Literature is an artistic or intellectual piece of writing that conveys knowledge, moral and social lessons, new ideas, records revolutions and tests cultural values. A literary analysis is an interpretation or critical study of literature such as a novel, short story, poem, or play.
To analyze a literary text, the elements that constitute a whole unit must be inspected. This unit could be a poem, short narrative, essay or novel. There are several elements that can be analyzed in literature, including:
- Theme: The messages presented throughout a literary work.
- Motifs: recurring patterns in a narrative, especially symbolic ones.
- Plot: The order of events; consider chronology or the use of flashback/future.
- Setting: The time and place of the story, which can be historical, atmospheric, or physical.
- Character: Any person, animal, being, or creature in a story that performs actions and delivers dialogues to progress the plot.
- Characterisation: The process used by the writer to develop characters throughout the story. Characterisation can be direct or indirect.
- Point of view: The perspective from which the narrative is conveyed. There are three points of view: the first, the second, and the third.
- Diction: The choice of words and phrasing in any piece of spoken or written text. Diction can be formal or informal.
- Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word, considering its context in the story.
- Connotation: The feelings and images associated with a word or phrase.
- Tone: The author’s attitude towards the subject they are writing about.
- Mood: The atmosphere of the story as determined by the reader.
To write a literary analysis, the following steps can be considered:
- Figure out the author’s main idea and summarise it in a single sentence. Use this information to create a thesis statement.
- Identify which elements (point of view, characters, plot, etc.) support your thesis statement.
- Create an outline that includes your thesis and main ideas.
- Write an introduction that includes the full name of the literary work and author and the author’s purpose (your thesis).
- Compose the paper so that each body paragraph focuses on a different aspect (character, narrative, etc.) of the work being analysed.
- Conclude on the paper by giving your opinion on how successful the author has been in achieving their purpose. Include a summary of the topics covered in the paper.
In conclusion, analyzing literature involves understanding and interpreting the various elements that make up a written work. By examining these elements and writing a literary analysis, we can gain a deeper understanding of the author’s message and purpose.