LITERARY ANALYSIS
An analytical essay must be carefully structured and persuasively argued. It is vital that you provide evidence to support your opinions.
Use the structure below when planning your analytical essay:
Paragraph One:
Introduction (include the following, not necessarily in this order)
- Hook the reader with a relevant yet gripping opening statement.
- Mention the title and author of the work.
- Give your opinion of the topic (state your thesis).
- Define any key words (if necessary).
- Summarize the body of the essay (the reasons for your view of the topic).
Paragraphs two, three, four, five, etc (the body):
In each body paragraph:
- Begin with a topic sentence (summarize the argument to be presented in the paragraph)
- Make statements and provide evidence for your opinions by giving examples or quotes from the book.
- Remember to include page references for quotes. Analyze your examples.
- Last sentence –restate the idea presented in the paragraph and provide a link to the idea in the next paragraph, if possible.
Paragraph five:
Conclusion (include the following, not necessarily in this order):
- Mention the title / author
- Restate your opinion of the topic
- Summarize the reasons for your view (summarize body)
- Provide a sense of closure
An analytical essay must be carefully structured and persuasively argued. It is vital that you provide evidence to support your opinions.
Use the structure below when planning your analytical essay:
Paragraph One:
Introduction (include the following, not necessarily in this order)
- Hook the reader with a relevant yet gripping opening statement.
- Mention the title and author of the work.
- Give your opinion of the topic (state your thesis).
- Define any key words (if necessary).
- Summarize the body of the essay (the reasons for your view of the topic).
Paragraphs two, three, four, five, etc (the body):
In each body paragraph:
- Begin with a topic sentence (summarize the argument to be presented in the paragraph)
- Make statements and provide evidence for your opinions by giving examples or quotes from the book.
- Remember to include page references for quotes. Analyze your examples.
- Last sentence –restate the idea presented in the paragraph and provide a link to the idea in the next paragraph, if possible.
Paragraph five:
Conclusion (include the following, not necessarily in this order):
- Mention the title / author
- Restate your opinion of the topic
- Summarize the reasons for your view (summarize body)
- Provide a sense of closure
How to Write a Thesis Statement
What is a Thesis Statement?
Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one or
two sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We
refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.
Typically, this summary statement comes in the first paragraph of
the essay, though there is no rigid rule about position.
Why Should Your Essay Contain A Thesis statement?
How to Tell a Strong Thesis Sentence from a Weak One:
1. A strong thesis takes some sort of stand.
Your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing an essay
evaluating The Crucible’s success in portraying a theme you might write:
There are some positive and negative aspects to a theme in Arthur Miller’s play The
Crucible.
This, however, is a weak thesis. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase “negative and
positive aspects” is vague. A stronger thesis would be:
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, effectively portrays the destructive role that hysteria can play in dividing a community.
You could develop this thesis statement further by also explaining how Arthur Miller portrays this theme, e.g through characterization, language, etc.
2. A strong thesis justifies discussion.
A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.
3.
A strong thesis expresses one main
idea.
Readers need to be able to
see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis expresses more than one
idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper.
4. A strong thesis statement is specific.
A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to
a manageable topic. For example:
Hysteria has many causes and effects in Salem.
This is a weak thesis because "many causes and effects" is vague. You should be able to identify
specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like
this:
Hysteria tears apart Salem and leads to the death of innocent people
because logic is replaced by vengeful accusations during the witch
trails.
Some Myths about Thesis Statements
Adapted from:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml
What is a Thesis Statement?
Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one or
two sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We
refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.
Typically, this summary statement comes in the first paragraph of
the essay, though there is no rigid rule about position.
Why Should Your Essay Contain A Thesis statement?
How to Tell a Strong Thesis Sentence from a Weak One:
1. A strong thesis takes some sort of stand.
Your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing an essay
evaluating The Crucible’s success in portraying a theme you might write:
There are some positive and negative aspects to a theme in Arthur Miller’s play The
Crucible.
This, however, is a weak thesis. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase “negative and
positive aspects” is vague. A stronger thesis would be:
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, effectively portrays the destructive role that hysteria can play in dividing a community.
You could develop this thesis statement further by also explaining how Arthur Miller portrays this theme, e.g through characterization, language, etc.
2. A strong thesis justifies discussion.
A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.
3.
A strong thesis expresses one main
idea.
Readers need to be able to
see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis expresses more than one
idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper.
4. A strong thesis statement is specific.
A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to
a manageable topic. For example:
Hysteria has many causes and effects in Salem.
This is a weak thesis because "many causes and effects" is vague. You should be able to identify
specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like
this:
Hysteria tears apart Salem and leads to the death of innocent people
because logic is replaced by vengeful accusations during the witch
trails.
Some Myths about Thesis Statements
- A thesis
statement must come at the end of the first paragraph. This is a natural
position for a statement of focus, but it's not the only one. Some theses
can be stated in the opening sentences of an essay; others need a paragraph
or two of introduction; others can't be fully formulated until the end.
- A thesis
statement must be one sentence in length, no matter how many clauses it
contains. Clear writing is more important than rules like these. Use two
or three sentences if you need them. A complex argument may require a whole
tightly-knit paragraph to make its initial statement of position.
- You can't start
writing an essay until you have a perfect thesis statement. It may be
advisable to draft a hypothesis or tentative thesis statement near the start
of a big project, but changing and refining a thesis is a main task of
thinking your way through your ideas as you write a paper. Some essay
projects need to explore the question in depth without being locked in
before they can provide even a tentative answer.
- A thesis
statement must give three points of support. It should indicate that the
essay will explain and give evidence for its assertion, but points don't
need to come in any specific number.
Adapted from:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml