Like most essays you write for school, a literary analysis essay typically includes an introduction with a thesis, a series of body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.
Introduction
An introduction for this type of essay should include many of the same elements you would use in any other essay. It should include:
A hook that is intended to capture the reader’s interest. There are a number of ways to begin: a compelling quotation from the text, a genuinely interesting question that relates to the text, an important fact about the author or the time period, or any combination of these.
Enough context so that your reader can understand the position you are about to take. In particular, make sure to include the author, title, protagonist or other main character’s name, and any other relevant information.
Your thesis, which is your analytical claim, in this case, about the characterization in the text you are analyzing and how it helps to illustrate the theme of the work. Your thesis does not need to be a single sentence.
Sample introduction:
Once upon a time, Currer Bell published a manuscript titled Jane Eyre; in time, it was revealed that Bell was actually the nom de plume of Charlotte Brontë, a prim Englishwoman. While many modern critics believe the novel to be a thinly veiled autobiography, Jane Eyre and the titular protagonist also allude to Western mythology—
662
Write a draft of an introduction for the thesis you have been working with throughout this Workshop. Be sure to include the three key elements identified on page 661.
Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph of your literary analysis essay will focus on one topic that relates to your thesis. At this point in your writing career, there is rarely a set number of body paragraphs required; your essay will simply have the number of paragraphs you require to deliver your interpretation convincingly. A body paragraph generally uses the following format:
A topic sentence about one aspect of the characterization in the work.
A piece of evidence from the text that supports your interpretation, either a direct quotation or a paraphrase correctly cited by page or line number.
Your commentary about how that evidence supports your particular interpretation.
Continue with evidence and commentary until your interpretation has been sufficiently proven.
You may want to conclude each paragraph with a summary that connects back to your thesis and transitions to another idea in the paragraph that follows.
Of all of the above, the most important part of each body paragraph will be your commentary because this is what demonstrates your thinking about the text and explains how the evidence supports your position. This is where you “connect the dots” for your reader, making the link between the evidence and what you think it proves about the character. Without the commentary, your analysis will seem like simply a list of quotations.
Sample body paragraph:
From the beginning, Jane is a deceptively simple character with a depth that becomes apparent only as the story progresses. She is first introduced to the reader as the Orphan, a common archetype throughout fairy tales. Caught reading a book by her abusive cousin, Jane is told, “You are a dependent [. . .] you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg” (6). Like Cinderella, Jane lives with relations who become cruel after the death of her protector—
Work Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Borders Classics, 2008.
663
Write a draft of a body paragraph for the text you have been working with throughout this Workshop. Be sure to include quotations and embed them effectively, and focus specifically on your commentary, the explanation of the evidence you selected.
The Conclusion
The conclusion of a response to literature essay is similar to the conclusions of other types of essays. It should include:
A brief summary of the main points you made about the topic, rephrasing instead of merely repeating.
A clincher statement or two that should answer the question, “so what?” This part of your conclusion may cycle back to the hook of your introduction or it may raise an interesting, but related idea not explored in your essay.
Sample conclusion:
The transformation Jane undergoes—
Write a draft of a conclusion for the text you have been working with throughout this Workshop. Be sure to include a statement that connects the point you make about characterization to the theme of the work as a whole.