Literary Analysis Paper

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english 104

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An important component of this course is learning how to write evaluations and interpretations of literary works. Whether you are writing about short stories, poems, or plays, you must offer an opinion (an argument) about the literary work and you must back up that opinion with evidence (facts from the literary text).

Each essay should be approximately 1,000 words in length, double-spaced, and typed with standard font size and margins. The essay will be evaluated based in part upon your use of a good thesis sentence, the support of the thesis through textual evidence, and your ability to offer thoughtful analysis rather than plot summary. As always, your paper should be written in standard academic English, be substantially free of grammatical and mechanical errors, and should conform to the standards set out below.

1. The paper should not have a separate cover pager. Write your name and date of the assignment in the upper left corner. Center the title of the essay, without underlining or using quotation marks.

2. Your first paragraph will engage the reader’s interest as it narrows to a thesis. If, for example, you write on the topic of initiation, you might begin the essay by stating something about the popularity of initiation stories, what initiation means, and then narrow to the point (thesis) of your essay. (Ex.: “In this short story, initiation serves to ____”)

3. The thesis should clearly state the topic of the essay and the point you will develop. Do not make announcements, such as “This paper will be about . . .” Instead, boldly state your point, such as, “Through the use of the speaker’s home as a symbolic prison, Frost indicates that the lost child is not the only one who has been buried.” Or “Browning uses dramatic monologue to reveal the Duke as a murderer” or even “Jig has beaten the American in the end of Hemingway’s story and will keep her child.” These are statements which offer an interpretation of one part of the poem or story, an interpretation which will need evidence from the poem or story to support it

4. Each paragraph will develop a single point that develops your thesis. Make references to the text, but do not simply re-tell the story/poem/play. Remember, your reader has also read the story/poem/play. If you quote from the literary work, be judicious and make sure that the quote develops the support you are developing for your thesis. At times a paraphrase may also be effective. If you are incorporating lines of poetry into your paper, write the poetry as a standard sentence with a (/) used at the end of a line or stanza to let the reader understand the structure of the poem. At the end of the quotation, use the line number as indicated in your text. For example, “He had enough of life/to know that he wanted no more” (1-2) indicates the line break of the poem and which lines are quoted. Please refer to the sample essays in your text for further clarification on how to incorporate references from literary works in your own essay.

5. Always write in the present tense unless there is a clear reason to use past tense. Literature is a living text.

6. Do not refer to any writer by his or her first name. Unless you and William Shakespeare are close, personal friends, refer to him as Shakespeare.

7. The conclusion will restate the idea of the essay and may make some general comments or conclusions., If, for example, you were writing a paper about the image of death in two poems, you would remind the reader about the comparison or contrast your found in this image in the two poems, and then you might write something about the value of understanding imagery in order to gain insight into a poem’s meaning.

8. If you are using sources, you must properly document the sources both within the paper as parenthetical citations as well as provide the necessary information about the sources on an accurately formatted works cited page. Use MLA format.

9. Unless they appear in something you are quoting, do not use “I, me, my, mine” or “we, our, us, let’s,” as these are meant to be formal, academic essays. Instead, use only third person, for example: “one, they, them, the critic, the reader,” and so on.

Below are some suggested themes for the fiction essay. Alternatively, you may develop your own topic, though you may use only texts we have read in this course. If you do so, make sure that you have the topic approved by your professor before you begin to write.

1. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” two sisters have a different notion of what heritage means. Who has it “right”? Do they both have an argument? Explain and support your answer with specific references to the text.

2. While many see Abner Snopes as a villain in William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” others see him as waging class warfare on a system that marginalizes him. At one point, Sarty says “maybe” his father “couldn’t help but be” what he is. Is that the case? Why does Abner keep setting fires?

3. Ernest Hemingway employed what he called “the iceberg theory” when he wrote “Hills Like White Elephants.” What is the iceberg theory and how is it employed here? (Think about setting in particular).

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English  104:  Suggested  Topics  and  Advice  for  Writing  the  Literary  Analysis  Paper     An  important  component  of  this  course  is  learning  how  to  write  evaluations  and  interpretations   of  literary  works.  Whether  you  are  writing  about  short  stories,  poems,  or  plays,  you  must  offer   an  opinion  (an  argument)  about  the  literary  work  and  you  must  back  up  that  opinion  with   evidence  (facts  from  the  literary  text).     Each  essay  should  be  approximately  1,000  words  in  length,  double-­‐spaced,  and  typed  with   standard  font  size  and  margins.  The  essay  will  be  evaluated  based  in  part  upon  your  use  of  a   good  thesis  sentence,  the  support  of  the  thesis  through  textual  evidence,  and  your  ability  to   offer  thoughtful  analysis  rather  than  plot  summary.  As  always,  your  paper  should  be  written  in   standard  academic  English,  be  substantially  free  of  grammatical  and  mechanical  errors,  and   should  conform  to  the  standards  set  out  below.   1. The  paper  should  not  have  a  separate  cover  pager.  Write  your  name  and  date  of  the   assignment  in  the  upper  left  corner.  Center  the  title  of  the  essay,  without  underlining  or   using  quotation  marks.     2. Your  first  paragraph  will  engage  the  reader’s  interest  as  it  narrows  to  a  thesis.  If,  for   example,  you  write  on  the  topic  of  initiation,  you  might  begin  the  essay  by  stating   something  about  the  popularity  of  initiation  stories,  what  initiation  means,  and  then  narrow   to  the  point  (thesis)  of  your  essay.  (Ex.:  “In  this  short  story,  initiation  serves  to  ____”).     3.   The  thesis  should  clearly  state  the  topic  of  the  essay  and  the  point  you  will  develop.  Do   not  make  announcements,  such  as  “This  paper  will  be  about  .  .  .”  Instead,  boldly  state  your   point,  such  as,  “Through  the  use  of  the  speaker’s  home  as  a  symbolic  prison,  Frost  indicates   that  the  lost  child  is  not  the  only  one  who  has  been  buried.”  Or  “Browning  uses  dramatic   monologue  to  reveal  the  Duke  as  a  murderer”  or  even  “Jig  has  beaten  the  American  in  the   end  of  Hemingway’s  story  and  will  keep  her  child.”  These  are  statements  which  offer  an   interpretation  of  one  part  of  the  poem  or  story,  an  interpretation  which  will  need  evidence   from  the  poem  or  story  to  support  it.     4.   Each  paragraph  will  develop  a  single  point  that  develops  your  thesis.  Make  references  to   the  text,  but  do  not  simply  re-­‐tell  the  story/poem/play.  Remember,  your  reader  has  also  read   the  story/poem/play.  If  you  quote  from  the  literary  work,  be  judicious  and  make  sure  that  the   quote  develops  the  support  you  are  developing  for  your  thesis.  At  times  a  paraphrase  may  also   be  effective.  If  you  are  incorporating  lines  of  poetry  into  your  paper,  write  the  poetry  as  a   standard  sentence  with  a  (/)  used  at  the  end  of  a  line  or  stanza  to  let  the  reader  understand  the   structure  of  the  poem.  At  the  end  of  the  quotation,  use  the  line  number  as  indicated  in  your   text.  For  example,  “He  had  enough  of  life/to  know  that  he  wanted  no  more”  (1-­‐2)  indicates  the   line  break  of  the  poem  and  which  lines  are  quoted.  Please  refer  to  the  sample  essays  in  your   text  for  further  clarification  on  how  to  incorporate  references  from  literary  works  in  your  own   essay.       5.  Always  write  in  the  present  tense  unless  there  is  a  clear  reason  to  use  past  tense.  Literature   is  a  living  text.       6.  Do  not  refer  to  any  writer  by  his  or  her  first  name.  Unless  you  and  William  Shakespeare  are   close,  personal  friends,  refer  to  him  as  Shakespeare.         7.  The  conclusion  will  restate  the  idea  of  the  essay  and  may  make  some  general  comments  or   conclusions.,  If,  for  example,  you  were  writing  a  paper  about  the  image  of  death  in  two  poems,   you  would  remind  the  reader  about  the  comparison  or  contrast  your  found  in  this  image  in  the   two  poems,  and  then  you  might  write  something  about  the  value  of  understanding  imagery  in   order  to  gain  insight  into  a  poem’s  meaning.     8.  If  you  are  using  sources,  you  must  properly  document  the  sources  both  within  the  paper  as   parenthetical  citations  as  well  as  provide  the  necessary  information  about  the  sources  on  an   accurately  formatted  works  cited  page.  Use  MLA  format.     9.  Unless  they  appear  in  something  you  are  quoting,  do  not  use  “I,  me,  my,  mine”  or  “we,  our,   us,  let’s,”  as  these  are  meant  to  be  formal,  academic  essays.  Instead,  use  only  third  person,  for   example:  “one,  they,  them,  the  critic,  the  reader,”  and  so  on.     10.  All  essays  must  be  submitted  online  in  the  appropriate  assignment  folder.       Below  are  some  suggested  themes  for  the  fiction  essay.  Alternatively,  you  may  develop  your   own  topic,  though  you  may  use  only  texts  we  have  read  in  this  course.  If  you  do  so,  make  sure   that  you  have  the  topic  approved  by  your  professor  before  you  begin  to  write.     1. In  Alice  Walker’s  “Everyday  Use,”  two  sisters  have  a  different  notion  of  what  heritage   means.  Who  has  it  “right”?  Do  they  both  have  an  argument?  Explain  and  support  your   answer  with  specific  references  to  the  text.     2. While  many  see  Abner  Snopes  as  a  villain  in  William  Faulkner’s  “Barn  Burning,”  others   see  him  as  waging  class  warfare  on  a  system  that  marginalizes  him.  At  one  point,  Sarty   says  “maybe”  his  father  “couldn’t  help  but  be”  what  he  is.  Is  that  the  case?  Why  does   Abner  keep  setting  fires?       3. Ernest  Hemingway  employed  what  he  called  “the  iceberg  theory”  when  he  wrote  “Hills   Like  White  Elephants.”  What  is  the  iceberg  theory  and  how  is  it  employed  here?  (Think   about  setting  in  particular).        
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The Iceberg Theory in “Hills like White Elephants"
In many instances, the authors of various pieces of literary works appear to have mastered in
great detail their unique storylines or subjects. Despite having a finer and detailed picture of what
they want the reader to understand, the authors often and deliberately leave out details for the
reader to discern for themselves. These pieces of art offer the reader a “tip of the iceberg” on the
story or the intention of the author by use of certain settings, dictions or literary stylistic devices.
Hemingway’s works are famously associated with what he is quoted to have defined as the
“iceberg theory.” Similarly, as it is in his other works, Hemingway has applied the iceberg theory
profoundly in the short story “Hill like White Elephants” in a fashion that leaves so many details
unexplained that the reader always wants to explore further to learn more.
Foremost, a keen reader would be captivated by choice of the title “Hills like White
Elephants.” The title triggers curiosity, and the reader will intend to get details on the figurative
language. In the book, however, the short story does not offer a direct meaning of the title. The
author brings out the different perception of the comparison of the hills as the white elephants.
Benson and Jackson (95-96) explain that Hemingway’s intention as to test whether the reader
wil...


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