Literary Analysis Essay structure: Review

It is the phrase/sentence that ties everything in a paragraph to the thesis statement.

• Hook

• Transition phrase

• Concluding sentence

It provides the shortened version of the story focusing on the key events that happened.

• Background/context

• Summary

• Analysis

It is commonly found in the beginning and establishes the main point in a paragraph.

• Topic sentence

• Subject sentence

• Thesis sentence

It is the purpose of the Hook.

• To establish the connection of the narrative elements to the events in the story.

• To give an interpretation of the text by thoroughly explaining what the author is meaning.

• To attract the attention of the reader using a sentence or two in the introductory paragraph.

Choose which of the following is an example that contains a lead-in.

• "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." This quote by Victor Frankl relates to Ray Bradbury's 1949 short story, Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed which focuses on the idea of change and how it affects a person's perspective on life.

• Due to an atomic war on Earth, all human beings, including Harry Bittering and his family, evacuate to Mars. Harry Bittering finds it hard to accept how different Mars is and becomes desperate to return home to Eart. However, without noticing it, Harry himself starts changing.

• When he first arrives on Mars, he tries to convince his family to go back to Earth because he had a strange feeling about the place: “I feel like a salt crystal in a mountain stream, being washed away. We don’t belong here. We’re Earth people. This is Mars. It was meant for Martians.” (Bradbury, 1949, p. 1).

It is the purpose of a lead-in phrase or sentence.

• It gives the readers a sense of what is the context or situation presented in the text evidence.

• It is used as a transition from the introduction to the concluding paragraph.

• It gives the readers a clear overview of the short story's plot.

Choose which of the following is an example of a literary analysis thesis statement.

• Ray Bradbury's Dark They Were and Golden Eyed is a short story that highlights the challenges of living in a new environment.

• In Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed, Ray Bradbury uses the thoughts, actions and dialogues of Harry Bittering to demonstrate how man's identity can change in a new environment.

• Dark They Were and Golden Eyed is a story that everybody should read before they die.

It is the overall purpose of a Thesis statement.

• It is to provide a clear and specific statement that will help the reader understand the events in the story.

• It is to provide a clear and specific statement that will guide the reader of what the writer is trying to prove.

• It is to provide a statement that will help the reader familiarize with the important quotations in the text.

Choose which of the following is an example of an analysis/commentary.

• “I feel like a salt crystal in a mountain stream, being washed away. We don’t belong here. We’re Earth people. This is Mars. It was meant for Martians.” (Bradbury, 1949, p. 1).

• "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." This quote by Victor Frankl relates to Ray Bradbury's 1949 short story, Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed which focuses on the idea of change and how it affects a person's perspective on life.

• The dialogue at the start of the story reflects Harry’s personality, establishing that he is unwelcoming of change. His words highlight how Harry feels about not belonging in such a different place. He understands that he is a human being from Earth and a place like Mars belongs to other creatures, such as Martians.

It is the intention of writing an analysis/commentary.

• To explain the underlying meaning of events in the short story.

• To explain the background information of the author's life and works.

• To explain the textual evidence and how it proves the main point in the topic sentence which is related to the thesis statement.