How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay

This kind of writing demands tight organization and control. Therefore, your essay must have a
central idea (thesis), it must have several paragraphs that grow systematically out of the central
idea, and everything in it must be directly related to the central idea and must contribute to the
reader’s understanding of that central idea. These three principles are listed again below:

1. Your essay must cover the topic you are writing about.

2. Your essay must have a central idea (stated in your thesis) that governs its development.

3. Your essay must be organized so that every part contributes something to the reader’s
understanding of the central idea.

Outline Structure for Literary Analysis Essay (GATBAT)

Paragraph 1: Introduction

A. General Statement about the given argument

B. Introduce the author with relevance to the given argument

C. Introduce the story with relevance to the given argument

D. Background: historical/ideological/cultural (OPTIONAL)

E. Thesis: scope of the essay; what do you want to prove?

Paragraph 2: First Body Paragraph

A. Topic sentence (what this paragraph will discuss, how it will prove your thesis
statement); it should contain the topic of the paragraph and the tool of analysis.

B. Major Supporting Idea One

a. Evidence (paraphrase or quote)

b. Analysis of evidence

C. Major Supporting Idea Two

a. Evidence
 c. Analysis of evidence

D. Closing Sentence ((wrap up the paragraph to effectively transition to the next paragraph)

Paragraph 3: Second Body Paragraph

Follow the First paragraph outline

Paragraph 4: Conclusion (You do not necessarily have to follow this order, but include the
following):

A. Restate your thesis

B. Summarize your argument: only major ideas and very important details that you want to
stand out in the mind of your reader.

C. Make a comment/reflection (OPTIONAL)

Explanation

I)The Thesis Statement

The thesis statement tells your reader what to expect: it is a restricted, precisely worded
declarative sentence that states the purpose of your essay -- the point you are trying to make.
Without a carefully conceived thesis, an essay has no chance of success. The thesis should include
the given argument (taken from the question) and the methods of analysis.

The following are thesis statements which would work literary analysis essays:

1- Walker's support for black women and for her culture in "A Sudden Trip Home in the
Spring" is well -manifested through her rich style and the character portrayal of her
protagonist.
Given argument: Walker's support for black women and for her culture
Methods of analysis: her rich style and the character portrayal of her protagonist.

2- Through characterization, symbols and juxtaposition, Sarah’s pride in and empowerment

of her culture are clearly voiced.
Given argument: Sarah’s pride in and empowerment of her culture
Methods of analysis: characterization, symbols and juxtaposition

Typically, the thesis statement falls at the end of your introductory paragraph.
II) Body: The support paragraphs of your essay. These paragraphs contain supporting examples
(concrete detail) and analysis/explanation (commentary) for your topic sentences. Each
paragraph in the body includes (1) a topic sentence, (2) major idea/ideas (3) textual evidence
(a.k.a. quotes or paraphrase from your reading) and (4) commentary (a.k.a. explanation), and (5) a
closing sentence.

Textual Evidence: a specific example from the work used to provide evidence for your topic
sentence. Textual evidence can be a combination of paraphrase and direct quotation from the work.

Example: When Carlton and Darnay first meet at the tavern, Carlton tells him, “I care for no
man on this earth, and no man cares for me” (Dickens 105).

Commentary on evidence: your explanation and interpretation of the textual evidence.

Commentary tells the reader what the author of the text means or how the textual evidence proves
the topic sentence. Commentary may include interpretation, analysis, argument, insight, and/or
reflection. You should relate your evidence to your topic sentence.

N.B. You can use as much evidence as needed but you should comment on any given one
adding your own interpretation and vision of its significance/implication. Your
interpretation should reveal how far this example reflects something about the theme, the
writer’s mindset/ideology or the historical background of the work (or all of them but don’t
over-repeat yourself) . Go deeper with your analysis and relate your story to its context.

(Helpful hint: In your body paragraph, you should have twice as much commentary as textual
evidence. In other words, for every sentence of textual evidence, you should have at least two
sentences of commentary.)

Example: Carton makes this statement as if he were excusing his rude behavior to Darnay.
Carton, however, is only pretending to be polite, perhaps to amuse himself. With this seemingly
off-the-cuff remark, Carton reveals a deeper cynicism and his emotional isolation.

Transitions: words or phrases that connect or “hook” one idea to the next, both between and
within paragraphs. Transition devices include using connecting words as well as repeating key
words or using synonyms.

Examples: Finally, in the climax… Another example: … Later in the story… In contrast to
this behavior… Not only…but also… Furthermore…

Clincher/Concluding Sentence: last sentence of the body paragraph. It concludes the paragraph
by restating the topic sentence or summing up the details given in this paragraph.

Example: Thus, before Carton experiences love, he is able to convince himself that the world
has no meaning
III. CONCLUSION: last paragraph in your essay. This paragraph should begin by echoing your
major thesis without repeating the words exactly. Then, the conclusion should broaden from the
thesis statements to sum up major ideas and a final reflection on the topic.

Reflection is OPTIONAL could be one or more of the following:

1) Reflect on how your essay topic relates to the story as a whole 2) Evaluate how successful
the author is in achieving his or her goal or message 3) Give a personal statement about the
topic 4) Make predictions 5) Give your opinion of the novel’s value or significance

Samples

Sample 1

The Symbolism of the Conch

For centuries philosophers have debated the question of whether man is innately

evil. William Golding poses this question in his realistic novel Lord of the Flies. Set on a

tropical island during World War II, the novel begins when schoolboys from Great

Britain are being flown to safety and their plane is shot down. No adults survive, and the

boys are left to govern themselves and get rescued. William Golding uses symbolism in

the form of the conch to represents the concept of society. The boys’ evolving

relationship with the conch illustrates Golding’s theme that humans, when removed form

the pressures of civilized authority, will become evil. (The underlined part is the thesis)

In the beginning, the boys view the conch as an important symbol that unites them

and gives them the power to deal with their difficult situation. When the conch is first

found and blown, it brings everyone together: “Ralph found his breath and blew a series

of short blasts. Piggy exclaimed, ‘There’s one!’” (Golding 16). Here Piggy observes one
boy emerging from the jungle but soon boys conform all around. Each comes for his

own reason: some for plain curiosity, other for the prospect of rescue. They all form the

first assembly thanks to the conch. The first job of this assembly is to unite even further

and choose a leader or chief. Once again the conch plays an important part. It is Ralph

who is chosen to be chief, and the main reason for this is because he holds the conch.

When it is put to a vote, the boys exclaim, “Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph! Let him

be chief with the trumpet-thing” (Golding 21). Because Ralph possesses the conch, a

symbol of power and authority, he is chosen chief. Thus, at first the conch is an

important object bringing civilizing influences to the boys as they work together to make

the best of a bad situation.

Gradually, however, the conch becomes less important to the boys, signifying

their gradual turn to evil. When the boys first start a fire on top of the mountain, Piggy

holds the conch and attempts to speak. But Jack rebukes him by saying, “The conch

doesn’t count on top of the mountain, so you shut up” (Golding 39). Boys like Jack

begin to place limitations on the conch and lose respect for it and one another. Then one

day at an assembly, Jack places even less importance on the conch excluding more of the

boys and thus diminishing the democratic order and authority that the conch provides.

He says, “We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say thins…It’s

time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of

us” (Golding 92). Jack’s assertion here clearly connects the demise of the conch to a

change in the social order. Jack is slowly becoming a power-hungry dictator, and we

the orderly influence of the conch replaced by man’s evil impulses.

In the end, the conch loses significance to all but Piggy, and most of the boys turn
into evil savages. Piggy tells Ralph to call an assembly, and Ralph only laughs. Finally,

after Piggy’ glasses are stolen, he tells Ralph, “Blow the conch, blow as loud as you can.”

The forest reechoed; and birds lifted, crying out of the treetops, as on that first morning

ages ago” (Golding 154). Piggy believes that the authority of the conch will once again

bring the boys together, but only four boys meet in this assembly. The rest have joined

Jack’s savage tribe. The goal of their last assemble is to get Piggy’s glasses back form

Jack. Therefore, the assembly moves to Castle Rock where Roger, the torturer and

executioner of Jack’s group, rolls a boulder off the mountain and puts an end to the conch

and its one true supporter:

The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow form chin to knee; the conch

exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy,

saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air

sideways form the rock, turning over as he went…Piggy fell forty feet and

landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened

and stuff came out and turned red. (Golding 164-165)

It is fitting here that the destruction of the conch accompanies the boys’ first intentional

act of murder on the island. Thus their final descent into evil is complete. Now, with the

authority of the conch destroyed, Jack’s group is given license to become total savages.

The next day, they would hut Ralph to kill him, thus leaving behind the civilizing

influences of the conch forever.

In brief, Golding uses the conch shell to show the slow slide of the boys into savagery,

thereby exemplifying the theme that humans have the capability to turn evil. At first, the

conch brings everyone together; then, as its power erodes, the group breaks into two.
Finally, the destruction of the conch signals the plunge into total savagery. By following

the role of the conch in the story, we see how Golding uses it to unify the central events

of the story around his theme of inevitable evil. Golding is an artist, not a philosopher,

but through his art he answers the question debated for centuries by philosophers: Is man

innately evil? According to Lord of the Flies, he is.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: The Putnam Publishing Group, 1954.

Sample 2

Title: Sylvia Plath’s “Morning Song” and the Challenge of Motherly Identity

Sylvia Plath’s short poem “Morning Song” explores the conflicted emotions of a
new mother. On the one hand, the mother recognizes that she is expected to treasure and
celebrate her infant, but on the other hand, she feels strangely removed from the child. The
poem uses a combination of scientific and natural imagery to illustrate the mother’s
feelings of alienation. By the end of the poem, however, we see a shift in this imagery as
the mother begins to see the infant in more human terms. (The underlined part is the
thesis)

There are several references to scientific imagery in “Morning Song” that suggest
that mother is viewing the baby in clinical, scientific terms rather than as a new life. The
poem refers to magnification (4) and reflection (8), both of which are scientific methods.
The word “distills” (8) refers to a scientific, chemical process for removing impurities from
a substance. The baby’s cry is described as taking “its place among the elements” (3),
which seems to refer to the periodic table of elements, the primordial matter of the
universe. The watch in the first line is similarly a scientific tool and the gold the watch is
made of is, of course, an element, like the baby’s cry. Even the balloons in the last line
have a scientific connotation since balloons are often used for measurements and
experiments in science. These images all serve to show how the speaker feels distanced
from the baby, who is like a scientific experiment she is conducting rather than a human
being.
 Natural imagery also seems to further dehumanize the baby, reducing it to nothing
more than its mouth. The baby’s breathing is compared to a moth in line 10, suggesting that
the speaker feels the infant is fragile and is as likely to die as a moth dancing around
candlelight. A few lines later, the baby’s mouth is compared to another animal—a cat—who
greedily opens its mouth for milk. Not only does the speaker seem to feel that the baby is
like an animal, but she herself is turned into an animal, as she arises “cow-heavy” (13) to
feed the infant. These images show how the speaker sees both the baby and herself as dumb
animals who exist only to feed and be fed. Even the morning itself seems to be reduced to
another mouth to feed as she describes how the dawn “swallows its dull stars” (16). These
lines suggest that just as the sun swallows up the stars, so the baby will swallow up this
mother.

However, in the last few lines the poem takes a hopeful turn as the speaker begins to
view the baby as a human being. The baby’s mouth, which has previously been greedy and
animal-like, now becomes a source of music, producing a “handful of notes” (17) and “clear
vowels” (18). Music is a distinctly human sound. No animals and certainly not the cats, cows,
or moths mentioned earlier in the poem, make music. This change in how the speaker
perceives the baby’s sounds—from animalistic cry to human song—suggest that she is
beginning to relate the baby as an individual. Even the word “handful” in the phrase “handful
of notes” (17) seems hopeful in this context since this is the first time the mother has referred
to the baby as having a distinctly human body part. When the baby’s notes finally “rise like
balloons” (18), the speaker seems to have arrived at a place where she can celebrate the
infant. For the first time, the infant is giving something to the speaker rather than threatening
to take something away. The mother seems to have finally accepted the child as an
independent human being whose company she can celebrate.

In conclusion, ……………………………………………………………………….

Works Cited

Plath, Sylvia. “Morning Song.” The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper
& Row, 1981. 156-57. Print.

Tips for writing:

1- Introduction: 6-8 lines

2- Body paragraphs: 10-12 lines and it should not exceed 15 lines
3- Conclusion: 3-5 lines
4- Name of short story should be put between inverted commas
5- Quotes should be put between two inverted commas
6- Textual evidence should be a mixture of quotes and paraphrase
7- Comment on your evidence: evidence-significance: what does it reflect about the
theme/about the writer’s ideology/about the age? Don’t over-repeat yourself