Writing the Literary Analysis

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Writing the Literary Analysis
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Reading Check

• Re-read page 93
• Explain the internal struggle the character is
  dealing with in the story.

http//www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_
otherness_embracing_myself.html
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Reading Check

• Write a summary of the short story The Outing
• Describe the relationship between Johnnie and
  David
• mrsjohalenglish.weebly.com

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An analysis explains what a work of literature
means, and how it means it.

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How is a literary analysis an argument?

• When writing a literary analysis, you will focus
  on specific attribute(s) of the text(s).
• When discussing these attributes, you will want
  to make sure that you are making a specific,
  arguable point (thesis) about these attributes.
• You will defend this point with reasons and
  evidence drawn from the text. (Much like a
  lawyer!)

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How to Analyze a Story

• Essential Elements of the Story
• Structure of the Story
• Rhetorical Elements
• Meaning of the Story

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How to Analyze a Story

• Meaning of the Story (Interpretation)
• Identify the theme(s) and how the author
  announces it.
• Explain how the story elements contribute to the
  theme.
• Identify contextual elements (allusions, symbols,
  other devices) that point beyond the story to the
  authors life/experience, history or to other
  writings.

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How to Analyze a Story

• Essential Elements of the Story
• Theme main ideawhat the work adds up to
• Plot Relationship and patterns of events
• Characters people the author creates
• Including the narrator of a story or the speaker
  of a poem
• Setting when and where the action happens
• Point of View perspective or attitude of the
  narrator or speaker

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Theme

• Main idea or underlying meaning of the literary
  work.
• What the author wants the reader to understand
  about the subject

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Sequence of Conflict/Crisis/Resolution

• All stories, literary essays, biographies, and
  plays have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
• Typically, the beginning is used to describe the
  conflict/problem faced by the character/subject.
• The middle is used to describe the climax or
  crisis reached by the character/subject.
• The end is used to resolve the conflict/problem
  and establish a theme.

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Climax (conflict and tension reach a peak, and
characters realize their mistake, etc.)
Rising Action (conflict and suspense build
through a series of events).
Falling Action (conflict gets worked out and
tensions lessen.)
Resolution (conflict is resolved and themes are
established.)
Exposition (characters, setting, and conflict are
introduced.)
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What Are The Major Events In The First Part Of The Narrative That Describe The Problem/Conflict? What Are The Major Events In The Middle Part Of The Narrative That Describe The Crisis/Climax? What Are The Major Events In The Last Part Of The Narrative That Describe The Resolution/ Solution To The Problem/Conflict?



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Types of Conflict

• person vs. person conflict
• events typically focus on differences in values,
  experiences, and attitudes.
• person vs. society conflict
• the person is fighting an event, an issue, a
  philosophy, or a cultural reality that is unfair,
  
• person vs. nature conflict
• the character is often alone dealing with nature
  in extreme circumstances.
• person vs. fate/supernatural conflict
• the text is characterized by a person contending
  with an omnipresent issue or idea.
• person vs. self conflict
• the person is conflicted with childhood memories,
  unpleasant experiences, or issues with stress and
  decision-making.

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• Insite
• Tuesday at home class
• Freakonomics
• Essay/outline/draft
• In-class essay

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Characterization

• Round
• Three-dimensional personality
• Flat
• Only one or two striking qualitiesall bad or all
  good
• Dynamic
• Grows and progress to a higher level of
  understanding
• Static
• Remains unchanged throughout the story

• Protagonist
• Main character
• Antagonist
• Character or force that opposes the main
  character
• Foil
• Character that provides a contrast to the
  protagonist

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How Others Feel About Him/Her
How He/She Acts/Feels
Character
What He/She Says
What He/She Looks Like
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What The Character Says Or Does, A Quote From The Character, A Detail About The Character, An Event From The Story, Or A Comment About The Character By Someone Else What I Conclude About The Character Based On This Information (Focus On BIG, Abstract Ideas, Not Concrete, Factual Information)



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Characterization

• A characters actions
• A characters choices
• A characters speech patterns
• A characters thoughts and feelings
• A characters comments
• A characters physical appearance and name
• Other characters thoughts and feelings about the
  character
• Other characters actions toward the character

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Setting

• Time period
• Geographical location
• Historical and cultural context
• Social
• Political
• Spiritual

• Instrumental in establishing mood
• May symbolize the emotional state of characters
• Impact on characters motivations and options

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Historical Time Periods Concepts Developed/ Revealed In This Time Events/Examples/Details That Support The Concepts/Ideas









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Point of View

• First Person
• Narrator is a character within the storyreveals
  own thoughts and feelings but not those of others
• Third Person
• Objective narrator outside the story acts as a
  reportercannot tell what characters are thinking
• Limited narrator outside the story but can see
  into the mind of one of the characters
• Omniscient narrator is all-knowing outsider who
  can enter the mind of more than one character.

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How to Analyze a Story- Body Paragraphs

• Rhetorical Elements Identify the authors use
  and explain their importance
• Foreshadowing
• Use of hints or clues to suggest event that will
  occur later in the story
• Builds suspensemeans of making the narrative
  more believable
• Tone
• Authors attitudestated or impliedtoward the
  subject
• Revealed through word choice and details

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Rhetorical Elements

• Mood
• Climate of feeling in a literary work
• Choice of setting, objects, details, images,
  words
• Symbolism
• Person, place, object which stand for larger and
  more abstract ideas
• American flag freedom
• Dove peace

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Rhetorical Elements

• Irony contrast between what is expected or what
  appears to be and what actually is
• Verbal Ironycontrast between what is said and
  what is actually meant
• Irony of Situationan event that is the opposite
  of what is expected or intended
• Dramatic IronyAudience or reader knows more than
  the characters know

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Rhetorical Elements

• Figurative Language language that goes beyond
  the literal meaning of words
• Simile-compares two things using "like, or
  "as,"
• Metaphor-A comparison made by referring to one
  thing as another
• Alliteration-repetition of the same consonant or
  sound.
• Personification- giving an object or animal human
  characteristics.
• Onomatopoeia- words that imitate a sound
• Hyperbole- exaggeration

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Introduction

• A literary analysis is a paper that gives a deep
  and illuminating explanation of a literary
  work--it is a Critical Interpretation.
• We will learn how to formulate a deep thesis,
  organize a paper coherently, and use a number of
  different critical methods

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Writing a Literary Analysis

• Intro
• Body
• Conclusion

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Introduction- 1st step

• Capture the readers interest. You can do
  this by alluding to a specific time in history,
  providing a personal anecdotes, or including a
  strong statement.

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Example

• Anecdote
• The appeasing feeling of heroin transmits into
  his vein. The addictive sediments run through his
  nervous bloodstream and leave his body cool and
  calm. As the final note of the blues croon washes
  away his sorrows, he feels alive again.

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Example

• alluding to a specific time in history
• When one thinks of Harlem, the tune of an
  upbeat jazz croon comes to mind. At one time
  Harlem was a bolstering economy filled with
  culture, opportunity, and excitement however,
  the devastation of the great depression brought
  tough times to the people of Harlem.

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2nd Step

• Give background information about the text
  and the overall purpose of why the text was
  written. You will need to include background
  about the author or the historical period.

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Example

• In "Sonny's Blues" James Baldwin presents an
  existential world in which suffering
  characterizes man's basic state. The story's
  principal character Sonny lives in
  post-depression Harlem New York. There he
  struggles with drugs and his pursuit to become a
  musician. His older brother, a nameless
  character in the story, is unsupportive of
  Sonnys lifestyle, which creates more angst to
  Sonnys pain. Sonny struggles through an absurd
  world devoid of inherent meaning, and must also
  persevere in a society that tolerates racism.
  Baldwin explores the human struggle of pain
  through his characterization of Sonny.  

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Thesis Sentence

• The thesis is a statement, which will include the
  theme and the overall elements of your essay.

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Example
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• The appeasing feeling of heroin transmits
  into his vein. The addictive sediments run
  through his nervous bloodstream and leave his
  body cool and calm. As the final note of the
  blues croon washes away his sorrows, he feels
  alive again. In "Sonny's Blues" James Baldwin
  presents an existential world in which suffering
  characterizes man's basic state. The story's
  principal character Sonny lives in
  post-depression Harlem New York. There he
  struggles with drugs and his pursuit to become a
  musician. His older brother, a nameless
  character in the story, is unsupportive of
  Sonnys lifestyle, which creates more angst to
  Sonnys pain. Sonny struggles through an absurd
  world devoid of inherent meaning, and must also
  persevere in a society that tolerates racism.
  Baldwin explores the human struggle of pain
  through his characterization of Sonny.  Sonny
  fights a personal battle with his pain through
  music and drug addiction. He is surrounded by
  racism, drugs, and poverty, which causes him to
  live a volatile lifestyle. He seeks the comfort
  of music and drugs to deter him from facing his
  true reality. By examining Sonnys relationship
  with his brother, his battle with drug addiction,
  and the devastating environment he is raised in,
  one can see why Sonny needs music and drugs in
  his life to help him battle with his pain.

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Body Paragraphs

• A paragraph is unified when it develops a
  single main idea. A well developed paragraph has
  the following parts.
• Topic Sentence
• Claim
• Quote
• Analysis

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Topic Sentence

• At the beginning of a paragraph tells readers
  what to expect and helps them to understand your
  paragraphs main idea immediately.

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Sample Thesis
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Sample Topic Sentence
Thesis ..the devastating environment he is
raised inone can see why Sonny needs music and
drugs in his life to help him battle with his
pain. 1. Topic Sentence Sonnys upbringing in
Harlem, New York is wrought with poverty and
racism, which is a leading factor to Sonnys pain
and anguish.
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Claim

• Make a claim about the story, one that is not
  immediately obvious and one that requires
  development and explanation with evidence from
  the text.

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Sample Claim

• 2. Claim Sonnys seeks the comfort of drugs and
  music as an escape from his volatile environment.
  Drugs and music gave Sonny a sense of control.
  Sonnys character is a symbol for why many people
  become addicted to drugs in the first place. More
  often than not, one may become addicted to drugs
  as their only form of self-expression.

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Introduce your evidence

• 3. Quote In the story, Sonny tells his
  brother that when he was listening to the woman
  on the street singing, her voice reminded him of
  what it felt like to be high, warm and cool at
  the same time. And distant. AndsureIt makes you
  feelin control (Baldwin 8).

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Analysis

• 4. Analysis In a world where white
  supremacy was the norm, minority groups often
  felt as if trapped by his environment. Music and
  drugs gave Sonny identity, and he tried
  desperately to express himself through his music
  to mask his pain. When that was not enough, he
  resorted to heroin. It gave him a sense of
  control and expression as well as that extra edge
  that he felt had been missing in his life. Heroin
  helped him, not so much to play well, but to feel
  accepted in a world of poverty and racism.

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Paragraph

• Sonnys upbringing in Harlem, New York
  is wrought with poverty and racism, which is a
  leading factor to Sonnys pain and anguish.
  Sonnys seeks the comfort of drugs and music as
  an escape from his volatile environment. Drugs
  and music gave Sonny a sense of control. Sonnys
  character is a symbol for why many people become
  addicted to drugs in the first place. More often
  than not, one may become addicted to drugs as
  their only form of self-expression. In the story,
  Sonny tells his brother that when he was
  listening to the woman on the street singing, her
  voice reminded him of what it felt like to be
  high, warm and cool at the same time. And
  distant. And sureIt makes you feel in control
  (Baldwin 8). In a world where white supremacy was
  the norm, minority groups often felt as if
  trapped by his environment. Music and drugs gave
  Sonny identity, and he tried desperately to
  express himself through his music to mask his
  pain. When that was not enough, he resorted to
  heroin. It gave him a sense of control and
  expression as well as that extra edge that he
  felt had been missing in his life. Heroin helped
  him, not so much to play well, but to feel
  accepted in a world of poverty and racism.

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Body Paragraphs

• Create a body paragraph for the story The
  Outing. Choose a specific idea to develop.
• Topic Sentence
• Claim
• Quote
• Analysis

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Conclusion

• Recall the thesis and discuss the relevance and
  significance of the ideas that you have explored.
  
• Explain what you have learned about your novel
  and the overall message about the human
  experience. (Dont use I make a general
  statement that everyone can relate to)
• Put your own personal stamp on this paragraph.
  Explain how the ideas in your paper relate to
  America today.
• The last sentence must have an impact on your
  readers. Call your readers to action or leave
  them with an idea to ponder.