So, you’ve read the novel. But what did the text mean? How do you interpret the author’s figurative language? What about character development?
Exploring the author’s literary devices is essential in your studies. You’ve got to spot deeper meanings and aim to complete an in-depth text analysis. This is called a literary analysis essay.
Find out more! Read our expert guide to creating an excellent literary analysis example in your essay.
What Is a Literary Analysis Essay?
If your educator asked you to write a literary analysis essay, what would you do? Chances are, you’d be puzzled. But consider this. You’ve probably created many examples of literary analyses before without ever realizing it!
Literary analysis just means analyzing the literature. It might be a novel, a play, a poem, or a short story. Either way, every time you think about why a character is doing something or acting a certain way, you’re performing an analysis.
Merriam-Webster defines analysis as a detailed examination or a separation of a whole into its component parts. Therefore, to create a literary analysis, you’ve got to look beyond each individual word and think more about meanings. Literary analysis of most texts will be available online so it’s important to avoid content plagiarism.
What Literary Elements Do I Need to Focus On?
When writing a literary analysis, you must analyze specific elements of your excerpt. Here are some of the elements you need to focus on.
Figurative language
Has the author used vivid imagery to convey a picture to the reader? Does the figurative language jump out at you, cementing the reader’s understanding?
Figurative language helps portray more details about the situation to the reader. As a writer, you can expand the scope of the text and draw the reader closer to the story.
Syntax Use
Look for any examples of syntax when analyzing the text. Syntax describes the structure of each sentence, providing tone and clarity to the reader. The author can achieve this by carefully considering tense, word order, sentence length, and subject-verb agreement.
Diction
To analyze diction, consider the words that the author has used. The vocabulary and the choice of words instantly change the tone.
Consider if there’s formal or informal diction. Is it positive or negative? How does the author’s choice of words impact the text and the analysis?
Character Development and Dialogue
Think about the fictional characters and how they have developed across the whole story. Could each character represent qualities or ideas on a wider scale?
What conversations do the characters have with one another? How does dialogue affect the plot used in the story?
Plot and Setting
What is the plot of the story or poem? Does a feeling of suspense, excitement, or confusion build throughout? Is a main conflict present?
Additionally, think about where the story takes place. Does the setting link with the conflicts in the story, or the character development?
Structure
The structure of the story refers to the order of the plotline. Can you identify a linear or non-linear narrative? Often, the structure of the story shapes the meaning.
Themes
The theme of the story is the overall idea that the author is exploring in the story. Consider the importance of the theme and any wider issues you can identify.
Tone
Think about the attitude of the author. Does the author use the text to convey their attitude? How does the tone impact the story and the overall theme?
Approaches To Analyzing Literature
You could adopt one of the following approaches to your literary analysis to provide a clear structure.
- Biographical criticism is understanding the life and thoughts of the author in a broad context. What were the author’s overall political and societal viewpoints and experiences? Sometimes an author might use literature to portray wider opinions. Also, think about the literature that the authors might have read themselves. What influenced them?
- Historical context is also a good starting approach when analyzing literature. Understanding the period and societal attitude when the author was alive can provide background to the text.
- The genre of the text should be identified and explored. Is the text genre Romanticism, Edwardian, American Transcendentalism, or something else? You could compare the text to literature in the same genre at the same period. How do the texts differ and how are they similar?
- Character analysis might be a good option to explore. Think about the character’s personality, how they interact with other characters, and how they are perceived. Do the surroundings affect their character? How do their decisions steer the plotline? Does the character learn anything as the story progresses?
Writing a Literary Analysis Essay: Step-by-Step Guide on What To Include
Now you know what to look for, how do you create literary analysis essays? Here’s a simple structure to follow.
The Question
You must always read the question carefully so you know what you need to do. What does the question ask? Does it want you to focus on specific literary elements or any that you feel are relevant? Highlight the important sections of the question.
The Main Text
You need to read the text, even if you’ve read it before. This is essential before you start an essay. If you’ve been given a short excerpt, read it a few times. Make notes of the literary elements you find.
If you have been asked to analyze an entire book, you should have made notes already. A thorough study of a text includes note-taking and highlighting important literary factors.
Title and Introduction
As with all essays, you need a title and an introduction. Your title must include the name of the text and the name of the author. Don’t try to write an essay quickly when you are creating a literary analysis.
To create an engaging title, pick out a relevant quote from the text. You can then use a colon and finish off your title.
Your introduction should reference the text and author and provide some context. You may then finish with a strong thesis statement.
Thesis Statement
You might need to create a thesis statement at the beginning of your essay. It’s good practice to use this section to let your reader know what the essay will be about. You will include this section at the end of the introduction.
So, refer to the question at the beginning. Explain that you will be creating an analysis of your literary work and include the reference to the text.
Your thesis statement is an essential part of your answer. When your educator reads the thesis statement, they should know what the essay is about. Include the title and author of the text here along with the relevant literary elements.
It’s also essential to summarize your overall findings here. The thesis statement should be strong enough to stand alone but portray the full essay message.
Body Paragraphs
You would normally create five paragraphs in your entire essay. This includes an introduction, three main body paragraphs, and one conclusion paragraph.
When writing the main body of your essay, each of your three paragraphs must include a separate argument. You don’t need to include everything you know about the text. You need to identify the main points and the strongest supporting evidence.
Each point made must include a contextualized quote, introducing the quote so the reader understands its inclusion. In other examples, it might be more appropriate to paraphrase the text instead of quoting a large section. Remember that paraphrasing and summarizing are similar. You can also include quotes from secondary sources and textual evidence.
Remember that you do not always need to portray the text in a positive way. You can employ literary criticism if it’s appropriate. However, each point made must offer a coherent argument.
Clear Conclusion
As you approach the end of the literary essay, a conclusion is required. As you create the conclusion, you must not include new literary techniques. Solely refer to the previous ideas discussed.
Instead, you must summarize the key points made in the main body and arrive at your conclusion. Refer back to your thesis in your writing process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are examples of figurative language?
The most common examples of figurative language are similes and metaphors. A simile shows a comparison between two items. A metaphor makes a comparison that cannot be true.
Other examples include symbolism which shows ideas represented by color or images.
What types of characters could be in the text?
The protagonist is the main character. They might be the story’s hero or the story’s main focus. An antagonist is the protagonist’s opposition.
You might also find a static character who never changes during the story. Or a dynamic character who transforms considerably.
What is meant by ‘foreshadowing’?
‘Foreshadowing’ is a term that refers to hints in the text regarding the future storyline. This might be done in an obvious way or it might be very subtle.
Join the Smodin Community and Create Compelling Literary Analysis Essays
You should now be ready to analyze literature and create a literary analysis example yourself! Take a short story or a poem and create your own literary analysis.
Look out for the main points of analysis and draw out excellent examples of quotes and supporting arguments.
If you need more inspiration for your essays, look no further than Smodin AI. We offer several AI tools to help you write compelling essays in just minutes!
Don’t delay, visit Smodin now and create different types of essays easily.