Final Paper: Literary Analysis

This is something I haven't yet asked you to write, and it is significantly different from a response paper. Let's begin by talking about the basics.

What is a literary analysis?

This is an argumentative paper in which you present your interpretation of the text at hand. Remember that literature can be interpreted in a number of ways, so basically your paper should work to prove that your particular interpretation is valid. You do this by citing evidence from the text and sometimes from outside sources, depending on what exactly you're arguing. This is what I've been encouraging you to do all semester, so some of you are already well on your way.

I encourage you to choose one of your response papers and turn it into a final paper (more on this below). That being said, anything within the bounds of what we've studied in this class is fair game. If you decide you'd like to write on something you haven't tackled yet, no problem. I'm quite flexible on paper topics so long as they are relevant to the class in some way. If you have any questions about this, contact me.

Can I see an example of a literary analysis?

Of course! They are called "essays" in your Norton text, and there are several of them there. Also take a look at this examplefrom a student at Napa Valley College. Notice that this author takes a clear position in the beginning of the paper, a position which she defends throughout the paper via quotes and details from the short story at hand. Other characteristics to note:

Formal tone. I've allowed you to use informal tone in your discussion posts and response papers, meaning "I think"/"I wonder"/"I feel" statements have been acceptable up until now. An argumentative literary analysis is a formal piece of writing, so personal connections and opinions must be weeded out. You want to maintain professional distance as much as possible in formal writing. This also means avoiding slang and contractions in favor of academic language.

Citation, both in-text and on her works cited page. A few of you guys continue to forget about this. Please use the resources provided in the course introductory materials as a citation guide. You also have access to helpful citation information on the FAQ board.

Organization. This paper will require a more formalized structure than a response paper. This means large-scale organization, as in an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. This also includes paragraph-level organization with topic sentences and supporting details. This first sentence of each body paragraph in this essay tells me exactly what the following paragraph will be about, which makes the student's argument very easy to follow. This is an excellent handout on organization and contributing details in literary analysis essays.
Here is yet another example lit paper with some instructor comments attached.

What should I be doing right now to make sure I can write this?

First and foremost, you need an argument, otherwise known as a thesis. Fortunately, you have the beginning of multiple literary analysis papers sitting in your dropbox folders. Your first step is look over these papers and choose one you feel comfortable taking further. Maybe this is the response to your favorite reading of the bunch. Maybe it's the topic you had the most to say about, or the paper that earned you the best grade. It's entirely up to you.

Once you've chosen a response paper to work with, you need to develop a specific thesis statement to guide your writing process. Some of you have started developing theses in your response papers, but that has varied greatly. Here's what you need to be asking yourself regarding this thesis:

Have I said something specific and analytical? Analytical thesis statements tell us how something does what it does or why it is as it is. This means your thesis should answer a how or why question. A good way to ensure you've done this is to use a "by" or "because" statement in your thesis.

Have I said something arguable? What's the point if everyone will agree with you or if everyone already knows this? Glance over the discussion boards and remind yourself about the conversation surrounding the text you have chosen.

Can I support my thesis? Can I think of specific examples and evidence? Does every point I bring up support my thesis or do I need to revise my thesis statement?

Is it specific enough to write about in the required number of pages (3-5)? Or would someone have to write a book (or a set of encyclopedias) to fully support my thesis?

Does it show my ability to think critically about the subject?

Can I combine any of the above strategies to make my thesis even stronger and still answer "yes" to the above questions?