C h a p t e r 2 7
Literary Analyses
S
tudents are asked to write literary analyses most often, of course, in literature
classes. The assignment may require a critical overview of the author; an analy-
sis of literary elements; or a well-organized evaluation of a literary work, such as a
novel, short story, drama, poem, or nonfiction article or essay. No matter its purpose,
an effective analysis of any piece of literature must demonstrate thorough under-
standing of the literary work under discussion.
Writers face three kinds of analyses—of an author, of literary elements, or of specific
works. Within those three, however, the options vary significantly. For instance, the
writer may discuss a specific poem in terms of the author’s characteristic use of liter-
ary devices, thus combining the three general kinds of analyses into one. Likewise,
a writer may develop a thorough analysis of a short story merely by discussing its
theme. While working through the octopus-like literary analysis, then, you will study
the main characteristics and then add some variations found in typical analyses.
analysis of an autHor
The analysis of an author presumes familiarity with an author’s work; thus, it is
probably the most demanding of all the types of literary analyses. While an author
analysis may require formidable research, you can write a good paper by narrowing
the topic to deal with one or more short representative works with a common theme.
Or, by treating an atypical work, you can develop a good analysis showing how that
work differs from the author’s usual style or subject matter.
Following are the general characteristics for a literary analysis of an author.
CHARACTERISTICS
While some of the following characteristics are peculiar to an analysis of an author,
others should be included in most any literary analysis. A good literary analysis of an
author should
• show evidence of a broad understanding of an author’s work, including style
and general themes,
• include a topic or thesis sentence narrow enough to develop fully within the
scope of the paper [see topic sentence and thesis sentence in the Glossary for