lit analysis notes

not complicated!
Definition--understanding the techniques that make a literary work effective, identifying them in the books you
read, and writing a brief essay explaining what you've identified.

elementary students have 3 tasks to prepare for Lit analysis (LA): read, summarize, and learn basic terms
of reference

Here are the terms for them:

Fiction--a made up story
historical fiction--a made up story that happens in a real time in the past
Novel--a long made up story with chapters (a chapter book)
fable--a short made up story that teaches a lesson or a moral
Nonfiction-- a true story
Biography--a true story of a person's life
Poem--written in lines instead of paragraph
Rhymes--have the same sound at the end
Author-- person who writes a poem or book
Anonymous-- what we call the author when we don't know who he or she is

Most important thing up to grade 4 is that they enjoy reading, they read, read, read.
They do need you to help draw the distinction between real and made up!

The only thing you ever need to ask them is What happened? No other lit analysis for young kids! Just need a
book list! Get them to enjoy it, not see it as a puzzle.

Middle grades 5-8, you start so they learn to think more critically. change nature of ?s about the books, why lit
works the way it does. Then you teach them to write short essays in answer to these ?s, and at the same time
preserve love of reading.

First goal: encourage student to think about why out works by conversation about discussion ?s.

Kid finishes book. Choose from these ?s to start talking about book.
Who is this book about?
Who is central character.
What does CC want?
What keeps him from getting it?
How does he resolve this problem? what's his strategy? 
Does CC have an enemy, and what does he want? (Maybe no villain, but set of circumstances that's blocking
main goal.) 
Think about villains as people too.

What do you think is the most important event in this book? (Doesn't really matter. Point is that student
picks out what they think and is able to explain it. help them by asking what leads up to this, and how are
characters different after this event?)
Pick out most important event in each chapter... Important if long book.
How many different stories does the writer tell? (Beginning point of view ?. How many eyes or perspectives is
author looking through?)
pick 1-3 of these?s and ask student to answer. don't have to write, just talk!

If they aren't answering, do multiple choice. is it Ben? ell me the first thing B en decides he wants.
same sort of discussion for biography. Sometimes easier for concrete kid because it's real. 
What kind of family did subject come from? what kind of parents, school? 
What did he want the most as a child, then as an adult? (Shows development, how people change over time.)
Who was were the three most important people in his life? 
Did he get married, to whom, when, children? 
What was most important event in his life?
Name three other important events in his life. Did he get what he wanted. Why or why not? Why do we
remember this person?
Try to change ?s at different times.
Point is not to threaten them with writing, but they do have to say it in complete sentences.
Discussions in This stage is more about what happened, not so much what they think about it.

Never ask did you like the book. You're encouraging them to be vague. Always ask about technique first, then
ask, 
What was most exciting part of book? They must answer. What was the most boring part. 
did you like the characters, why, or why not?
Did you hope the characters would get what they wanted? (Has to do with how well author set up and then
fulfilled expectations.)
Did any part of the book seem particularly real or unlikely, how well did author suspend disbelief?
Did you hope it would end in another way, if so how? (Again how week did author fulfill hopes?)
Which one of your friends would enjoy this book? (Identifying appropriate audience)
start sometime around 5th grade on into 6th grade. Don't worry so much about writing. Never start writing with
something new and difficult. Practice orally first.

Continue to write narrative summaries while you talk about the book.
Not a summary for every book, just 2-3 per week, and some might be in history or science.
Once they give coherent complete sent in response warn them that they will begin writing a summary "5
sentences answering these ?s". Talk about ?s first, then they answer in writing. Talk first, then they write half
page to answer one of these ?s. Over time up to one page, or more ?s in the same paper, including one of the
evaluation ?s. 

If in HS they freeze about writing lit analysis papers, go back to these discussions and having them write
answering some ?s, they will prove to themselves that they can do it. 
Don't worry about paragraph beg, middle, and end. 
basic point: ask direct ?s not broad what did you think of this book type ?s

Teach student to write short essays in answer to these ?s, short at first, after conversation, move towards
answering in the essayp 2 or more ?s, including one Eval ?

Tips to preserve love for reading:

ALWAYS talk first, then write, until student can do it without thinking.
Don't talk and write about every single book. Every 1 out of 4.
Do not beat a book to death ala one book for 6 weeks.
Don't talk and write about the books the student loves.
 Less is better than more. If you make a mistake one way or the other, leave more un discussed.
How to develop love for reading?
Eye checks, read easy books to themselves. It's hard work.

HS lit:
Acquaint student with basic literary terms.
Assign lots of brief essays on lit, so they get used to writing different ways about lit. 1-2 pgs. Once a week.
Buy Essential literary terms of norton guide by Sharon Hamilton.
begin P. 32 figurative language. 30-45 min per week. Begin to creat lit analysis handbook with definition and
one example. They will use this while writing essays.
Any of these essays is fine: 
Formal-- explains how a lit term is used in the book, and how. For what reason. With quote. Every 3-4 weeks
use this one.
Biographical essay-- dare a parallel between something that happens between apt age authors life and something
that happens in book.
Historical essay parallel between something in authors lifetime and something in the book.
Response papers (3)--discuss some element, scene, character, plot that's annoying, why, with quotes.
2--compare work with anything else and draw parallels between them.
3-- argue that one of the characters acted in away that's ethically right or wrong
If they practice these 6 kinds of essays, they'll be ready and get thru college. Some will do more than this; this is
lowest common denominator.
Al so use essay ideas from cliff notes and pinkmonkey.com. Or use ?s from TWEM if you want ideas for
persuasive essays on lit.
Evaluation: if it makes sense to you, fine. Once in a while, try an outside opinion from local school. Offer $. 
Guard their love for books, using same principles as above. Most curricula are on the side of too much. 
No, you don't have to read everything they read. Use cliff notes and pink monkey or Wikipedia.
You may have to use the same book if they're taking several weeks to finish book, but don't talk or write about
same book more than twice.