RULES FOR WRITING LITERARY ANALYSIS


RULES FOR WRITING LITERARY ANALYSIS

1. Avoid passive voice: to be verbs (is, are, was, were). Instead use strong colorful action verbs.

2. Avoid using “the reader”, “I”, “we”, “one”; instead refer to the writer, narrator or text and what she/he/ it does.

3.  The first time one refers to the author of the piece under consideration, use the entire name – first and last. After the first reference, one may call the writer by her/his last name. NEVER CALL THE WRITER BY HER/HIS FIRST NAME!

4. Do not list examples of figurative language; for example, “The dove is an example of a simile.”  That will detract from your paper.  The reader of your essay already knows that it is a simile.  The reader wants to know HOW the dove is used by the author to achieve the desired effect: how does the dove reveal the theme; how does it contribute or add to the tone; how does it reveal a character?  Example: What qualities does the dove share with the character? By using the dove, what does the writer reveal about the character and his/her role in the story?

5. Don’t write “I think”. It is redundant.  You obviously think whatever it is you have written; otherwise, you wouldn’t have written it!

6. Avoid speculation of possible scenarios of the excerpt.  Only analyze what is in the text.  Does the text support your analysis?  Can you point directly to the excerpt and show where it supports your interpretation? If not, it may be wrong.

7. Always use present tense in discussing literature. Literature is always alive and in the present – even if it were written four hundred years ago about events 1,000 years ago.

8. Avoid reflecting on the writer’s life.

9. Avoid congratulating the writer; for example, please do not write: “Zadie Smith did a great job with her metaphors! Wow!”  The A.P. committee, in its infinite judgment, chose the writer whose work you are analyzing precisely because she/he is a great writer and knows how to use her metaphors - and many other things besides. Congratulating the writer just alerts the reader to suspect that you don’t have anything else to say about her.  Your job is to reveal how the writer uses the figurative language to create tone, character or theme.

10. Distinguish between the narrator and the writer; they are not necessarily the same, particularly in satire. You may want to read Dorothy Parker’s “Arrangement in Black and White” to understand the point. Parker was an ardent supporter of civil rights; the main character in her short story is a clueless racist who is unaware that she is racist. 

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