Essays of Literary Analysis
Overview
As the introduction to this course explains, you will be asked to respond to essay questions in each lesson’s assignment. The questions will assume that you have carefully completed—and have fully understood—each lesson’s assigned reading selections. The questions won’t trivially test your recall of who did or said what, when, and how in the selections. Rather, they’ll be opportunities for you to explain, interpret, analyze, or speculate about what you’ve read. This is called literary analysis.
Writing an effective essay of literary analysis isn’t nearly as difficult as it might sound. An essay of literary analysis needs three simple yet vital parts:
- an introductory paragraph
- a middle section
- a concluding paragraph
Let me illustrate with an example. Suppose you are asked to write an essay in response to the following question:
Identify, discuss, and provide specific examples of the distinguishing features of Roger Rhythm’s poetry.
In this essay’s introductory paragraph, you should provide a “preview road map” for your readers by clearly stating the essay’s thesis statement or controlling purpose. Strengthen that thesis by including a main claim or point to prove in relation to the distinguishing features. For example, “Roger Rhythm’s poetry possesses three distinguishing features: topics of environmental importance, vivid images from nature, and an entertaining sense of humor. These elements intertwine to urge the reader to develop an increased awareness of the need to preserve our natural resources.”
In the middle section of your essay, you would then specifically discuss each distinguishing feature of Rhythm’s poetry, using at least one paragraph for each feature. You would also provide examples, preferably specific quotations from Rhythm’s poetry, of each feature to illustrate and support your ideas. You are not limited by the number of paragraphs in the middle section, but at minimum you should have at least one paragraph to support each point.
In your essay’s concluding paragraph, you may briefly summarize your main points, but to produce a really thoughtful essay, go beyond mere repetition of your introduction. Offer a comparison, reflection, or consequence for your readers.
An outline for your essay might look like this:
- Opening Section—Introductory Paragraph
Controlling purpose: Roger Rhythm’s poetry possesses three distinguishing features: topics of environmental importance, vivid images from nature, and an entertaining sense of humor. - Middle Section—Point 1 Supporting Paragraph (at least one)
Topics of environmental importance - specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- Middle Section—Point 2 Supporting Paragraph (at least one)
Vivid images from nature - specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- Middle Section—Point 3 Supporting Paragraph (at least one)
An entertaining sense of humor - specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- specific quotation/example
- Concluding Section—Closing Paragraph
Briefly summarizes the distinguishing features of Rhythm’s poetry: environmental topics, vivid images, entertaining sense of humor. Suggests the significance of these major features and/or the impact of Rhythm’s poetry.
