Students have to deal with a tremendous variety of academic papers. Each paper fulfills a particular purpose and develops various skills in students. Thus, literary analysis involves the forming and development of analytical, writing, critical thinking, and reading skills. It’s not that easy to handle this task perfectly. A student is supposed to read a certain literary piece, comprehend all its elements, and plainly explain in his/hr analysis.
Some students really struggle with it and require the help of writing services supported by professional essay writers. This solution is surely compelling but must not be your common method of resolving academic difficulties. You can do everything yourself! We can help you by providing a special guide written by experienced experts in academic writing. They explain how to write a perfect literary analysis.
Read It Carefully
The first prompt is to read the literary piece. Make sure you are attentive to the slightest details. Remember that you are supposed to analyze everything in the text to clarify it to your readers. Some students do not want to spend their time reading and look for the thoughts of critics or ordinary users who leave their comments. It may be useful to learn the opinion of experienced readers and critics. Nevertheless, they may mislead you to the differences in thinking. We recommend finding enough time to read the piece at least once.
Research What You Can
Reading the assigned book, article, or another literary piece is vital. In the meanwhile, you should likewise focus on defining various facts about the assigned piece using your research skills and the Internet. Be sure to define the following data:
- The author of the assigned piece;
- Year of publication;
- Cultural and historical facts;
- Any interesting facts about the piece.
These facts may help to understand the motives of the author better. For example, he or she wrote a novel at the end of the 18th century. If you define the historical and cultural events during that epoch, you will understand why the authors described certain themes in his/her novel.
Take Notes and Refine Them
The second prompt is to become a good notetaker. It is very hard to keep in mind all the elements and details of a literary piece. Therefore, active notetaking is exactly what you need to never lose or forget important facts and details.
A literary analysis is a complex project, which requires attention, time, and works with the lightest elements in the text. Therefore, you will have to take many notes. If you do not want to get lost among them, divide them into certain categories to quickly access exactly what you need. You can refine your notes by:
- Literary means;
- Main heroes;
- Sub-topics;
- Structure (introduction, main body, and conclusion, or after chapters).
If you want, you may add any other category, which is comfortable for you to memorize and comprehend your notes better.
Things to Consider
Before you begin to read and examine the literary piece, make sure you know what to pay attention to. Certain things must be obligatorily taken into account. Among them are:
- Literary genre;
- Type of the piece;
- An in-depth analysis of the main heroes;
- A list of the main themes of the piece;
- A description of various literary means (symbolism, allegory, etc.);
- An analysis of the structure of the entire piece.
Make sure you have taken into account all these points. They will help to make your analysis complete and convincing. Add them to your notes and think about when and how to introduce them into the text.
Create a Good Outline
It is useful to create a rough outline of your future steps. A smart outline will organize the whole process of writing and preparations. You are free to add any steps that will help complete the task. However, we have a few recommendations you should not ignore. Make sure to add to your outline:
- The main writing stages. Outline the introduction, main body, and conclusion, as well as preliminary and post-writing stages.
- Deadlines. Set realistic deadlines and make sure you don’t violate them.
- Descriptions. Add clear instructions on how to complete every stage to optimize your writing.
Formulate a Thesis Statement
The central idea of your literary analysis is undoubtedly a thesis statement. You should base the whole text around this single sentence. After you read the literary piece and identify all the guidelines, you should choose the standpoint. Perhaps the author has centralized:
- Love;
- Friendship;
- Wickedness;
- Snobbism;
- Pride, etc.
Define what would be interesting to your readers. Create a “working” thesis. It means you may change it a bit after the text is written because the outcomes may not be the same you’ve assumed in the beginning. Nevertheless, leave the main guideline. Otherwise, you will have to rework the whole project entirely.
Write and Proofread
After you have a plan, all the ideas, and a working thesis statement, begin to draft. Write a couple of copies to be sure you didn’t miss some vital facts or didn’t omit grammar mistakes. When you write your analysis, follow the next tips:
- Keep your sentences and paragraphs short;
- Make smooth transitions;
- Avoid unknown words, jargon, and slang;
- Stay away from clichés.
After you’re done with drafting, go to the stage of revision. Find time to check twice or thrice. A literary analysis is more complicated than any essay type. You may successfully deal with grammar and spelling, but the sense and delivery of your message may be complex. Therefore, check your analysis several times.
Try to keep these tips and tricks in your mind. They are universal and will surely suit any literary piece you are to analyze. Apply the data we have highlighted above wisely, and your success will be guaranteed! Put trust in yourself, and you will write flawless literary analysis papers from scratch.
