Literary Analysis

What is Literary Analysis? A way to critically examine literature Writing down your thoughts about what the author is trying to say or prove (without using 1st/2nd person pronouns) Looking deeper into a piece of literature (not just a summary of what happened in the plot) USING EVIDENCE from a text to prove your point about what you think the text MEANS

Parenthetical Citations In MLA format, we use parenthetical citations immediately following direct quotes and at the end of the section that includes paraphrasing from another source. What this means is that we give immediate credit to the author/source of material when we use it in a paper.

Parenthetical Citations For a piece of fiction (novel or short story), your citations should look like this: “The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer” (Bradbury 2). The parenthetical includes the author’s last name and page number. Notice there is no period at the end of the quotation. The period goes after the parenthetical. Notice where the quotation marks are. Notice that there is no punctuation inside the parenthetical.

REMEMBER When we are talking about direct quotes or adding a quote to your paper, we are NOT specifically talking about something a character says. To quote a text simply means that you are taking writing from the text (story, book, article, etc.) and copying it directly into your writing (with quotation marks and a citation).

Quote Sandwiches In order to make the writing flow, it is important to think about the three different parts of inserting a quote into your writing. An easy way to remember this is to picture yourself making sandwiches with the information.

A quote sandwich has 3 main parts 1st bun Meat & Cheese 2nd bun Context Quote Analysis

QUOTE SANDWICH CONTEXT: 1ST BUN: introduce the quote Meat and cheese: quote (copied directly from text) with quotation marks and parenthetical citation ANALYSIS: 2ND BUN: analyze the quote/explain what it means

CONTEXT: 1ST BUN Answer these questions: Where in the story is the quote from? What is happening at that moment? Is the quote something a character said? If so, which character said the quote and to whom? What is some background to explain why you’re using the quote?

QUOTE: MEAT Should not be too long, but also don’t cut off a quote in the middle of a thought or action. The quote you choose must directly support your THESIS. Don’t choose a quote simply because it “sounds good.” Must be followed by the correct citation (cheese).

ANALYSIS: 2ND BUN In your own words, tell what the quote means. What is the character saying ? Give your interpretation of the quote. Describe what the quote reveals in regards to your THESIS. Explain how the quote proves your point.

QUOTE SANDWICH EXAMPLE BUN QUOTE SANDWICH EXAMPLE MEAT Bradbury provides an allusion to real life events to help the reader understand the point he is trying to make in the story. For instance, early in the story, the family is described as, “The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer” (Bradbury 2). This description, which is an allusion to the effects of an atomic or nuclear bomb shows the reader what happens to humans in a post attack environment. This allusion helps Bradbury prove his point. BUN CHEESE

IMPORTANT! MLA Paper Format: INDENT YOUR PARAGRAPH!!! You should use 12 point font, Times New Roman. Make sure your paper is double spaced (take out any extra space between lines by using the settings in Word/Pages). Heading goes in top LEFT: your name (enter), your teacher’s name (enter), class (enter), inverted date The title of your paper goes on the line after the heading: Literary Analysis. The title of your paper is centered. It is NOT underlined nor bolded nor italicized nor IN ALL CAPS, etc. It is just normal 12 point font.

MLA Paper Format

IMPORTANT! MLA Paper Format: The title of a book is always in italics: Divergent (it is NOT underlined nor bolded). The title of a short sotry is always in quoation marks: “Harrison Bergeron” (it is NOT underlined nor bolded nor italicized). Do NOT refer to authors by their first names (last name or full name only). Write in past tense. When using a direct quote, copy the entire quote, put quotation marks around it, and make sure it is immediately followed by a parenthetical citation. Do NOT use 1st or 2nd person pronouns in your paper (I, we, you, us).

What questions do you still have? If you have a question . . . Go back and reread this information to try and resolve your confusions. Post questions you think your classmates could answer in the open discussion forum for your class. Ask your teacher.