1. AN INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY ANALYSIS AP Style 1

2. Literary Analysis starts with close reading  When we read closely, we observe facts and details about the text and how the author uses language.  Our aim is to notice the striking features of a text, including resources of language, narrative techniques, structural elements, cultural references, and allusions—to name a few! 2

3. How to begin a close reading ALWAYS read with a pencil (or pen) in hand and ALWAYS annotate the text.  Annotating means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases as well as making margin notations that explain your thinking 3

4. How do I know what to annotate?  Annotate those things that strike you as surprising, significant, or that raise questions as you read.  Be on the look out for the elements of analysis: resources of language and narrative techniques.  Look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed—look for repetitions, contradictions, similarities.  Ask questions about those patterns—especially how and why 4

5. Analysis depends on close reading One follows the other—we can’t analyze without first reading closely.  When we read this way, paying attention to the literary evidence in a text, we ask questions that lead us toward an interpretation of that text.  Doing so allows us to reason toward our own ideas about a piece of literature.  As a result, we move away from well-dressed plot summary (masquerading as analysis) toward well- developed and supported literary analysis. 5

6. The AP way! 6 Analyzing Fiction

7. Narrative TechniquesResources of Language  Plot  Character  Setting  Point of view  Tone  Diction  Syntax  Imagery (auditory, visual, tactile)  Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, personification)  Symbolism  Allusion Prose Analysis: composed of various elements that fall into 2 categories 7

8. Plot Characterization Examining a story’s main conflict helps to reveal:  Characters  Meaning of the work Examining character allows us to analyze:  How the author created the character(s)  Why the author created such a character  The significance of a character’s growth or lack of growth 8 Narrative Techniques

9. SettingPoint of View Examining a story’s setting allows us to think about…  How does the sensuous world of the work, the time of the action, the social environment, and the atmosphere matter?  What relationship is there between setting and meaning? Examining POV leads us to think abotu:  Why did the author use one rather than the other?  Did the choice emphasize one character over another? Why?  Can and should we trust the narrator? 9 Narrative Techniques

10. Narrative Techniques : Tone 10 Defined as:  The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his/her subject Tone is so important that… To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret meaning.

11. DictionSyntax Examining word choice involves:  Looking at individual words  Analyzing their connotative and denotative qualities  Noting patterns  Considering effect on meaning Working with syntax involves:  Looking at and identifying sentence structures used by the author  Noting patterns  Projecting possible effects on meaning 11 Resources of Language

12. Figurative LanguageSymbolism An analysis that includes figurative language must:  Correctly identify simile, metaphor, personification  Note the pattern of usage.  Connect to meaning Before our analysis, we must know…  That a symbol means what it is and something more (a rose, for example)  That a symbol is likely to be repeated or given some other importance Then we can ask:  what is the object’s symbolic meaning ?  how does it connect to meaning? 12 Resources of Language

13. Resources of language Working with imagery involves:  Recognizing different kinds of imagery besides visual  Noting patterns  Connecting image and pattern of images to meaning Definition: Allusions are hints or references to other works of literature, such as the Bible, or to history, used by the author to enhance meaning. Allusions are a kind of literary short hand, and recognizing them vastly increases a reader’s understanding of the work. Here too, we should identify, note patterns and connect to meaning. 13 Imagery Allusion

14. Literary analysis in AP Lit. Land 14  We can endlessly debate whether or not a writer planned the use of each and every device, but that debate is not very helpful.  What we must agree upon is that professional writers are so talented that the use of these devices is simply part of his/her craft.

15. How can we be sure our interpretation is valid? 15  If there is overwhelming analytical evidence (diction, syntax, characterization, images all support a single interpretation)…  If our insights have taken into consideration the work as a whole…  If we have not taken lines or passages out of the context of the whole… Then, we can safely present our interpretation and analysis!

16. Analyzing literature—it’s a lot to think about! 16  Noting the author’s use of techniques and resources is only the first step.  These devices are always used in pursuit of creating meaning!  Our task in AP Lit. Land is to connect the two.

17. Once we see these analytical patterns, we move toward synthesizing our thinking into a discussion of theme. Theme moves from the concrete situations in the work (the analytical devices) to generalizations about people and their behaviors to comments about the human condition 17

18. THEME  Makes the work relevant  Allows literature to become a form of philosophy  Provides universal wisdom about the nature of reality 18

19. Themes tend to deal with 4 areas of human experience  The nature of humanity  The nature of society  The nature of humankind’s relationship to the world  The nature of our ethical responsibilities 19

20. On a practical note: Subject vs. theme 20  A subject is usually one word or a simple phrase: love, revenge, the impetuousness of youth  A theme is what the author has to say about the subject: Shakespeare suggests in Romeo and Juliet that young people, without the guidance of responsible adults, will often behave impetuously with disastrous consequences.