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Material Type: Paper; Professor: Schwab; Class: Written Communication II; Subject: ENC, English Communication; University: Manatee Community College; Term: Unknown 1989;
Typology: Papers
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English 1102 and 2020: Writing About Literature and The Short Story Instructor: V. Schwab Adapted from The Little, Brown Handbook Reading and understanding a piece of literature involves reading AND REREADING closely to develop an interaction between you and the story, poem or play. Responding critically is not about making negative judgments, but about analyzing the “parts” or aspects of the work (such as theme, plot, character, setting, use of symbolism), and/or interpreting their meaning (based on your own personal “take” on the story or poem, supported by evidence from the literary text) and evaluating the significance or quality of the work. Don’t hesitate to underline or highlight passages that especially interest you or about which you have questions. Another good idea is to keep a reading journal, in which you write about what you’ve read— your reflections, questions, ideas. Questions for literary analysis: PLOT: The relationship and patterns of events. What happens? What conflicts occur? How do the events connect to each other and the whole? CHARACTER: The people the author creates (including the narrator of the story or the speaker in a poem) Who are the principal people in the story? How do they interact? What do their actions, words, thoughts reveal about their personalities and the personalities of other characters in the story? Who is in conflict? Do the characters stay the same? Do they change from beginning to end? How? TONE: The narrator’s or speaker’s attitude, perceived through the words What tone or tones do you hear (angry, sad, sarcastic, bitter)? If there is a change, how do you account for it?
Page 2 Is there an ironic contrast between the narrator’s tone (for instance, confidence) and what you take to be the author’s attitude? POINT OF VIEW: The perspective or attitude of the speaker or the voice who tells the story. The point of view may be first person (a participant, using I) or third person (an outsider, using he, she it, they). A first-person narrator may be a major or minor character in the narrative and may be reliable or unreliable (unable to report events accurately or wholly). A third-person narrator may be omniscient (know what goes on in all characters’ minds) limited (knows what goes on in mind of only one or two characters) or objective (knows only what is external to characters.) Who is the narrator of the story? How does narrator’s point of view affect the story? IMAGERY: Word pictures or details involving the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). What images does the writer use? What senses do they draw upon? What patterns are evident in the images? Is there a repetition or emphasis on trees or weather, etc. What is the significance of the imagery? SYMBOLISM: Something concrete which stand for larger and more abstract idea (for instance, a chirping bird may symbolize happiness, a dead flower may symbolize death, water may symbolize the unconscious). Pay attention to both personal and universal symbols or archetypes. What symbols does the author use? What do they seem to signify? How does symbolism relate to elements such as character or theme. (I.e., the river or the parts of landscape in Hemingway’s story relate to female and male character.) SETTING: The place where action happens. What does setting or location, the environment contribute to work? Is it a realistic or dream landscape? Does it reflect or suggest the interior mood of a character? For example, in Wuthering Heights, the appearance of a storm suggests the psychological turmoil of a character (related to symbol). Are scene/setting shifts significant Page 3 FORM: THE SHAPE OR STRUCTURE OF WORK. What is the form?
A literary analysis gives your ideas about a work of literature— your interpretation of its meaning, context or representations based on specific words, passages, characters and events. A literary research paper combines analysis of a literary work with research about the work and perhaps its author. A literary research paper draws upon both primary and secondary sources. For example, you might focus on the symbolism used in Garbriel Marcia Marquez’s work and the genre of magical realism. A personal response or reaction paper gives your thoughts and feelings about a work. A book review gives a summary of the book and a judgment about the books’ value. Use the present tense of verbs to describe both action in a literary work (Brently Mallard suddenly appears; Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is free….; Chopin briefly describes the scene…) Use MLA style citation (parenthetical in-text citation and a Works Cited page) for literary analysis and research papers. DEVELOPING A THESIS After several readings and making notes, you will probably be able to formulate a tentative thesis (an assertion of your main point or focus). Consider what you find most interesting, disturbing or puzzling about the work; interesting use of style or form, character development or conflict, the use of symbolism or image and other elements and choose a main focus. For example, you might review the Chopin story, and see that the switches or reversals in the story (from sad to happy, etc) provide a believable basis for the reversal at the ending. A brief summary plot may be helpful to readers unfamiliar with work. Sometimes plot elements place reader in the context of the work or remind readers where your quotations are coming from. Plot elements may be used as evidence. But summary alone is not sufficient evidence to support a thesis. Keep any plot summaries brief and to the point. For literary research papers, evidence comes from the story itself and from scholarly works and critical appraisals.