Literature
Writing a Literary Analysis Paper
THESE ARE NOTES
The Purpose of a Literary Analysis:
A literary analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer’s personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining the literary devices, word choices, or writing structures the author uses within the work. The purpose of a literary analysis is to demonstrate why the author used specific ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or her message.
How to Create a Literary Analysis:
1. Read the text closely several times. Focus on the ideas that are being presented. Think about the characters’ development and the author’s writing technique. What might be considered interesting, unusual, or important?
2. Brainstorm a list of potential topics. Highlight important passages in the text and take notes on these passages. Latter, when writing the paper, these notes should help a writer to remember which aspect of the story caught his/her attention. The topic chosen should always be based on a writer’s interpretation of the author’s message. Here are some thinks a writer may want to consider when brainstorming for a literary analysis.
· Character: What observations might a writer make about the characters? Are there discrepancies in what they think, say, or do? Are the observations a writer makes different from what other characters say? How does the author describe the characters (a static character is a character that stays the same throughout the work)? Are the characters “flat” characters ( a flat character is a character that does not have vivid character traits or “round characters (a round character is a character that has vivid character traits)? Are the characters symbolic or representative of some universal quality? Is it possible that two characters in the text might be compared or contrasted?
· Setting: Is there a relationship between the work’s setting and its mood? Does the setting reflect the work’s theme? How does the setting impact the characters? Does a change in the setting affect the mood, characters, or conflict?
· Plot: How might the beginning of the work be interpreted? How does the plot build suspense? Does the author use techniques such as foreshadowing or flashback? Are there patterns of cause-effect relationships? Do events occur in a logical order? Examine the event that lead to the climax and determine how the work ends?
· Theme: What is the major idea or them of the work? How does the author relay this theme? Is there a greater meaning to the details given? How do the characters’ moods affect the theme? What allusions are made throughout the work? Are there repeating patterns or symbols? What does the title say about the theme?
· Dialogue: What is the purpose of the dialogue? Is the dialogue appropriate in terms of word choice or sentence length? How does the dialogue impact the characterization? How does the author use the dialogue to show the mood of the characters? How does this aid the author’s message? How does the dialogue impact the plot?
· Imagery: In what way might a specific image or series of images be analyzed? How might the development of images throughout the work be explained? Are the images important to the meaning of the work? How are images interrelate with other literary elements?
· Figures of Speech: How are figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and hyperboles, used throughout the text? How are these figures of speech important in relation to the meaning of the text? Are figures of speech interrelated between other literary elements?
· Tone: How might the attitude of the author or the tone of the work be described? Is the tone serious, playful, casual, formal, or somber? How does the author achieve this tone? How does the tone impact the author’s message? Does the author say one that but mean another? Des the author take the subject seriously or treat it lightly?
· Rhyme/Rhythm: Do the author’s words, sentences, or paragraphs seems to share a similar rhyme patter? What type of rhythm does the author seem to be crating? How is the thyme/rhythm impacting the author’s message? Does the author use the different rhyme/rhythms as a sound device for h literary work? How does the author do this?
· Point of View: What point of view do the characters display? First, second, or third? How does this point of view affect the theme, plot, or conflict of the work? How might the author’s point of view impact a writer’s analysis? Might the character’s first person point of view draw a writer to feel as though he /she is hearing a personal account and cause him/her to feel an intimate connection with the character? Might the author’s third person’s account cause a writer to feel as if the author is acting as the narrator of the story? Or might it cause a writer to believe that the narrator is an omniscient being who is distant but knows the character’s thoughts and feelings?
3. Think about what the author is trying to say. Why is this important? When viewing this work as a piece of art, what might a writer’s response be? What might a writer’s reactions be to the ideas presented in the work? Are these ideas truthful or relevant to today and how? If a writer were asked what they thought of this work how might they respond? What points might a writer make?
4. Select a topic that has sufficient supporting evidence. A writer should make sure to include specific details to support the topic. Use highlighted section so the book as evidence to support the topic that has been chosen.
5. Write a working thesis. The analysis will need a strong thesis that states a writer’s perspective bus also allows it to be debated. The thesis should state a wirer’s opinion, but it should also allow readers to arrive at their own conclusion.
6. Make an extended list of evidence. Find more evidence from the txt to support the working thesis. The select the evidence that will be used in the paper. Be sure to include the page number, chapter number and line number of the work to include in the literary analysis.
7. Interpret the evidence. When writing a literary analysis, it is very important for writers to make sure they express their won persona interpretation of the work. Be careful that the literary analysis is not a summary.
Disappointment
"The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard, Chopin's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom rather than the desolation of Loneliness after she learns of her husband's death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late eighteen hundreds, the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" may well be a reflection of, though not exclusive to, that era. Comment by OIE: THESIS
Though Chopin relates Mrs. Mallard's story, she does not do so in first person. Chopin reveals the story through a narrator's voice. The narrator is not simply an observer, however. The narrator knows, for example, that Mrs. Mallard, for the most part, did not love her husband (paragraph 15). It is obvious that the narrator knows more than can be physically observed. Chopin, however, never tells the reader what Mrs. Mallard is feeling. Instead, the reader must look into Mrs. Mallard's actions and words in order to understand what Mrs. Mallard feels. Comment by OIE: EVIDENCE: Be sure to copy the direct quote from the text.
Mrs. Mallard is held back in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she knows that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There will be no husband who believes he has the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (paragraph 14). Mrs. Mallard acknowledges that her husband loved her. Brently had only ever looked at Mrs. Mallard with love (paragraph 13). This information implies to the reader that Brently is not a bad man; he simply believes that it is his right, and perhaps his obligation as a husband, to direct Mrs. Mallard in everything she does. When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she realizes that he will no longer be there to repress her; there will be no one, save her, to direct her will. Then, in a crushing blow, everything she has just realized and begun to look forward to is stolen from her grasp. Comment by OIE: evidence Comment by OIE: Evidence Comment by OIE: Evidence
Upon learning of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is now free. She repeats the words "Free, free, free!" (paragraph 11) and feels her body come alive. Her pulse beats faster; her blood runs warmer; her eyes brighten (paragraph 11). Mrs. Mallard knows that from now on she can live for herself and no one else, that "all sort of days…would be her own" (paragraph 19). Mrs. Mallard sees the chance to live out the rest of her days for herself; she sees the opportunity to be her own person. Mrs. Mallard now looks forward to a long life. She had previously dreaded the years ahead spent under the thumb of her husband (paragraph 19). Now, though, Mrs. Mallard is someone who has much to look forward to and many joys to appreciate. This opportunity is taken from her just as her chance of freedom is taken from her when she learns that Brently still lives. When Mrs. Mallard sees Brently walk through the front door, the disappointment and the devastation of loss that she suffers cause her heart to fail.
When Mrs. Mallard walks down the stairs with her sister, she has triumph in her eyes (paragraph 20). The front door opens, however, and Brently walks in. What effect does this have on Mrs. Mallard? It kills her. Mrs. Mallard has, in a very short time, realized the world is a wonderful place and that she can live in it anyway she chooses. She gains freedom, independence, individuality, and a whole host of things to look forward to in life. When Brently walks in the door, though, Mrs. Mallard knows that she will have to spend the rest of her life as no more than his wife does, just as she had been. She knows that she will never be free. This is too much for Mrs. Mallard to handle. Life had been grim before, with her looking forward to the years ahead "with a shudder" (paragraph 19). Now that Mrs. Mallard has tasted what life might have been like without her husband, the idea of resuming her former life is unbearably grim. When Mrs. Mallard sees that her husband still lives, she dies, killed by the disappointment of losing everything she so recently thought she had gained.
Mrs. Louise Mallard experiences the exhilaration of freedom after she learns of her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour". Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills her. The oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" may well be a reflection of, though not exclusive to the late eighteen hundreds.