Literary Analysis: A Beginner's Guide to Writing a Literary Analysis Essay

Summary

This video script offers a comprehensive guide to writing a literary essay. It distinguishes literary analysis from rhetorical analysis, emphasizing the importance of close reading to uncover details like metaphors and literary devices. The script outlines the essay structure, including an introduction with a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. It advises using evidence from the text to form a thesis and create an outline to maintain focus. The script also highlights the need to avoid writing a book review, to consider every detail as potentially significant, and to fully understand the work before writing.

Takeaways

• 📚 A literary essay differs from other types of essays like argumentative or expository essays, focusing on the details and literary devices within the text.
• 🔍 Rhetorical essays analyze the manner of communication, while literary analysis looks for metaphors and connections between elements in the writing.
• 📝 The structure of a literary essay includes an introduction with a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• 🌀 The introduction should be funnel-shaped, starting broad and narrowing down to the thesis, while the conclusion is the reverse.
• 👀 Close reading is essential for literary analysis, focusing on details rather than providing a summary.
• 💡 While close reading, ask questions about the text to uncover its deeper meanings and the author's choices.
• 📑 Use a highlighter or notes to mark significant parts of the text during close reading to track interesting elements.
• 📈 Formulate a thesis statement that aligns with the essay prompt and serves as the essay's aim.
• 📋 Create an outline to ensure the collected evidence supports the thesis and maintains focus in each paragraph.
• ✍️ Write the essay body first, then the conclusion, and finally the introduction, ensuring it follows the funnel shape.
• ✅ Edit the essay using tools like Grammarly and consider using synonyms to enhance the writing.
• 🚫 Avoid writing a book review; instead, provide an analysis based on findings from the text.
• 🔎 Do not overlook any detail in the text, as authors make deliberate choices and everything is relevant.
• ⏳ Take time to fully understand the story, characters, and literary devices before writing the essay.

Q & A

What is the main difference between a literary essay and a rhetorical essay?

A literary essay focuses on the content and looks for metaphors and connections between elements of the writing, while a rhetorical essay focuses on the content as a piece of communication and the manner of language used.

What are the key components of a literary essay structure?

A literary essay structure includes an introduction with a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

What is close reading and why is it important for writing a literary essay?

Close reading is reading the work from a different perspective, focusing on details rather than the general big picture. It's important for literary essays because it helps in understanding the story's elements and identifying literary devices.

How should you approach reading a literary work for a literary analysis?

You should read the work closely, focusing on details, and ask yourself questions about why certain events happen or why the author chose specific words to describe characters.

What is a thesis statement and why is it important in a literary essay?

A thesis statement is a clear statement of the essay's main argument or focus. It's important because it guides the essay and informs the reader about what the essay will discuss.

How can you ensure your thesis statement aligns with your essay's content?

You can ensure alignment by regularly checking whether your essay's content still fits the thesis statement and adjusting the thesis if necessary.

What role does an outline play in writing a literary essay?

An outline provides structure to the essay, helps ensure that the evidence collected fits the thesis statement, and prevents adding new, unfinished ideas to the essay.

Why should the introduction of a literary essay be written last?

The introduction should be written last because it should follow the funnel shape, starting broadly and ending with a specific thesis statement, which is clearer after writing the body paragraphs.

What are some caveats to consider when writing a literary essay?

Caveats include not writing a book review but providing an analysis, not overlooking details as everything in literature is relevant, and not rushing into writing the essay without fully understanding the work.

How can you enhance your writing in a literary essay after it's written?

You can enhance your writing by using tools like Grammarly to filter out errors, and by using synonyms to enhance your vocabulary.

What is the purpose of analyzing a literary essay written by an AI like GPT in the context of this script?

Analyzing an AI-written literary essay serves as a challenge and a way to understand the capabilities and potential of AI in literary analysis and writing.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Literary Essay Writing

This paragraph introduces the process of writing a literary essay, emphasizing the distinction between literary analysis and rhetorical analysis. It outlines the structure of a literary essay, which includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction should contain a thesis statement and follow a 'funnel shape', while the conclusion should be the reverse. The paragraph stresses the importance of close reading to identify details and metaphors within the text, which are crucial for literary analysis. It suggests asking questions while reading to better understand the author's choices and to link these observations to the thesis. The paragraph concludes by advising students to use tools like highlighters and sticky notes to track significant elements in the text.

05:03

🖊️ Crafting a Literary Essay

Paragraph 2 delves into the steps for writing a literary essay after close reading. It advises formulating a thesis statement that aligns with the essay prompt and is flexible enough to evolve as new evidence is found. The paragraph underscores the utility of creating an outline to ensure that the collected evidence supports the thesis and to maintain focus in each body paragraph. It also cautions against introducing new ideas in body paragraphs that do not align with the thesis. The paragraph recommends writing the essay starting with the body paragraphs, followed by the conclusion, and only then crafting the introduction, which should be broad initially and become specific, ending with the thesis statement. The paragraph concludes with advice on editing the essay using tools like Grammarly and emphasizes the importance of not writing a book review but providing a literary analysis, considering every detail in the text as relevant, and not rushing the essay writing process but instead fully understanding the work before writing.

Keywords

💡Literary Essay

A literary essay is a form of academic writing that critically analyzes a piece of literature. It differs from other types of essays like argumentative or expository essays. In the script, the literary essay is distinguished from a rhetorical analysis by focusing on the content's metaphors and links between elements, rather than the language and communication style.

💡Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical analysis focuses on the manner of communication in a piece of content, examining how language is used to persuade or convey a message. The script explains that while a literary analysis looks for details in the story, a rhetorical analysis concentrates on the language and communication techniques.

💡Close Reading

Close reading is a method of text analysis that involves a detailed examination of a work to uncover its meaning and significance. The script emphasizes that close reading is not about reading literally 'closed' but rather looking at the work from different perspectives, focusing on details that contribute to the story's quality.

💡Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a central argument or claim that an essay makes. The script mentions that in a literary essay, the thesis should be included in the introduction and should align with the prompt or question given. It acts as the aim of the essay and can be adjusted as new evidence is found.

💡Funnel Shape

The funnel shape refers to the structure of an essay's introduction, which starts broadly and narrows down to a specific point, the thesis statement. The script advises that the introduction should follow this shape, beginning with general statements about the topic and ending with a precise thesis.

💡Outline

An outline is a plan or structure for an essay, organizing the main points and evidence into a logical order. The script suggests that an outline is crucial for a literary essay as it helps ensure that the evidence collected supports the thesis and follows a clear structure.

💡Evidence

Evidence in a literary essay refers to the specific details, quotes, or examples from the text that support the thesis. The script advises collecting evidence through close reading and using it to support the thesis, ensuring that each paragraph in the essay focuses on one idea.

💡Analysis

Analysis in the context of a literary essay means breaking down the elements of a literary work to explore their meaning and significance. The script stresses that the essay should provide an analysis rather than a review, focusing on findings from the work rather than personal opinions or feelings.

💡Literary Devices

Literary devices are techniques used by writers to create effects and convey meaning in their work. The script notes that a literary analysis of a poem would focus heavily on literary devices, which are tools like metaphor, symbolism, and imagery used to enhance the work's impact.

💡Editing

Editing is the process of reviewing and revising a written work to improve its clarity, coherence, and correctness. The script mentions editing as the final step after writing the essay, suggesting the use of tools like Grammarly to filter out errors and enhance the writing with synonyms.

💡Caveats

Caveats are warnings or cautions about potential problems or issues. The script lists three caveats for writing a literary essay: not writing a book review, not overlooking seemingly minor details, and not rushing into writing without fully understanding the work.

Highlights

A literary essay differs from argumentative, expository, or problem-solution essays.

Literary analysis focuses on metaphors and connections within the writing, unlike rhetorical analysis which focuses on communication.

Literary analysis examines details in the story, while rhetorical analysis looks at language and communication style.

The structure of a literary essay includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

The introduction should include a thesis statement and follow a 'funnel shape'.

Close reading is essential for literary analysis and involves examining the text from different perspectives.

Questions to ask during close reading include 'why does this happen?' or 'why these particular words?'

Literary analysis of a poem focuses on literary devices, while a story or novel may require a different approach.

When analyzing 'Flowers for Algernon', consider why the main character leaves flowers and the book's title choice.

Look for other references to flowers, blossoming, or blooming in the story to support your thesis.

Close reading involves noting things that stand out, using highlighters, sticky notes, or pencil markings.

The thesis statement should answer the prompt or question and be the aim of the essay.

The thesis statement can be changed as new evidence or examples are found during writing.

An outline is useful for checking if collected evidence fits the thesis and prompt.

Each paragraph in the outline should focus on one thought and not introduce new ideas.

The introduction should be written last, following a 'funnel shape' from broad to specific.

Editing involves using tools like Grammarly and enhancing writing with synonyms.

Avoid writing a book review; instead, provide a literary analysis focusing on findings, not personal opinions.

Do not overlook anything in the text, as authors make deliberate choices and everything is relevant.

Understand the story, characters, setting, and literary devices before writing the essay.

ChatGPT can also write literary essays, as demonstrated in an upcoming video.

Transcripts

when you need to write a literary essay

it's important to know how to do that

because writing a literary essay is

different from writing argumentative

essay an expository essay or something

like a problem solution essay now it's

important to know that a literary

analysis or a literary essay is

different from a rhetorical analysis or

a rhetorical essay a rhetorical essay

focuses on the piece of content as a way

or piece of communication whereas a

literary analysis looks at the content

finds metaphors and looks at links

between elements of that writing so a

literary analysis looks at details in

the story whereas a rhetorical analysis

focuses on details in the language and

the manner of communication

now before we dive into what you need to

do when you want to write a literary

essay we should look at the structure

like all other essays this essay also

has an introduction it has some body

paragraphs and it has a conclusion

in your introduction you want to include

a thesis statement and you want to make

sure that your introduction follows the

funnel shape the conclusion follows the

upside down follow shape more on that in

the linked video

now to start your literary analysis you

need to read the work closely and to do

this by practicing close reading now

close reading is not literally closed

reading it's reading the work from a

different perspective now this means

that you're not looking at the general

big picture of the story and you don't

do this because you don't have to

provide a summary you're looking at the

details you're looking at the things

that make the story a good story a

literary analysis of a poem focuses a

lot on literary devices but a literary

analysis of a story or a novel might

take a different approach now while

you're close reading you want to think

of questions that you might ask yourself

like why does this happen or what does

this mean or maybe why does the author

choose to use these particular words to

describe the character that we're

reading about

answering those questions will

definitely help you while you're

practicing your close reading for

example when you're reading Flowers for

Algernon which you should I'll put the

link in the description you want to

think of something like the flowers for

Algernon why did the main character

leave flowers on elginon's grave and why

did the author decide to name the book

Flowers for Algernon now when we know

that we're focusing on the flowers we

want to look for other clues in the

story that point towards these flowers

because there are some other references

to flowers or blossoming or blooming and

dying throughout the story and if we can

link those things together to our thesis

we'll have a good literary analysis but

before we get there we need to practice

close reading so I need to think of

things that stand out while I'm reading

the novel one thing I recommend my

students to do is to use a highlighter

or a pencil to mark down things while

you're reading

so keep track of interesting things by

using sticky notes making some notes or

just highlighting parts of the text now

after you've collected your evidence we

can move on to actually formulating our

thesis statement

if you have a prompt or a question your

thesis statement should be the answer to

that question or should be in line with

the prompt that you've you're given when

we read your thesis statement we should

know what you're going to talk about in

your essay now keep this in mind because

the thesis statement is the aim of your

essay your thesis statement is still

malleable though so even when you're

writing you find some other examples or

some other evidence that fits your

prompt better than the one that you've

made up you can always change your

thesis statements it's never set in

stone

and it's always very useful to check

whether you're still doing what you set

out in your thesis statement because you

can end up with something else in your

essay and that doesn't really fit your

thesis statement anymore then you

definitely want to adjust your thesis

statement so that the reader or your

teacher still knows what you're going to

do in your essay

after you've formulated your thesis

statement you can move on to creating

your outline now outlines are very

useful when you're writing a literary

essay because by using an outline you

can check whether the evidence you've

collected in previous steps still fits

your thesis statement and thus still

fits the prompt or question that you

were given

using an outline also gives structure to

your essay and if you want to learn how

to write an outline check out the link

in the description

for now it's important to know that when

you're creating your outline you still

follow peel or txxc or you're using

levels to create your paragraphs now

keep this in mind when you're creating

your outline

each paragraph should focus on one

thought and cover this thought

extensively don't add new ideas to your

paragraph if it doesn't fit the content

of that particular paragraph the outline

is key here using your outline to check

whether your paragraphs are focused will

only ensure that you don't add new ideas

and thus unfinished and unsupported

thoughts to your essays and while you're

working on your outline you can still

regularly check whether you're doing

what you set out to do in your thesis

statements this will only ensure that

you have a good essay and that your

essay will definitely be of high quality

finally after you've done your outline

you can sit down and write your essay

now don't make this mistake that only

beginners make don't start with your

introduction

your introduction should be written at

the end and the reason for this is that

the introduction should follow the

funnel shape which means that it starts

very broadly and ends specific with your

thesis statement

now if you don't know what you're going

to write about in your essay you don't

know what you need to put in your

introduction

so that's why the first thing that you

write when you're sitting down and ready

to write is your first body paragraph

write your body paragraphs and end by

writing your conclusion don't forget

check regularly whether your topic still

fits the thesis statements and the

prompts that you were given after you've

written your conclusion you can start

over and write your introduction so

after you've closely read your work

you've collected evidence you've built

your thesis statement an outline and

you've written your essay you're done

and you can do the editing part which is

putting it through grammarly filtering

out your grand scale errors and maybe

use some words some synonyms to enhance

your writing

now there are some caveats that you need

to think of when you're creating and

when you're writing a literary essay now

the first caveat is that you're not

writing a book review you're writing a

literary analysis and that means that

you shouldn't give your opinions but

give findings from the piece of work of

course you need to think about it and

say something useful about the content

that you've read but you're not giving

your opinion you're not focusing on what

made you feel or how you felt while

reading the story you're focusing on

findings things that stand out in your

work so the first caveat don't write a

review provide an analysis the second

caveat is overlooking things sometimes

people think well this is not very

important we don't need to focus on this

but remember that authors make

deliberate choices they put things in

their pieces of work for a reason

everything is relevant in literature so

don't overlook things and don't put

things in the bin because you think it's

irrelevant everything is in a story free

for a reason and finally and I think

this is the most important caveat you

should think of don't haste your way

into your essay fully understand the

story the characters the setting the

scene the literary devices before you

start writing you don't want to write an

essay that's superficial because you

want full marks so before you start

writing whatever you need to do focus on

understanding the story or the piece of

writing or the piece of literature first

if you're writing a literary analysis of

flowers by Miley Cyrus listen to the

song a gazillion times and make sure

that you understand everything is there

a word you don't know in the story look

it up is there something that makes no

sense check it before you start writing

don't haste your way into your essay but

fully comprehend and understand

everything of the piece of work that

you're analyzing before you write the

essay and so these are the steps you

need to take when you're ready to write

a literary essay did you know that chat

GPT can also write literary essays I

took up the challenge and I analyzed a

literary essay written by chance GPT so

make sure that you're subscribed and

have your notification Bell on so that

you know when this video will be out

for now if you found this video useful

please consider giving a thumbs up don't

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when one of my other videos will be out

let me know in the comments what is the

prompt that your English teacher gave

you

thank you for watching and I hope to see

you in one of my next videos

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