This document provides over 30 open-ended essay prompts for the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition exam from 1970 to 2005. The prompts cover a wide range of topics and ask students to analyze characters, themes, symbols, and other elements in recognized works of literary merit. They require explaining how various techniques, devices, or elements contribute to an author's purpose or the meaning of a work as a whole, rather than merely summarizing plots.
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Core 168 LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAYYour first essay for the c.docxvoversbyobersby
Core 168: LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
Your first essay for the course will be a literary analysis essay. You will choose one primary text (one of the poems, stories, speeches, or memoirs) from our class reading so far and then focus your essay analyzing the text.
Your analysis must have:
· a worthwhile, interesting introduction leading to your thesis sentence (stating the focus/main point of the essay);
· a substantial body of paragraphs to support your analysis (at least 2-3 paragraphs);
· an interesting, relevant conclusion.
You will follow these steps of the writing process to write your essay. Each step will also earn you assignment credit. Your assignments will provide guidance for how to approach and perform a literary analysis. Also, included below are specific directions for HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY:
1. Read “How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay” (below in this document);
2. Choose a primary text of literature as your focus for the essay; (9/25/18)
3. Brainstorm regarding two different aspect of the text—the content (WHAT THE TEXT SAYS) and the literary devices (HOW THE TEXT SAYS WHAT IT SAYS). If you would like to use a recommended topic, you may do so, but you are also free to explore your own topic (9/27/18)
4. Determine WHAT is interesting and important about what happens in the text and make a statement about it. That statement is your thesis statement. (9/27/18)
5. Write an essay to support your thesis statement, using textual evidence (quotes from the primary text) to illustrate and provide examples of your thesis. (10/2/18)
6. Revise your essay for content and organization. (10/4/18)
7. Edit your essay for clarity and correctness.
8. Visit the Writing Center and do a peer review of your essay.
9. Proofread your essay before submitting it.
10. Submit your essay by the deadline of 10/10/18.
SUGGESTED/EXAMPLE TOPICS
· Examine Sherman Alexie’s poem “Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World”
· Examine how Nora Naranjo-Morse uses the legend/tradition of the coyote trickster in her poem “A Well Traveled Coyote”
· Analyze the coyote figure in any of the coyote texts from Native American Coyote Mythology
· Analyze Red Jacket’s rhetorical strategies he used in his speeches
· Examine how Black Elk uses descriptive details to evoke empathy for his people in Black Elk Speaks
· Analyze Lame Deers use of one or more of the following literary devices: simile/metaphor; circular storytelling; humor
· Analyze E. Pauline Johnson’s short story (fiction) “As It Was in the Beginning,” focusing on one or more of the following:
· 1st person point of view;
· the focus on skin color and how race is characterized in the text;
· the focus on womanhood, particularly Ester’s connection with her mother and how Ester uses the wisdom passed from her mother;
· the circularity of the story in terms of the beginning and end of the text and Ester’s return home;
· the significance of the snake;
· how Christian ideas of heaven and hell a.
Literary AnalysisWhat distinguishes literature from other forms o.docxSHIVA101531
Literary Analysis
“What distinguishes literature from other forms of knowledge is that it cannot be understood unless we understand what it means to be human.” (J. Bronowski)
There are many ways to interpret, analyze, and evaluate literature. Perhaps you’ve already been asked to make an observation or take a position about a work of literature (whether a poem, short story, novel, play, or film) and examine such elements as plot, characters, theme, setting, conflict, structure, point of view, imagery, or symbolism. When you are asked by a teacher to write an interpretation, a critique, or a literary analysis, you are being asked to figure out what is going on in a work of literature. Much more complicated than merely summarizing a piece or writing a personal reaction to it, literary analysis requires that you read between the lines of a text and discover something meaningful there. Why does a specific image recur throughout a poem? How does a novel relate to a social issue facing the author at the time it was written? Do you recognize a pattern or perceive a problem with a character’s behavior in a play? How is the role of women significant in a movie? Answers to all of these questions can be determined only through critical thinking and the synthesis of your ideas.
· An interpretation—explains a text’s overall meaning or significance, explaining your reasoning for this interpretation with supporting evidence from the text.
· A critique—also called a critical response or a review, it provides your personal judgment about a text, supported by reasons and references to the work of art and often secondary sources.· A formal analysis—different from a critique in that examines a work of art by breaking it down into various elements to discover how the parts interrelate to create meaning of effect.
· A cultural analysis—examines a work of art by relating it to the historical, social, cultural, or political situations in which it was written to show how the author was influenced by personal experiences, events, prevailing attitudes, or contemporary values.
How can I persuade readers that my view or interpretation is reasonable?
First, be sure that your view or interpretation asserts a debatable claim.
For instance, if you were to say that “Antigone is a play about a young woman who questions authority,” you wouldn’t be saying much beyond a summary. But if you said that, “Antigone’s punishment is well-deserved because she violates the laws of the king,” that is debatable. Another student could just as easily argue that Antigone’s punishment is not well-deserved and that she should be commended for respecting the higher laws of the gods over the laws of the king.
Because you are essentially arguing that your perspective is a valid one, you have to support it effectively with reasons, evidence from the piece (direct references to specific quotations, lines, passages, scenes, etc.), and—if required—secondary sources (articles and bo ...
riting About LiteratureGenerally, the essays you write in lite.docxjoellemurphey
riting About Literature
Generally, the essays you write in literature courses attempt to answer interesting questions about works of literature. These questions are interesting for at least two reasons: a) their answers are not obvious, and b) their answers (or at least the attempt to answer them) can enrich other readers’ understanding and experience of those works of literature. Often works of literature seem to be intentionally posing these questions to us; they require us to do some work to get them to work.
Readers have asked many different types of questions of works of literature, for example:
· What did the author want to communicate in this work?
· What does the work reveal about the author’s feelings, opinions, or psychology?
· What does the work reveal about the society in which it was written?
· What can we learn from this work about the issues or topics it deals with?
· What motivates the characters in the work to behave as they do?
· How are literary devices used in the work?
· How does the work create emotional or intellectual experiences for its readers?
· Is this work good or bad?
· Is this work good or bad for its readers?
Some of these questions require information from outside the text itself; for example, to argue that a work reveals a writer’s psychological condition, it would be helpful to have some other evidence of that condition to corroborate your interpretation of the work of literature. Some of these questions ask about the world outside the work—about the author, his/her society, or our own society, for example—while others try to focus more on the features of the work itself. Analyses which try to make statements about the work itself is often calledformalist criticism: it attends more to the structures and strategies employed in the work. Ultimately, such arguments generally do try to move beyond the work, to claim, for instance, that it is likely to create certain effects in its readers, or that readers will understand the writer’s intent more clearly if they pay attention to its formal characteristic.
In LIT 100, we are going to be paying attention primarily to these formal features of literary works. In fiction, some of these features include tone, point of view, setting, character, etc. We will be paying less attention to extra-textual features, such as the author’s biography or the historical contexts in which the literature was produced and/or read; these elements are not less important than formal features, but they naturally vary greatly from one work to another and often require in-depth study to truly appreciate. To understand how Shakespeare’s social situation in London in the 1590s might have been reflected in his plays would require a whole course in Elizabethan history. On the other hand, the formal features we will be studying in this course can be found in literature of all eras and genres, though they may often be used to different effect by different writers at different times. A ...
How to Read and Understand an Expository EssayThe Initial Read.docxadampcarr67227
How to Read and Understand an Expository Essay
The Initial Reading
Read the first paragraph (or section for a longer essay). Then, read the conclusion. Identify what seem to be key concepts introduced in the opening of the essay and those concepts that have been emphasized or that have emerged in the conclusion.
Scan any headings or subheadings for a sense of progression of the development of key points.
With a pen in hand, begin reading the essay from the beginning, marking in your notes or on the printed page the main ideas as you see them appearing.
From your list of main ideas, annotated in the margins of each paragraph and copied to a separate page or note card, try to reconstruct mentally the main ideas of each paragraph.
Identify key passages that you may wish to use as direct quotations, paraphrases, summaries, or allusions in the drafts of an essay.
Subsequent Readings/Reviews
Always begin by reviewing first your notes and note cards on which you have copied the annotations of main ideas from each paragraph.
Turn to the text of the essay only when you fail to remember the exact reference made in the annotations of main ideas.
Identify the Mode of Development
Is the purpose of the essay to inform, persuade, entertain, or to explore?
What is the conclusion of any argument the author may be developing?
As an informational work, is the author's voice prominent or muted?
Be sure that you understand the writer's viewpoint and purpose:
Is the writer trying to explain his or her own opinion? Trying to attack another's position? Trying to examine two sides of an issue without judgment?
Is the writer being persuasive or just commenting on or describing a unique, funny, or interesting aspect of life and what it 'says about us'?
As a piece of entertainment, what specific literary humorous devices does the author employ? (See burlesque, hyperbole, understatement, other figures of speech.)
As an exploratory work, what is the focus of the inquiry? What is the author's relationship to that focus? Is s/he supportive, hostile, indifferent? What?
Analysis of the Author
Explain the author's attitude toward the subject of the essay. Is s/he sympathetic to the thesis, issue, or key concepts?
Explore on the Internet and/or other electronic or print media any information you can find about the author and the essay. Explain how this external information better helps to understand the essay.
Explain what seems to be the author's motivation in writing the essay and what s/he hopes to accomplish with the composition.
Identify any other factors in the author's biography or notes that seem relevant to the purpose of the composition.
Some Major Essayists
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
St. John de Crevecœur (1725–1813)
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
James Madison (1751–1836)
Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850)
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Frederic.
1 A Guide to the Literary-Analysis Essay INTRODU.docxmercysuttle
1
A Guide to the Literary-Analysis Essay
INTRODUCTION: the section in your essay. It begins creatively in order to catch your
reader’s interest, provides essential background about the literary work, and prepares the reader
for you major thesis. The introduction must include the author and title of the work as well
as an explanation of the theme to be discussed. Other essential background may include
setting, capsule plot summary, an introduction of main characters, and definition of terms.
The major thesis goes at the end. Because the major thesis sometimes sounds tacked on, use
a transition between the background information and the thesis of the essay.
CREATIVE OPENING: the beginning sentences of the introduction that catches the reader’s
interest. The types of introductions listed below are not the complete introductions. The
examples only represent a type of introduction. The introduction is more than you see here.
Ways of beginning creatively include the following:
1) A startling fact or bit of information
Ex. Nearly two citizens were arrested as witches during the Salem witch scare of 1692.
Eventually nineteen were hanged, and another was pressed to death (Marks 65).
2) A snatch of dialogue between two characters
Ex. “It is another thing. You [Frederic Henry] cannot know about it unless you have it.” “Well,”
I said. “If I ever get it I will tell you [priest].” (Hemingway 72). With these words, the priest in
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms sends the hero, Frederic, in search of the ambiguous
“it” in his life.
3) A meaningful quotation (from the work or another source)
Ex. “To be, or not to be, that is the question” {3.1.57}. This familiar statement expresses the
young prince’s moral dilemma in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
4) A universal idea.
Ex. The terrifying scenes a soldier experiences on the front probably follow him throughout his
life—if he manages to survive the war.
5) A rich, vivid description of the setting
Ex. Sleepy Maycomb, like other Southern towns, suffers considerably during the Great
Depression. Poverty reaches from the privileged families, like the Finches, to the Negroes and
“white trash” Ewells, who live on the outskirts of town. Harper Lee paints a vivid picture of life
in this humid Alabama town where tempers and bigotry explode into conflict.
2
6) An analogy or metaphor
Ex. Life is like a box of chocolates: we never know what we’re going to get. This element of
uncertainty plays a major role in many dramas. For example, in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and
Juliet have no idea what tragedies lie ahead when they fall so passionately and impetuously in
love.
7) MAJOR THESIS: a statement that provides the subject and overall opinion of your
essay. For a literary analysis your major thesis must (1) relate to the theme of the
work and (2) suggest how this theme is revealed by the author. A good thesis may ...
HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAYThe purpose of a literary LizbethQuinonez813
HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions.
REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea. Your objective in writing a literary analysis essay is to convince the person reading your essay that you have supported the idea you are developing. Unlike ordinary conversation and classroom discussion, writing must stick with great determination to the specific point of development. This kind of writing demands tight organization and control. Therefore, your essay must have a central idea (thesis), it must have several paragraphs that grow systematically out of the central idea, and everything in it must be directly related to the central idea and must contribute to the reader’s understanding of that central idea. These three principles are listed again below:
1. Your essay must cover the topic you are writing about.
2. Your essay must have a central idea (stated in your thesis) that governs its development.
3. Your essay must be organized so that every part contributes something to the reader’s understanding of the central idea.
THE ELEMENTS OF A SOLID ESSAY
The Thesis Statement
The thesis statement tells your reader what to expect: it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative sentence that states the purpose of your essay -- the point you are trying to make. Without a carefully conceived thesis, an essay has no chance of success. The following are thesis statements which would work for a 500-750 word literary analysis essay:
Gwendolyn Brooks‟s 1960 poem “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” demonstrates how the poet uses the conventional poetic form of the ballad to treat the un ...
HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAYThe purpose of a literary .docxwellesleyterresa
HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character's attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions.
REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea. Your objective in writing a literary analysis essay is to convince the person reading your essay that you have supported the idea you are developing. Unlike ordinary conversation and classroom discussion, writing must stick with great determination to the specific point of development. This kind of writing demands tight organization and control. Therefore, your essay must have a central idea (thesis), it must have several paragraphs that grow systematically out of the central idea, and everything in it must be directly related to the central idea and must contribute to the reader’s understanding of that central idea. These three principles are listed again below:
1. Your essay must cover the topic you are writing about.
2. Your essay must have a central idea (stated in your thesis) that governs its development.
3. Your essay must be organized so that every part contributes something to the reader’s understanding of the central idea.
THE ELEMENTS OF A SOLID ESSAY
The Thesis Statement The thesis statement tells your reader what to expect: it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative sentence that states the purpose of your essay -- the point you are trying to make. Without a carefully conceived thesis, an essay has no chance of success. The following are thesis statements which would work for a 500-750 word literary analysis essay:
Gwendolyn Brooks‟s 1960 poem “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” demonstrates how the poet uses the conventional poetic form of the ballad to treat the un ...
riting About LiteratureGenerally, the essays you write in litera.docxdaniely50
riting About Literature
Generally, the essays you write in literature courses attempt to answer interesting questions about works of literature. These questions are interesting for at least two reasons: a) their answers are not obvious, and b) their answers (or at least the attempt to answer them) can enrich other readers’ understanding and experience of those works of literature. Often works of literature seem to be intentionally posing these questions to us; they require us to do some work to get them to work.
Readers have asked many different types of questions of works of literature, for example:
What did the author want to communicate in this work?
What does the work reveal about the author’s feelings, opinions, or psychology?
What does the work reveal about the society in which it was written?
What can we learn from this work about the issues or topics it deals with?
What motivates the characters in the work to behave as they do?
How are literary devices used in the work?
How does the work create emotional or intellectual experiences for its readers?
Is this work good or bad?
Is this work good or bad for its readers?
Some of these questions require information from outside the text itself; for example, to argue that a work reveals a writer’s psychological condition, it would be helpful to have some other evidence of that condition to corroborate your interpretation of the work of literature. Some of these questions ask about the world outside the work—about the author, his/her society, or our own society, for example—while others try to focus more on the features of the work itself.
Analyses which try to make statements about the work itself
is often called
formalist
criticism: it attends more to the structures and strategies employed in the work. Ultimately, such arguments generally do try to move beyond the work, to claim, for instance, that it is likely to create certain effects in its readers, or that readers will understand the writer’s intent more clearly if they pay attention to its formal characteristic.
In LIT 100, we are going to be paying attention primarily to these formal features of literary works. In fiction, some of these features include tone, point of view, setting, character, etc. We will be paying less attention to extra-textual features, such as the author’s biography or the historical contexts in which the literature was produced and/or read; these elements are not less important than formal features, but they naturally vary greatly from one work to another and often require in-depth study to truly appreciate. To understand how Shakespeare’s social situation in London in the 1590s might have been reflected in his plays would require a whole course in Elizabethan history. On the other hand, the formal features we will be studying in this course can be found in literature of all eras and genres, though they may often be used to different effect by different writers at different times. Almost all fict.
Exploration of one or more characteristic(s) of an authors style an.docxmecklenburgstrelitzh
Exploration of one or more characteristic(s) of an author's style and approach
Consider analyzing the author's use of imagery or setting:
Analyzing Setting
“Setting refers to the natural or artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature live and move. Seeing also includes what in the theater would be called props or properties—the implements employed by the characters in various activities. Such things as the time of day and the consequent amount of light at which an event occurs, the flora and fauna, the sounds described, the smells, and the weather are also part of the setting. Paintbrushes, apples, pitchforks, rafts, six-shooters, watches, automobiles, horses and buggies, and innumerable other items belong to the setting. References to clothing, descriptions of physical appearance, and spatial relationships among the characters are also part of setting.” (Edgar V. Roberts, Writing Themes about Literature)
In order to create an argument about the function of the setting in a particular work, you need to identify the principal settings and to see how they work. Here are some steps you can take:
1) Read the story and mark references to setting. Start with the place and time of the action and then focus upon recurrent details and objects.
2) Think about what the story is about. What happens? What is its point? Is it a story about love, jealousy, gain, or loss? What is the main experience here?
3) Look through your setting notes and see if they fall into any pattern. What are the interesting shifts and contrasts?
4) Determine how the setting relates to either the main point of the story (step 2) or to some part of it. In other words what does the setting have to do with character or action? What are its effects? Whatever you decide here will be your thesis statement.
5) Make an outline, indicating what aspects of setting you will discuss and what you intend to say about them. Discard notes that are not central to your plan (you don’t have to discuss everything). Focus on the four or five key passages in the story that you wish to examine. List them in your outline in the order in which they occur.
Analyzing Imagery
As distinct from character, theme, and plot, imagery occurs primarily in language, in the metaphors (i.e. comparisons), similes (comparisons with “like” or “as”), or other forms of figurative (pictorial) language in a literary work. Sometimes setting, i.e., the locality or placing of scenes, or stage props (like swords, flowers, blood, winecups) can also be considered under the rubric of imagery. But whatever the expression, images primarily are visual and concrete, i.e., things which the reader sees or can imagine seeing. Some examples are flowers, tears, animals, the moon, sun, stars, diseases, floods, metals, darkness and light.
In order to create an argument about the significance of an image in a particular work, identify a principal image or image cluster and to see how it works by following the.
Reaction Paper # 2—After reading this week’s notes Reading Fi.docxaudeleypearl
Reaction Paper # 2—After reading this week’s notes “Reading Fiction” and “Graduation” by Maya
Angelou, complete reaction paper 2 as described below.
Discussed in the notes this week are 6 elements of fiction: Tone, Plot, Characterization, Setting, Theme
and Point of View. Choose one element (other than POV) and reflect on how Angelou uses it in her
writing. Give specific examples and quotes from the text to show how she uses the element and its
effect on the story. Be sure to quote correctly (using quotation marks and providing paragraph #s).
Remember that reaction papers should be 1-2 pages, double-spaced.
Below is a brief sample of how to discuss one of the elements with examples from the text. The example
discusses the use of point of view in the story:
Maya Angelou’s story “Graduation,” is told from first-person point of view, told through the
main character, Marguerite Johnson. Although it is not yet clear who the narrator is within the first 5
paragraphs, in paragraph 6 Angelou writes, “In the Store I was the person of the moment.” Thus, we are
introduced to the narrator of the story. The rest of the story uses pronouns such as we, me, my which
solidifies the narrator’s point of view.
Hearing the story unfold from first-person POV gives credibility to the theme of the story.
Maguerite Johnson is one of the graduates excited to be graduating, and is present at every point of the
story—from the events leading up to the day, the events during the ceremony, and her feelings about
what has occurred.
In paragraph 7, she tells us, “My class was wearing buttery-yellow piqué dresses, and Momma
launched out mine.” She goes on to describe the expert way her mother crafted her dress. It is clear
from all of her descriptions that she, her family and the community looked toward the day with great
anticipation, even though as the narrator states, “I was only twelve years old and merely graduating
from the eighth grade” (paragraph 8). She goes on to explain that many teachers in the Arkansas Negro
schools had the same diploma but were able to teach. This shows that at the time, an eighth-grade
graduation was quite an achievement which could lead to possible (anticipated) professions…
(continued)
Reading Fiction
Fiction creates imaginary worlds by telling stories written in prose (ordinary, unrhymed
language) about realistic characters, set in physical environments, and with attention to
descriptive detail.
Works of fiction narrate, or tell stories. Narrative is not specific to fiction or to any other
literary genre. Telling stories pervades almost every aspect of our daily lives. We learn
very early on how to recognize and tell stories, and we rely heavily on narrative to
organize and make sense of our experience. Even in our sleep, we tell stories in the
form of dreams. It is impossible to imagine our lives without these narratives; in fact,
every culture uses them to order a ...
Overall Instruction· For any of these topic choices, you must q.docxalfred4lewis58146
Overall Instruction:
· For any of these topic choices, you must quote directly from your chosen works and include page numbers in a parenthetical citation after quotes. Instructions for in-text, parenthetical citations are attached (see pages 3-5 of this handout).
· Choose quoted passages that function as strong evidence and help you communicate your main message about the works of literature you are analyzing. Once you quote a passage, be sure to USE it: that is, interpret what it’s saying and tie it back to your main point about the text. Through your interpretation (analysis) of each and every quote, you should advance your paper’s main argument (thesis).
· Avoid summary! In none of these assignment choices do I ask you to summarize or retell the storyline. Assume your audience has read the pieces that you’re writing about. Instead of summary, I want your creative-analytical response to the literature.
Topics:
1. Put any character in conversation with a character from another work by a different author. Createthe dialogue they might have. Note that your dialogue should capture an important aspect of each character and should be focused on one main theme. You might, for example, have two characters discuss their views about their adversaries or lovers, their plans for dealing with a similar problem they have (e.g. unfaithful spouses or low social status), their different encounters with the underworld, and so on. Write a dialogue (of any length) between the two characters and attach it to an essay of 4-5 pages explaining the reasons you chose to write this particular dialogue and the message you wanted to get across about the role these characters play in their respective works and the burdens or successes they represent. Keep in mind that you don’t have to choose a work’s main characters; it would be very interesting to choose minor characters who play a smaller but critical role in the text. The best essays will illuminate a surprising intersection between the character and texts, as well as an important message about both your characters and the works they represent. Be sure to quote from the original texts in your dialogue and accompanying essay. An alternate approach to this essay choice would be to put two different authors from our syllabus into dialogue with each other.
2. Imagine that you’re planning a film based on a pairing or group of works from the syllabus. Write a description of your film, making sure to answer the questions: why make a film on your chosen works? What message, drawn from the original texts, are you trying to get across, and why do you think it’s important for a contemporary audience to hear this message? Also, think about the stylistic decisions that a film director makes and explain how you would like to see your film made, and why. (Is it a big- budget action film, a romance with recognizable stars, a musical, a comedy, or a “quieter” family drama?) Write an essay of 6-8 pages in which you discuss the .
Baugh Building Room 279 ● 210-924-4338 ext. 270 ● [e.docxShiraPrater50
Baugh Building Room 279 ● 210-924-4338 ext. 270 ● [email protected]
University Writing Center
Rev. 2/2017
LITERARY ANALYSIS THESIS STATEMENTS
A thesis in a literary analysis or literary research paper can take many forms.
The thesis statement is one of the (if not the) most important parts of your paper. Think
of it as the foundation of a house. If your foundation is weak and poorly constructed,
what do you think happens to the house?
The thesis statement is the announcement of your analytical argument that you intend to
make and prove in the duration of your paper. It is a road map for the paper—it tells the
reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
It should be placed somewhere in the introduction of your paper. Many like to put it as
the last sentence(s) of their introductory paragraph which is fine. A thesis statement is
usually, but can be more than, one sentence long.
Your thesis statement should include two parts: WHAT and WHY.
o WHAT: What claim are you making about the text?
o WHY: Why should we care? Why is your claim important? Your thesis should
answer the “so what?” question.
SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS
These sample thesis statements are provided as guides, not as required forms or prescriptions.
#1 The thesis may focus on an analysis of one of the elements of fiction, drama, poetry or
nonfiction as expressed in the work: character, plot, structure, idea, theme, symbol, style,
imagery, tone, etc.
Example:
In “A Worn Path,” Eudora Welty creates a fictional character in Phoenix Jackson whose
determination, faith, and cunning illustrate the indomitable human spirit.
Note that the work, author, and character to be analyzed are identified in this thesis statement.
The thesis relies on a strong verb (creates). It also identifies the element of fiction that the writer
will explore (character) and the characteristics the writer will analyze and discuss
(determination, faith, cunning).
Further Examples:
The character of the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, who serves as a foil to young Juliet, delights the
reader with her warmth and earthy wit, and helps realize the tragic catastrophe.
The works of ecstatic love poets Rumi, Hafiz, and Kabir use symbols such as a lover’s longing
and the Tavern of Ruin to illustrate the human soul’s desire to connect with God.
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Rev. 2/2017
#2 The thesis may focus on illustrating how a work reflects the particular genre’s forms,
the characteristics of a philosophy of literature, or the ideas of a particular school of
thought.
Example:
“The Third and Final Continent” exhibits characteristics recurrent in writings by immigrants:
tradition, adaptation, and identity.
Note how the thesis statement classifies the form of the work (writings by immigrants) and
identifies ...
1. Open-ended Questions for Advanced Placement
English Literature and Composition, 1970-2009
1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and
write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional
society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by
and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.
1970 Also. Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific
inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and
write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object
serves are related to one another.
1971. The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so
easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the
full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose
two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed
through the authors' use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and point
of view.
1972. In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or
the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work.
Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in
which you explain how it functions in this way.
1973. An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the
view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant
closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however,
always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to
abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending
of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why
the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely
summarize the plot.
1974. Choose a work of literature written before 1900. Write an essay in which
you present arguments for and against the work's relevance for a person in 1974.
Your own position should emerge in the course of your essay. You may refer to
works of literature written after 1900 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.
1975. Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in literary
characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character
2. successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary merit and in a well-written
essay, show how the conventional or stereotyped character or characters function
to achieve the author's purpose.
1975 Also. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and
only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character
and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain
the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central
characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things
like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters'
responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the
play. Do not give a plot summary.
1976. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the
majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work
of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of
recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or
her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and
ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the
plot or action of the work you choose.
1977. In some novels and plays certain parallel or recurring events prove to be
significant. In an essay, describe the major similarities and differences in a
sequence of parallel or recurring events in a novel or play and discuss the
significance of such events. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a
work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains
how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements
in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary.
1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized
literary merit who might on the basis of the character's actions alone be considered
evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full
presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than
we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.
1980. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and
responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a
determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict
with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the
3. demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a
well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the
character, and its significance to the work.
1981. The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion
to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Select a literary work that makes
use of such a sustained reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you
explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the
work's meaning.
1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a
work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes
of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute
to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.
1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a
villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's
villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize
the plot.
1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or
play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the
line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and
analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.
1985. A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature
is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and
disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this "healthy confusion." Write an
essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude"
experienced by the readers of the work.
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The
chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or
accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and
show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the
work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political
attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the
particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then
analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's
4. views. Avoid plot summary.
1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant
events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes
in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to
give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually
associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1989. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O'Connor has written,
"I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to
believe that it is the only way to make people see." Write an essay in which you
"make a good case for distortion," as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how
important elements of the work you choose are "distorted" and explain how these
distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work. Avoid plot summary.
1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental
figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of
the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
Avoid plot summary.
1991. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries,
two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed
forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play
that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ,
what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of
the work.
1992. In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character,
often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when
the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result
is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much "the
reader's friend as the protagonist's." However, the author sometimes uses this
character for other purposes as well. Choose a confidant or confidante from a
novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you discuss
the various ways this character functions in the work. You may write your essay
on one of the following novels or plays or on another of comparable quality. Do
not write on a poem or short story.
1993. "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose
a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful
laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is
5. "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.
1994. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not
appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and
write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You
may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of
other characters. Avoid plot summary.
1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using
characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race,
class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a
significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding
society's assumptions or moral values.
1996. The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy
endings. "The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response
from their readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral
development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events -- a
marriage or a last minute rescue from death -- but some kind of spiritual
reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." Choose a
novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written
essay, identify the "spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation" evident in the
ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole.
1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and
other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the
society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in
a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the
work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or
play of literary merit.
1998. In his essay "Walking," Henry David Thoreau offers the following
assessment of literature:
In literature it is only the wild that attracts us. Dullness is but another name for
tameness. It is the uncivilized free and wild thinking in Hamlet and The Iliad, in all
scriptures and mythologies, not learned in schools, that delights us.
From the works that you have studied in school, choose a novel, play, or epic
poem that you may initially have thought was conventional and tame but that you
now value for its "uncivilized free and wild thinking." Write an essay in which you
6. explain what constitutes its "uncivilized free and wild thinking" and how that
thinking is central to the value of the work as a whole. Support your ideas with
specific references to the work you choose.
1999. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, "No body,
but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man's
mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a
contrary direction at the same time."
From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose
mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions,
obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two
conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the
meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels or plays listed
below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.
2000. Many works of literature not readily identified with the mystery or detective
story genre nonetheless involve the investigation of a mystery. In these works, the
solution to the mystery may be less important than the knowledge gained in the
process of its investigation. Choose a novel or play in which one or more of the
characters confront a mystery. Then write an essay in which you identify the
mystery and explain how the investigation illuminates the meaning of the work as
a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2001. One definition of madness is "mental delusion or the eccentric behavior
arising from it." But Emily Dickinson wrote
Much madness is divinest Sense-
To a discerning Eye-
Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning Eye." Select
a novel or play in which a character's apparent madness or irrational behavior
plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain
what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged
reasonable. Explain the significance of the "madness" to the work as a whole. Do
not merely summarize the plot.
2002. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages
readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of
many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous
character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the
7. character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity
is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
2002, Form B. Often in literature, a character's success in achieving goals depends
on keeping a secret and divulging it only at the right moment, if at all. Choose a
novel or play of literary merit that requires a character to keep a secret. In a well-
organized essay, briefly explain the necessity for secrecy and how the character's
choice to reveal or keep the secret affects the plot and contributes to the meaning
of the work as a whole. You may select a work from the list below, or you may
choose another work of recognized literary merit suitable to the topic. Do NOT
write about a short story, poem, or film.
2003. According to critic Northrop Frye, "Tragic heroes are so much the highest
points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the
power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of
grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive
lightning." Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an
instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain
how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic
vision of the work as a whole.
2003, Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding
cultures -- national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can
call a character's sense of identity into question. Select a novel or play in which a
character responds to such a cultural collison. Then write a well-organized essay in
which you describe the character's response and explain its relevance to the work
as a whole.
2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the
answer." Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes' observation, write an
essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to
which it offers answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects
your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
2004, Form B. The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed
in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a
well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to
illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
2005. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said
to possess "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that
8. questions." In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who
outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you
analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning
contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power.
Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama
struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power
over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power
struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.
2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of
literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of
primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a
significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting
functions in the work as a whole.
2006, Form B. In many works of literature, a physical journey - the literal
movement from one place to another - plays a central role. Choose a novel, play,
or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important element and discuss how
the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot
summary.
2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively,
the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in
which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or
societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to
the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2007, Form B. Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even
family may betray a protagonist; main characters may likewise be guilty of
treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel or play that includes such
acts of betrayal. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal
and show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits
that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and
qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor
character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main
character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for
the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation
9. between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of
the work.
2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are
portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works,
they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or
play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the
meaning of the work as a whole.
2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that
creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can
express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play
and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions
in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a
whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues.
Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political oe social issue. Then write an
essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this
issue and explazin how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a
whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
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Updated 5 June 2009.