Literary Analyses

Chapter Opener

7

respond critically to cultural works

respond critically to cultural works

How to start

  • Need to find a text to analyze?
  • Need to come up with ideas?
  • Need to organize your ideas?

Literary Analyses

Unless you’re an English major, the papers you write for Literature 101 may seem as mechanical as chemistry lab reports — something done just to get a degree. But hardly a day goes by when you don’t respond strongly to some literary or cultural experience, sharing your insights and opinions about the books, music, and entertainment you love. It’s worth learning to do this well.

THEMATIC INTERPRETATION After discussing Rudolfo Anaya’s novel Bless Me, Ultima with classmates in a contemporary novels course, you write a thematic interpretation of the work, arguing that it fits into the category of mythic coming-of-age story.
CLOSE READING Unconvinced by a teacher’s casual suggestion that the Anglo-Saxon author of “The Wanderer” (c. tenth century CE) was experiencing what we now call “alienation,” you write a close reading of the poem to show why the modern concept doesn’t fit the poem.
ANALYSIS OF A VISUAL TEXT Rather than roll your eyes like your companions, you take abstract art seriously. So you study El Anatsui’s sculpture in Chapter 7 and then write a visual analysis to explain what you see in the work to someone who “doesn’t get it.”