Organizing Literary Analysis Writing

Organizing Literary Analysis Writing

English

Objectives

We will plan, draft, revise, edit and publish a literary analysis essay.

Review

Let's review the parts of the writing process we already know.

Multiple Choice

What is a sentence that expresses what an author will prove or demonstrate in an essay.

• Context

• Organizing Structure

• Thesis Statement

• Verb

Multiple Choice

What is a genre of writing in which a writer presents a central claim and provides reasons and evidence to support that claim

• Organizational Writing

• Argumentative Writing

• Correspondence Writing

• Free Writing

Multiple Select

During what part of the writing process does a writer correct errors and rewrite parts of their work? Check all that apply.

• Brainstorming

• Editing

• Drafting

• Publishing

• Revising

What is a Literary Analysis?

Literary analysis is a genre of writing in which a writer analyzes literature to determine how a text expresses a theme or deeper meaning. In a literary analysis, the writer makes a claim about the meaning of the literary work and supports his or her claim, or thesis, with text evidence.

It's all about planning!

As you are planning your literary analysis essay, you will need to choose an organizing structure to present your ideas in a clear and logical way. An organizing structure is the order or pattern that a writer uses to structure and present ideas or events. Possible organizing structures include order of importance and compare and contrast.

Why and Who?

When organizing your writing, it is important to consider the purpose, audience, topic, and context of your writing task. Context refers to the occasion or circumstances surrounding your writing task, such as whether you are writing in a timed or open-ended situation or writing to deliver an oral presentation.

Checklist for Organizing Literary Analysis Writing

• Review your thesis.

• Review the text evidence you have already gathered and your notes about that evidence.

• Decide on the most logical and strategic organizational structure for your purpose, audience, topic, and context for writing. 

• Identify an organizational structure that will help you clearly and logically express your ideas for your purpose, audience, topic, and context for writing.

• Structure your ideas using an outline or a graphic organizer.

Multiple Select

What are two questions you can ask yourself as you think of the most logical and strategic way to organize the structure of your essay? Check all that apply.

• What is my reason for writing?

• Who will be reading my writing?

• Where can I get a good cheeseburger late at night?

• What is the topic, or subject, of my writing?

• What is the context, or occasion, for my writing? Will I be presenting my written work?

Multiple Select

What should NOT be included when you begin to structure your ideas for your essay?

• your thesis or claim

• supporting text evidence

• the final draft

• points to reiterate in your conclusion

Skill Model (Sample Work from Study Sync)

• Gino followed the steps in the Checklist to strategically organize his literary analysis. First, he reread the draft of his thesis statement. 

• Then, he decided on an organizing structure that fit his purpose (to compare and contrast the thoughts and interactions of three characters across three selections) and topic (the characters must face the consequences of not being able to reconcile their thoughts with their actions). 

Skill Model Continued (Sample Work from Study Sync)

• He decided to organize his ideas into six body paragraphs in addition to an introduction and conclusion. This structure will make it easy for his audience (his teacher and peers), and this structure is appropriate for the context (a written classroom assignment). 

• Finally, he created an outline

Your Turn

Read the following quotation on each question from a student’s literary analysis essay titled “The Limitations of Domestic Roles” and choose the correct response.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following quotes would be considered a supporting detail for the literary analysis?

• "People often have difficulty developing creative careers as an author or poet. This is an especially arduous task for women, who often face societal expectations that their time is best spent managing a household."

• "The plight of the speaker in “The Poetical Farmwife” serves as an example of how women are expected to put domestic roles or, in this case, farm roles before their aspirations."

• "The speaker is not a writer by occupation, but she believes she can write something better than what she has read in the magazines."

Multiple Choice

Which of the following quotes would be considered the thesis statement for the literary analysis?

• "In addition, the repetition of “They don’t go together, no, nay” highlights the speaker’s challenge: balancing her role as a farm wife and her desire to write poetry."

• "The plight of the speaker in “The Poetical Farmwife” serves as an example of how women are expected to put domestic roles or, in this case, farm roles before their aspirations."

• "She tries to take breaks from farm work to practice writing poetry, but Billy always interrupts, asking her to complete a task."

Revising & Editing (Standard English)

• Editing is one of the last stages or steps in the writing process.

• Authors begin to edit when they have finished revising their drafts, and are satisfied with their organization and content.

• During the editing process, authors check to make sure that the connections between sentences and paragraphs are clear, or whether they might need transitions. 

Transitions

• When developing an essay, one of your goals is revise each draft for clarity to create a coherent piece of writing. 

•  An essay is considered coherent if the paragraphs flow together and the relationships between and among ideas are clearly expressed.

• Transitions are connecting words or phrases that writers use to clarify the relationship between ideas.

Why use transitions?

Transitions help to connect ideas both within and across paragraphs and can also suggest the overall organizational structure of a text. Within a paragraph, an author might use the phrase “for example” to introduce a specific instance of an idea and provide additional details. Across paragraphs, an author might use transitions such as “first,” “next,” and “finally” to show a sequence of events. Transitions help readers better follow the logic of an argument or understand how the key points in an essay are linked.

Grammar & Sentence Structure

• Diction & syntax

• Subject-verb agreement

• Flow