Student Writing Handbook Fifth+Edition

Literary Analyses / 237

The organization in the preceding outline follows the chronological organization of
the poem from which the examples come. Some items from the original list have
been reworded or omitted. You may need to make similar changes in your own list.
[For further examples, see For a Paper in Chapter 31, Outlines.]

STEP 4: Prewriting—Checking Other Sources

If your assignment requires outside research, use the plan you developed to guide
your reading. It is quite possible, however, that you need not do research other than
reread the literary work itself. Follow your instructor’s suggestions.

If you do outside research, take careful notes, making sure to include quotation
marks around an author’s exact words. When you transfer this material to your own
paper, you must be able to document accurately in order to avoid plagiarism. [See
Chapter 34, Research Paper, for a complete discussion of note-taking, quotations, and
documentation. See also Chapter 33, Precis, and Chapter 32, Paraphrase, for help with
note-taking.]

STEP 5: Writing—Following the Plan

Write the first draft by following the plan you completed in Step 3. Begin with an
introductory statement or an introductory paragraph, depending on whether you are
writing a single paragraph or a multi-paragraph paper. Include in the introduction
the following:

•    title of the work

•    author’s name

•    specific literary element to be discussed

•    an indication of that element’s importance in the overall work

Follow the introductory segment with your topic or thesis statement.

Develop the subtopics or the body paragraphs, following the plan established in Step 3
or revising the plan as necessary. Try to include the following kinds of details:

•    examples sufficient to clarify your ideas

•    supporting details from the work, either quoted or paraphrased

Because the student’s most frequent error in writing any kind of literary analysis is

summarizing plots instead of analyzing, be certain to develop a plan similar to the one

here in Step 3. Then follow it! So doing will prevent your falling into this common trap.