Literary analysis is also known as literary criticism. It is the study, evaluation or interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is usually informed by literary theory, which is a philosophical discussion of its various goals and methods. However, there has been some controversy on whether or not literary criticism should be considered as a separate filed of inquiry. Literary criticism is always published in the form of a book or essay. The academic literary critics teach in the department of literature and publish their works in academic journals. Some of the critics publish their work in periodicals like Times Literary Statement, New York Times Book Review and the London Review of Books.
Many critics work with theoretical texts, while the remaining read traditional literature. However, some critics are interested in issues like the minority and women’s literature. Writing literature analysis can be difficult. Here are some easy steps on how to write literature analysis.
Steps:
- You should know the two styles of your literary analysis papers. The most common type is the thesis drive paper, which is often structured around the argument or central thesis about the text that you introduce at the start of the paper. While in a process paper, you keep exploring a piece of text and arrive at a thesis or argument by the conclusion of paper. This second approach for analysis is by interacting with and exploring the text. When you are planning to write the paper, take the help of your instructor and ask how to approach it accurately.
- Think about some ideas and then you can focus on one element or an angle of the text. Now you can start your research. Some of the papers in literary analysis require the help of secondary sources. You can take the help of online journals, literary criticism and various other resources can help you in getting the extra information. Take down notes and keep a regular track on the MLA and the APA format.
- Start writing your paper. If your paper is a thesis driven paper, make sure that you present it clearly and early on the paper.
- Always keep your writing in style. Make sure that your literary paper is not boring and dry. However, you should not use vulgar words. Make your writing a little playful. You must include a variety of styles and various structures. Remember that in literary analysis, use of first person is allowed.
- You will have to assume that the reader of your paper has already read the text, which you are talking about and hence, you do not need to summarize the plot. Literary analysis is not a book report. If you planning to use summary, keep it only for supporting the central thesis, and keep it brief. For writing effectively, use some literary terminology about what the author is doing and keep your paper well focused on the analysis.
- You should keep your quotes accurate and use parenthetical documentation. Make sure that you keep all your quotations in line with APA and MLA. Remember while writing for poetry, always show the line break.
- Reread your paper repeatedly. Read your paper aloud so that you can hear your mistakes. When you have made at least two drafts of your paper, give it a proper title. Always give a title, which clearly indicates what the paper is about. Make your title catchy and interesting.
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