A Guide to the Literary Analysis Essay

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A Guide to the Literary Analysis Essay

• Writing an extended response

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An extended response is a paragraph with a topic
sentence, support and a concluding sentence
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STEP ONE

• THE TOPIC SENTENCE
• Will use wording from the prompt
• Has a limited topic Answers the question,
  Whats my topic?
• Has a main Idea Answers the question, What will
  I be saying about my topic?
• States the author and the title of the work you
  are writing about

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Step Two

• The Support
• You will be using textual evidence
• This is the use of direct quotations or
  paraphrases from the novel, story, poem, article,
  etc.

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Quotations Are

• Anything a character says
• Any passage/description, or anything a narrator
  says that is written word for word onto your
  paper.
• Remember to put quotes around it
• Ex Ralph found his breath and blew a series of
  short blasts. Piggy exclaimed, Theres one!

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Paraphrases are

• A quotation that you read, put into your own
  words and then write those words onto your paper
• Ex Ralph blew a succession of blasts from the
  conch, which Piggy noted as loud enough to hear

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Why use textual evidence

• To prove a point

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How do I use textual evidence?

• There are four steps to using textual evidence
  correctly.
• S
• I
• T
• E

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S Begin with providing a supporting detail

• State a reason/point/detail that supports or
  explains why your topic sentence is true.

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I Introduce your quote or paraphrase

• Its the where or when and who of the textual
  evidence you are about to use.
• Provide the context (where or when in the novel)
• Also, state who wrote it or who said it

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EX

• While on the beach, Ralph said to Piggy,

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EX

• While the boys on the island are asleep, Golding
  describes a battle fought high in the sky,

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T Textual Evidence

• Write and cite a quote or a paraphrase from the
  text on your paper
• After the quote/paraphrase you must note the
  author and the page number in parenthesis.

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EX of quoting dialogue

• Arent there any grownups at all?
  (Golding 8).

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Example of a paraphrase

• Ralph blew a succession of blasts from the
  conch, which Piggy noted as loud enough to hear
  (Golding 17).

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Another example of quoting dialogue

• Wed better all have names, said Ralph, so
  Im Ralph (Golding 21).

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Example of quoting narration

• ...but there were other lights in the sky, that
  moved fast(Golding 95).

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E Explain how your textual evidence supports
your topic sentence.

• Refer to your topic sentence by borrowing some of
  the wording from it
• You could explain why a character acted a certain
  way
• You could explain why a character said a certain
  thing
• Explain why you chose that quote/paraphrase
  without using the following wording
• I used this quote because

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Remember to

• REPEAT two more times
• Use transitions between each use of SITE

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Step Three The Concluding Sentence

• Rewords your topic sentence slightly and
• Answer the So what? question
• Why is what you are saying important?
• How does everything you just said, apply to me?
• to the world around me?
• to the authors life?
• How is what you are saying true to life?

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Some Donts

• Use first person
• I think In my opinion
• Refer to your essay itself
• As I said earlier
• I am writing this essay to show
• This quote proves that

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Some more donts

• Use reading rainbow
• This is the best book I have ever read
• Steinbeck is the best author
• George is a great character

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More donts

• Use a question
• Have you ever had to face such a tough decision?
• Use words like very, excellent, good, etc.
• A good example of this is when,
• This quote is excellent because

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Some dos

• Underline titles of novels or books when
  handwriting
• In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men,
• Italicize titles of novels when typing
• In John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men,
• Put quotation marks around titles of poems, short
  stories, magazine/newspaper articles
• In Langston Hughes Mother to Son

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More Dos

• Use the authors last name.
• Use proper format when typing
• Times New Roman
• Size 12 Font
• Double spaced
• No extra spaces between paragraphs
• Include a header and a footer

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Please, please, please

• Re-read your essay before you print
• Use proper grammar and spelling. When done
  incorrectly no one can understand what you are
  saying and therefore your content will receive a
  lower grade.
• Save often
• Turn essays in already printed and on time.