Literary Analysis Essay
Summary
TLDRThe video explains how to write a literary analysis essay using 'The Story of an Hour' by Kate Chopin as an example. It begins by emphasizing the importance of a hook, introduces the story and its theme, and provides a thesis statement outlining the essayโs structure. The instructor breaks down the body paragraphs, showing how to present reasons, evidence, and explanations, each related to the thesis. The importance of using quotes, MLA citations, and concluding each paragraph effectively is highlighted. The conclusion restates the main ideas. The lesson provides a clear and structured guide to writing a successful literary analysis.
Takeaways
- ๐ Start the literary essay with personal details (name, block, date) and a clear title that reflects the essayโs topic.
- ๐ฃ The introduction should begin with a hook, like a famous quote, that hints at the essayโs theme.
- ๐ Mention the short storyโs title and author in the introduction, followed by a brief summary.
- ๐ Conclude the introduction with a thesis statement, which outlines the claim and reasons the essay will explore.
- ๐ The thesis should clearly present an opinion (claim) about the story's theme or characters, followed by reasons supporting this opinion.
- ๐ Body paragraphs should each focus on one reason from the thesis, beginning with a clear topic sentence.
- ๐ฌ Support each reason with evidence from the text, including direct quotes and proper in-text citations.
- ๐ง After presenting evidence, explain how the evidence supports the main reason or claim.
- ๐ End each body paragraph with a concluding sentence that ties the evidence and reasoning back to the thesis.
- ๐ The conclusion should restate the essay's main points and summarize the key ideas from the body paragraphs.
Q & A
What is the first step in writing a literary analysis essay according to the script?
-The first step is to write your first and last name, block, and the date at the top of the page, followed by thinking of a title that reflects the topic of your essay.
What is a hook in a literary analysis essay, and what purpose does it serve?
-A hook is a quote or interesting statement used at the beginning of the essay to grab the readerโs attention and foreshadow the essay's topic.
What should be included in the introduction of a literary analysis essay?
-The introduction should include a hook, the title and author of the short story being analyzed, a brief summary of the story, and a thesis statement that outlines the main argument.
What are the three components of a thesis statement?
-A thesis statement includes the claim (your opinion), the word 'because' to link your opinion with reasons, and three reasons that support your claim.
How should body paragraphs be structured in a literary analysis essay?
-Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that introduces the reason, followed by evidence from the text (with quotes), and an explanation of how the evidence supports the reason.
What is the importance of using quotations in a literary analysis essay?
-Quotations provide direct evidence from the text, which is essential for supporting the claims made in the essay. These should be accompanied by MLA citations.
How does the script suggest interpreting unusual descriptions, like Mrs. Mallard's use of the word 'delicious'?
-The script explains that Mrs. Mallard's use of the word 'delicious' to describe the world around her reflects her sense of freedom and new life after her husbandโs death, showing her true feelings.
What is the role of the concluding sentence in each body paragraph?
-The concluding sentence restates the main idea of the paragraph, summarizing how the evidence and explanation support the thesis.
What should the conclusion paragraph of a literary analysis essay include?
-The conclusion should restate the main ideas and arguments that were presented in the essay, summarizing the overall analysis.
What is the format for in-text citations in a literary analysis essay?
-In-text citations should include the author's last name and the page number from the text, following MLA citation format.
Outlines
๐ Introduction to Literary Analysis Essay Structure
The speaker introduces an example of a literary analysis essay and provides guidelines for students to follow when writing their own. The essentials of the essay structure are discussed, starting with basic details like name, block, and date, followed by the title. The essay will analyze Kate Chopin's short story 'The Story of an Hour.' The speaker emphasizes the need to start with a hook, provide a brief summary of the story, and include a thesis statement, which acts as a 'map' for the essay. The thesis should include the claim, reasoning, and link between them.
๐ Crafting the First Body Paragraph
The speaker explains how to construct the first body paragraph based on the thesis statement. They emphasize starting with a topic sentence that introduces the first reason supporting the thesis. In the given example, the setting reflects Mrs. Mallardโs emotions, symbolizing her progression from grief to hopefulness. Specific quotes from the story are used as evidence, followed by explanations of how these quotes demonstrate the oppressive nature of marriage and Mrs. Mallardโs emerging sense of freedom. Proper MLA citation rules are also discussed for including quotes.
๐ Analyzing Evidence and Crafting Arguments
This paragraph elaborates on how to link evidence to the reasoning presented in the essay. The speaker focuses on the importance of choosing quotes that strongly support the thesis, explaining them, and interpreting their meaning within the context of the story. They mention how Mrs. Mallard's unexpected use of positive language after her husbandโs death reveals her relief and the sense of new possibilities, linking back to the theme of oppressive marriage. A concluding sentence restates the main idea of the paragraph.
๐ง Structuring Additional Body Paragraphs and Conclusion
The speaker explains that the same format of reason, evidence, and explanation should be applied to the next two body paragraphs. Each paragraph should address a new reason that supports the thesis, backed by more textual evidence and thorough explanations. The conclusion is then a restatement of the main points already made in the essay, summarizing the key arguments and reinforcing the thesis.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กLiterary Analysis
๐กHook
๐กThesis Statement
๐กClaim
๐กBody Paragraph
๐กEvidence
๐กExplanation
๐กTopic Sentence
๐กConclusion Paragraph
๐กMLA Citation
Highlights
Start your literary analysis essay with your first and last name, class block, and date.
Choose a title that reflects the topic of your literary analysis.
Begin your essay with a hook, such as a famous quote, to introduce the theme.
Include the title and author of the literary work being analyzed.
Provide a brief summary of the short story or literary work before moving into analysis.
End the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, which serves as a roadmap for the essay.
A thesis statement should include your opinion about the theme or character, connected with three reasons.
The body paragraphs should align with the reasons in the thesis statement, starting with the first reason as the topic sentence.
Include evidence from the text in each body paragraph, such as direct quotes with proper MLA citation.
Explain how the evidence supports the reason mentioned in the topic sentence.
In the first body paragraph example, the setting reflects Mrs. Mallard's emotional transformation in 'The Story of an Hour.'
Mrs. Mallard's view of springtime and new life reflects her sense of freedom after her husband's death.
Each body paragraph should end with a concluding sentence that restates the main idea of the paragraph.
The structure of each body paragraph includes reason, evidence, and explanation.
Conclude the essay by restating the main ideas discussed earlier, reinforcing the thesis and analysis.
Transcripts
hello students today I'm going to show
you an example literary analysis essay
so that you can know what to do when you
write yours so the first thing at the
top of the page you want to write your
first and last name my name what block
and the date and then you want to think
of a title that tells you something
about the topic that you're going to be
talking about so this literary analysis
is about a short story called The Story
of an Hour so let's just talk about the
uh components or the parts of a good
literary essay so the first thing you
want to do is start with a hook so this
is a quote from someone famous SRA once
wisely said hell is other people and
this is a quote that foreshadows what
the essay is going to be about and then
the next thing that this author does is
she writes uh what short story so the
title uh and the author of the short
story she's going to analyze and then
talks about the topic a view of marriage
and then this author gives a very brief
summary of what happens in the story
okay this is just a a basic summary of
the short story that the person read and
then here the last sentence of the
introduction paragraph is a thesis
statement we call this the thesis
statement okay okay um and so there are
three parts to a thesis statement this
basically tells your reader it's like a
map of your essay so it tells your
reader what you're going to be reading
okay um so the claim is the first thing
so this part highlighted in
yellow uh is your opinion about the
essay so for you this is going to be
what your opinion is about the theme of
your short story or what your opinion is
about the character
characters um so this one says Kate
chopan The Story of an Hour expresses
the oppressive nature of marriage so
it's saying the theme Here is that n the
nature of marriage is oppressive it's
bad and then we have this word because
this word because here is very important
um you need to link your opinion with
three reasons okay so because and then
this author has three reasons why and
then for your body paragraph you're
going to start with your first reason
the settings reflection of Mrs malard
and you're going to put that as the the
topic sentence of your body paragraph
Okay so the first body paragraph needs
to talk about your first reason okay and
so let's look at this um body paragraph
after hearing of her husband's death Mrs
Mard quickly progresses from grief to
hopefulness a change that chopan shows
through her description of the setting
initially Mrs Mard cried eyes but
quickly locks herself alone in her room
as she looks out the window Mrs Mard
could see in the open Square before her
house the tops of trees that were all a
quiver with the new Spring Light the
delicious breath of rain was in the air
Mrs Mard immediately notices the new
growth and life of the springtime which
reflects her own new life that is
possible after her husband's death
normally a recent Widow would not be
using words like delicious to describe
the world around them immediately after
the passing of a loved one however Mrs M
feels she has escaped the oppression of
her husband and is beginning to see a
new world a world that is hers to love
and explore while she does grieve
quickly for her late husband Mrs
mallard's view of Nature and Chan's
description of the setting reveal her
true feelings so in this body paragraph
the author is doing a couple of things
she's giving uh evidence and explaining
her evidence for this first reason so
why does she think that the setting
proves that
nature of marriage is oppressive okay so
we have a direct quote here and you'll
notice the quotation marks before and
after and then the intax citation now
you'll notice that really it should
have the last name of the author and the
page number that's the MLA
citation so this is her evidence after
she states her first reason this writer
puts her evidence it's something from
the story that she's going to then
explain how this proves this so after
her evidence she has her reasoning okay
she's saying that it's very weird that
she's using words like delicious and new
spring life because these things are
good and it's uh
unexpected uh to say things like that
after the passing of a loved one
okay and then she goes on to say but the
reason she does this is because she is
escaping oppression of her husband okay
so in this body paragraph uh she ends
with a concluding sentence that uh
restates the main idea of this paragraph
which is the true feelings that she has
of nature okay through the setting so
what we see in the body paragraph is the
reason
that's listed in the thesis statement
the
reason the
evidence and then an explanation of how
that evidence
supports the reason that she gave okay
so reason evidence and then an
explanation and that's what you're going
to do with the next two body paragraphs
it's the same thing the second reason
more evidence from the text text and an
explanation of the evidence okay
reason
evidence
explanation okay and in the conclusion
paragraph
um is uh just a restatement of the main
ideas of what was already said earlier
on in the paper and that is an example
of a literary analysis essay
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