Literary Essay English 122

Introduction  Discusses your interpretations  Goes beyond the plot  Explain some deeper meaning of the work  Do not retell the story  Details of plot should be used only to support particular claim  Resist mentioning what you think of the work

Before Writing  Analyze the piece of literature closely so that you can interpret it.

Tone  Determine the author’s tone  Serious, ironic, humourous, etc.

Conflict  Man vs. Man  Man vs. Self  Man vs. Nature  Man vs. Supernatural  Man vs. Technology  Man vs. Society

Character & Character Development  Understanding of the characters  Analyze their speech, actions, and reactions to other characters and by other characters  As a result of their experiences, characters often develop or change  Change often results from a particular insight or realization

Situation  Has two elements that affect the main character  External elements (other characters, time, place, atmosphere, etc.)  Internal elements (the way he/she deals with conflict, and experiences he/she is undergoing)

Narrator & Point of View  Limited point of view  Can only tell the story from as one character sees or hears it.  Omniscient point of view  Third person point of view

Symbol  Something that stands for or represents something else

Theme  Manipulates all of the preceding elements in developing his/her theme or general idea  Seldom, this is stated explicitly