How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay?

Writing a literary analysis essay is one of the most difficult tasks for a student. When you have to analyze a certain literary work, you have to follow a whole set of rules.

Our article hopes to be a comprehensive guide explaining how to write a literary analysis essay. Here is what you will learn:

• The importance of understanding your assignment on literary analysis essay and choosing the right topic;
• Organizing your critical reading into two sessions to get the most out of the text;
• Crafting the essay with your audience in mind and giving it a logical and easy-to-follow structure;
• Importance of revising your piece, looking for logical inconsistencies, and proofreading the text;
• In the end, you will develop your writing skills and will be able to craft all literary analysis essays.

This way, you can write an essay with its own identity, coherence, and great analytical power.

Understanding the Assignment

Let’s start with the first obvious step: understanding the assignment. This actually applies to all types of essays and more. Yet, it is an aspect still underestimated by many students. So many rush headlong into a literary text analysis before even figuring out what they need to do. So, let’s see the real steps to follow before writing a literary analysis essay.

First, we must understand why we are doing this and what a literary analysis essay is. A literary analysis essay aims to evaluate and examine a particular literary work or some aspect of it. It describes the book’s main idea, short stories you have read, or any literary work. You need a strong thesis statement, and you must make a proper outline for a literary analysis essay.

Secondly, you always need to read the prompt carefully. This should serve as your roadmap, and it will guide you towards specific aspects of the literary work. Those are the aspects you will focus on. You should be able to get the main ideas of what to write from the prompt.

Preparatory Work: Critical Analysis and Thesis Statement

Great, so we understood the purpose of a literary analysis. Now, it’s time to do some preparatory work before you start your draft of the literary analysis paper.

• When you write a literary analysis essay, the first thing you should do is select a book or poem.
  • Choose a specific theme instead of analyzing the whole text.
  • Firstly, it will make your literary analysis paper more interesting.
  • Secondly, it will also be easier for you to focus on a single aspect. This could be a single character or the author’s style and literary techniques.
• Now, it’s time to frame your literary analysis thesis statement.
  • Think of it as the compass that will guide your analysis. Plus, if it’s clear to you, it’ll be clear to your reader’s understanding as well.
• Finally, feel free to read another book review to get inspired.

Critical Reading

It’s time to read the work you will analyze. We talk about what we call critical reading. This is the heart of all literary criticism and consists of immersing yourself in the story. Because of this, it is advised not to read the story just once but twice.

First Reading

The first reading will give a general understanding of the literary texts. This means comprehending the storyline, characters, and major plot developments. You should be able to enjoy it without thinking too much about the assignment. So don’t delve too deeply into analysis just yet.

Second Reading

Your second reading should be much more methodical. It is usually done for analyzing literature. Here, you start analyzing things concretely without forgetting what your literary analysis thesis statement is. Resist the temptation to get lost in the narrative’s flow. Instead, thoroughly examine and identify key literary elements and literary devices, like the plot, character development, and the story’s mood. Other literary elements are the symbolism, the protagonists, whether there is a first-person narrator or a third-person perspective, and whether the author uses figurative language when describing the main conflict.

Pay special attention to how these literary elements are interwoven into the narrative. For example, consider how character development influences the plot, alternatively, how symbolism enhances the mood.

Finally, and this might be the hardest part, try to see how all of these literary analysis elements collectively contribute to the work’s overall impact. Ask yourself whether it all works together to convey the message the author wants to convey.

Take Notes

It’s important to take notes and annotate the text. Even a brief indication could be enough. It is the step where you start analyzing literature deeper for your future literary work. You can do this to highlight passages or quotes, figurative language, or other literary elements that strike you as significant. But also to make connections between different parts of the story. These annotations and notes will become invaluable when you start a literary analysis essay. It will also help you effectively use literary devices and techniques in your text.

Crafting the Essay

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to craft your critical analysis piece. This section will help you do just that. The main points focus on:

• Understand who you’re writing for and tailor your text accordingly.
• Craft a compelling introduction using a powerful hook and highlighting your thesis statement.
• Structure the body paragraphs logically and coherently.
• Summarize your analysis, summing up the main points and key takeaways.

Follow our suggestions, and you shouldn’t have any issues with your work. Yet, if you are facing a time crunch and need assistance with writing your literary essay, there is an online essay service that can help you. PapersOwl has been providing expert help to countless students with their literary essays for many years. Their team of professional writers is highly qualified and experienced, ensuring that you receive top-quality literary works!

Brainstorm the Title of Your Essay

If you are wondering how to choose a title, you should know that some prefer to choose it when they start, while others do it as the last thing before submitting it. Usually, the title of the literary analysis includes the author’s name and the name of the text you are evaluating. Sometimes, the literary elements are added. However, that is not always necessary. It is important to make it brief and catch the reader’s attention immediately.

Take this example of literary analysis:

• “Unmasking the Symbolism: The Enigmatic Power of the Green Light in The Great Gatsby”.
• “Exploring the Duality of Man: The Struggle Between Civilization and Savagery in Lord of the Flies”.

Collect and Interpret the Evidence

Before you begin writing your literary analysis essay, gathering relevant evidence from the text is essential. This can include quotes, character actions, or descriptions of major themes.

As you collect evidence, ensure it directly relates to your central argument and supports your analysis. Providing enough evidence is key to developing a good literary analysis. It allows you to back up your claims and offer an in-depth analysis of the text.

• Interpret the evidence carefully by analyzing how the characters contribute to the overall narrative or how specific elements uncover deeper meanings.
• Focus on how these pieces of evidence connect to the author’s intentions and explore their symbolic significance within the story.

Develop and organize your arguments

Once you have collected your evidence, it is time to develop and organize your arguments. Start by outlining your central ideas and structuring them logically. Each argument should focus on a key text element, such as character analysis, major themes, or symbolic significance. Ensure your sentence structure is clear, guiding the reader through your critical thinking and offering a nuanced understanding of the text.

• Use supporting points to build your case.
• Provide more supporting points as necessary to ensure a comprehensive analysis.
• Your arguments should flow logically.
• Arguments must help the reader grasp the work’s broader significance and deepen the understanding of the text’s main concepts.

Time to write: Literary Analysis Essay Outline

Writing a literary analysis essay starts with understanding the information that fills an outline. This means that writing details that belong in how to write an analytical essay should come fairly easily. If it is a struggle to come up with the meat of the essay, a reread of the novel may be necessary. Like any academic writing, developing an analysis essay requires structure and outline.

Let’s start with the first. Normally, in high schools, the basic structure of any form of academic writing of a literature essay comprises five paragraphs. One of the paragraphs is used in writing the introduction, three for the body, and the remaining literary analysis paragraph for the conclusion.

Every body paragraph must concentrate on a topic. While writing a five-paragraph structured essay, you need to split your thesis into three major topics connected to your literary analysis essay. You don’t need to write all the points derivable from the literature, only the analysis that backs your thesis statement.

After that, you should find fitting textual evidence to support the topic sentence and the thesis statement it serves. Such quotes should be well introduced and examined if you want to use them.

Let’s see a concrete literary analysis example to understand this.

✏️ Topic Sentence: In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald employs vivid descriptions to characterize Jay Gatsby’s extravagant parties.

✏️ Textual Evidence: Gatsby’s parties are described as “gaudy with primary colors” and filled with “music and the laughter of his guests”.

✏️ Literary Analysis: These vibrant descriptions symbolize Gatsby’s attempt to capture the essence of the American Dream. The use of “gaudy” highlights the emptiness of his pursuits.

Now that you know how to write a literature analysis, it’s crucial to distinguish between analysis and summary. A summary only restates the plot or events of the story. On the other hand, the analysis tries to unveil the meaning of these events. Let’s use an example from another famous book to illustrate the difference.

✏️ Summary: In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, an innocent Black man accused of raping a white woman.

✏️ Literary Analysis: Atticus Finch’s defense of Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a rather bitter commentary on the racial prejudices of the time. In the book, Harper Lee highlights the rampant racism that plagued Maycomb society.

Start Writing: a Rough Draft

The first draft of a literary analysis serves as the rough foundation for your essay. It allows you to articulate your key arguments and ideas logically.

• At this stage, focus on incorporating background information about the short story and its various literary elements, such as character growth, themes, and symbolism.
• Write in your own words, ensuring you maintain clarity and coherence.
• A rough draft should provide an insightful analysis, helping you explore the text’s deeper meanings and prepare for a more polished final version.

Introduction

Like other academic works, The literature analysis essay has a typical 5-paragraph-structure. The normal procedure for writing an introduction for your literary analysis essay outline is to start with a hook and then mention brief facts about the author and the literature. After that, make sure to present a clear thesis statement. Before going ahead, let’s use an example of a good literary analysis introduction. This will make it easier to discuss these points singularly.

“On the shores of East Egg, a green light shines through the darkness. The book is “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written in 1925, and this is not just a light. It’s much more. It symbolizes the American Dream chased and rejected by Gatsby and the other characters.”

This is an introductory paragraph with all the characteristics we are looking for. First, opening statements like this introduce a mysterious element that makes the reader curious. This is the hook. After that, the book’s name, the author, and the release year are presented. Finally, here is a first glimpse of your original thesis statement ─ the connection between the book and the topic of the American Dream.

Body Paragraphs

In a literary analysis essay, the body paragraphs are where you go further into your analysis, looking at specific features of the literature.

Each paragraph should focus on a particular aspect, such as character development, theme, or symbolism, and provide textual evidence to support your interpretation. This structured approach allows for a thorough exploration of the literary work.

“In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the green light to represent Gatsby’s perpetual quest for the unattainable – specifically, his idealized love for Daisy Buchanan. Situated at the end of Daisy’s dock, the green light shines across the bay to Gatsby’s mansion, symbolizing the distance between reality and his dreams. This light is not just a physical beacon; it’s a metaphor for Gatsby’s aspiration and the American Dream itself. Fitzgerald artfully illustrates this through Gatsby’s yearning gaze towards the light, reflecting his deep desire for a future that reconnects him with his past love, yet tragically remains just out of reach. This persistent yearning is a poignant commentary on the nature of aspiration and the illusion of the American Dream.”

Conclusion

The final paragraph, as usual, is the literary analysis conclusion. Writing a conclusion of your essay should be about putting the finishing touches on it. In this section, all you need to do is rephrase your main and supporting points and clarify them to the person who reads them. But also, restate your thesis and add some interesting thoughts.

However, if you don’t understand how to write a conclusion and are just thinking, “Write my essay for me, please”, there are solutions. At PapersOwl, you get expert writers to help you with your analysis, ensuring you meet your deadline.

Let’s go back to Gatsby’s green light and look at how to write a literary analysis example of literary analysis conclusion:

“Our journey through the green light of “The Great Gatsby” ends here. In this literary essay, we analyzed Fitzgerald’s style and how this allowed him to grasp the secret of the American Dream. In doing so, we realized that the American Dream is not just about one person’s dream. Rather, it is about everyone who struggles for something that will never be realized.”

Here, we have it all: restating the thesis, summarizing the main points, understanding the literary devices, and adding some thoughts.

Revising the Essay

At this point, you’re almost done. After you write a literary analysis, it is usually time for a revision. This is where you have a chance to refine and polish your work.

Read your literature analysis again to check coherence and consistency. Your ideas should flow smoothly into each other, creating a coherent narrative voice. The tone should always be consistent: it would be a terrible mistake to have a body written in one style and a conclusion written in a different style.

Use this final revision to refine the thesis and overall the literary argument essay. If you see flaws in your discourse or weak and unsupported claims, this is your last chance to fix them. Remember, your thesis should always be clear and effective.

Do not underrate the possibility of spelling and punctuation errors. We all make mistakes of that kind. Read your piece a few times to ensure every word is written correctly. Nothing bad with a couple of typos, but it’s even better if there is none! Finally, check if you used transition words appropriately.

The revision process involves multiple rounds of review and refinement. You could also consider seeking feedback from peers or professors. This way, you could gain a new perspective on your literary analysis.

Literary Analysis Essay Example

Corrupting Influence in “Lord of the Flies” William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explores how the lack of societal structures leads to the corruption of human nature. By focusing on the characters and their gradual descent into savagery, Golding highlights how quickly civilized behavior deteriorates when society’s influence fades. In this essay, I will explore how the main argument of corrupting influence is developed through character dynamics, vivid imagery, and specific evidence from the novel.

Introduction

The central theme in Lord of the Flies is the depraving effect of a lack of order and its consequences on human nature. At the heart of this is Golding’s portrayal of key characters like Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, whose different reactions to their circumstances reveal deeper meanings not immediately obvious to the reader. The author explores these concepts by illustrating how their personalities and decisions contribute to the novel’s overall meaning. Golding signals that the boys’ descent into chaos is inevitable from the outset, laying the foundation for his overarching argument about human nature.

Body Paragraph 1: Characters and Corruption

The most obvious character contributing to the theme of corruption is Jack, who quickly abandons the principles of civility and morality. Through Jack’s character, Golding illustrates how power can corrupt when unchecked. His transition from a disciplined choir boy to a bloodthirsty hunter represents the decay of societal norms in the absence of authority. Key elements of his transformation are highlighted by Golding’s vivid imagery, especially during the scene where Jack first kills a pig. This moment serves as a turning point for Jack and as supporting evidence of the novel’s broader implications on societal issues—how quickly humans revert to primitive instincts without governance.

Body Paragraph 2: Symbolism and Deeper Meanings

Golding uses vivid symbols throughout the novel to dive deeper into the influence of power and savagery. The conch, once a symbol of order and democracy, gradually loses its power as Jack rises. Its eventual destruction marks the collapse of order and complete chaos. Similarly, the “beast” the boys fear symbolizes their inherent evil, further supporting the idea that the true danger lies not in an external force but in human nature itself. These symbols are central to Golding’s exploration of deeper meanings in the novel, as they reflect the fragility of societal norms.

Body Paragraph 3: Evidence and Meaning

In examining how these characters and symbols contribute to the novel’s overall meaning, we gather evidence from various points in the text. For example, Ralph’s initial attempts to maintain order and civilization are futile as Jack’s influence grows stronger. The conflict between Ralph and Jack represents a battle between civilization and savagery, a key argument Golding presents throughout the novel. The evidence fits neatly into the larger picture of how quickly humans abandon morality when there is no authority to maintain it. By exploring the boys’ gradual acceptance of violence, Golding critiques the thin veneer of civilization and how easily it is stripped away.

Conclusion

Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a profound exploration of corrupt power’s influence and societal order’s fragility. Golding dives deeper into the darkness of human nature through characters like Jack and Ralph and symbols like the conch and the beast. The essay’s key points reveal that once societal structures collapse, chaos and savagery become the ruling forces. As such, Lord of the Flies serves as a timeless reflection on the importance of order and the consequences of its absence in human society.

So, Now You Know How to Craft a Literary Analysis Essay

Educational institutions use works like the textual analysis essay to improve students’ learning abilities. Although it might seem complex, with the basic knowledge of how to go about it and the help of experts, you won’t find it difficult. Besides, if everything else fails, you can still try buying essays online at PapersOwl.

In this guide, we went through all the steps necessary to write a successful literary analysis. We began by understanding the assignment’s purpose and then explored preparatory work, the structure of a literature essay, critical reading, and the actual crafting. In particular, we showed how to divide it into an introduction, body, and conclusion. Now it’s your turn to write a literary criticism essay!