The document provides guidance on writing a literary analysis paper. It discusses developing a deep thesis that offers a new interpretation, using critical methods to support the thesis through an organized analysis. The thesis should state the main point and have elements of support. The body of the paper should argue how the text clearly supports the thesis without deviation. Different literary criticism methods like New Criticism, historical analysis, cultural criticism, and feminism can provide lenses for analyzing a text based on its themes, author's context, cultural influences, or issues of gender respectively.

2. 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

3.  The thesis should state the basic point you want
to communicate, oftentimes including your main
elements of support
 It should be clear and understandable
 It should be deep, something that not everyone
would think of
 It should be significant, something that the
majority of people interested in your text would
find helpful
 It should be new and original

4.  Start by reading the text closely
 Begin to do research while forming your own
opinion about the text
 Craft a statement that summarizes your thoughts
about the text and responds to the ideas of other
critics—a working thesis
 Modify your working thesis as you continue to
interact with your research and the text

5.  Don’t be afraid to modify your thesis even after
you’ve begun writing the body of your paper—it’s
better to change it than to have a bad one
 Spend the body of your paper arguing that your
thesis provides an interpretation which is clearly
supported by the text.
 Do not deviate from discussion related to
your thesis

6.  Begin by finding common threads among the
items supporting your thesis—oftentimes, writing
an outline helps this process along
 Begin writing with the body, making sure that
each paragraph centers on one specific idea
 Make sure that the topic sentence of each
paragraph demonstrates a link between the
content of the paragraph and your thesis
statement

7.  Research the topics most closely related to your
thesis and/or your theory
 Compile notes of pertinent quotes and
paraphrases
 Write either an annotated bibliography or a
review of the literature
 In a review of the literature, summarize only the
criticism that has a significant bearing on your
treatment of the text

8.  Begin your argument by Entering the
Conversation, i.e., stating the ways in which your
argument is different from or adds to the insights
of other critics
 Use the criticism and research of others to
support minor points in your paper
 The main thrust of your paper should be your
own—if someone else has said the same thing
before, you need to find a new thesis

9.  A method of interpretation (theory) is simply a
lens through which you may view a text
 Different texts will lend themselves more or less
easily to different methods of interpretation
 Do not try to force a method upon a text.
 Remember, all methods ultimately end in the
text—you must have sufficient evidence from the
text to justify your argument regardless of your
theory or method of interpretation

10.  New Critics assume that all texts (or the best
texts) are unified artifacts that point to universal
themes without recourse to elements outside of
the texts themselves
 A universal theme is one that speaks to the
deeper realities of human life, thought, and
experience
 A New Critical thesis should account for as many
parts of the text as possible, including such
things as form and content

11.  To develop a New Critical thesis, begin by finding
the central questions and tensions that the text
seems to ask but does not explicitly answer
 Continue the process by finding different strands
of thought in the text that, together, seem to
answer the questions and resolve the tensions—
it is here that one explores imagery, diction, etc.
 Organize your support logically around a thesis
that reveals the text’s unifying theme

12. Examples

13. The Scarlet Letter
The Great Gatsby
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
A Rose for Emily
The Lord of the Rings
Chronicles of Narnia

14.  All authors write in a historical and biographical context
 The goal of a historical or biographical criticism is
understanding why the author wrote what he or she
wrote
 This includes pointing out how biographical
circumstances contributed to the creation of parts of the
text—biographical readings often resemble non-
theoretical psychological readings
 Historical readings reveal how particular texts address
certain historical issues, especially issues about which
the author was passionate

15.  All authors write as a part of a cultural context in
which they participate
 A Cultural-critical thesis should illuminate why
and how a specific factor (or factors) of culture
contributed to the creation of specific facets of
the text
 The two most important elements of this
approach are:
• Situating the text in its historical and cultural context
• Explaining how that context allows us to see the text in
a new way

16.  Texts exist as commentary on a cultural framework that
directly relates and affects notions of gender
 Patriarchy is one ideology that many cultures have used
to create social distinctions and hierarchies
 Patriarchy is the privileging of the male perspective as
the only valid perspective, effectively limiting or
abolishing women’s ability to define themselves as
women or people
 Power structures in patriarchal societies reinforce this
ideology through the institutionalized marginalizing of
women

17.  Literature, as a cultural product, can either
reinforce or resist the patriarchal influences in
society
 The goal of the feminist critic is to reveal ways in
which particular texts interact with issues of
gender and patriarchy
 A feminist thesis should reflect a deep
knowledge of feminist theory along with a deep
understanding of how the text in question relates
to the operation of patriarchal ideology and
institutions in culture

18.  Remember to strive for
depth and significance
 Remember to center
your paper on your
thesis
 Remember to organize
your paragraphs around
a central theme (your
thesis)