/techniques
that achieve the author’s
purpose?
Analyze!
 Now,
watch the video again.
 This time, analyze the video, using the four
questions on the previous slide.
 How did your viewing of the video change?
 Discuss your findings with a partner.

You can analyze in the same way with a text! It’s EASY, if you
follow this simple acronym….


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O– Observation: Make a statement related to your thesis
(what do you see in the text that relates to your argument?
What is an example of _________ in the text?
E – Evidence: Use the text to support your observation. Embed
a quote into your own words. Your quote/s should be less than
one sentence from the book! For this essay, I’ll need the page
number in parenthesis (45).
A – Analyze the quotation. This is the most important part! You
have to tell me why the quote is important to the reader’s
understanding. Explain exactly how the evidence supports
your observation, and thus, your thesis. Whatever it is, you
MUST point your reader to a larger understanding (theme).
Bad Literary Analysis

In the beginning of The Glass
Castle, the reader learns of
the troubles that plague the
Walls family. Jeanette recalls
a time when she was three
years old. She “singed [her]
hair and eyelashes” cooking
hotdogs on her own. Instead
of being alarmed, Jeanette’s
mother is “unnaturally calm”
(5).

Why it’s no good!
We have a good summary
of the opening scene of the
book – both what
happened to Jeanette and
how her mother reacted to
it. What we don’t have is
any commentary – the ‘A’
part of the OEA acronym.
Better Literary Analysis

In the beginning of The Glass Castle, the reader learns of the troubles
that plague the Walls family. Jeanette recalls a time when she was three
years old. She “singed [her] hair and eyelashes” (3) cooking hotdogs on
her own and went on to burn much of her body. Instead of being
alarmed, Jeanette’s mother is “unnaturally calm” (5) Several aspects of
this memory are important for us to notice while tracing the identity of
Jeanette. First of all, the idea that she was three years old and cooking
a hot dog tells the reader that she was neglected by her mother, who
was “work[ing] on one of her paintings” (11). It also demonstrates that,
from an early age, Jeanette was willing to do things on her own that her
parents refused to do for her, thus establishing an identity independent
from Rex and Mary. At the beginning of her life, this is as simple as
cooking her own meals, but by the end of the memoir, we see that
Jeanette has to make important individual and family decisions without
the help of her parents.

Why it’s better!
Not only do we establish
what part of the memoir
we’re discussing, we also
include extensive quoting
throughout. More
importantly, we EXPLAIN
why this part of the
memoir is important, and
what it points to about
Jeanette’s identity.