Student Writing Handbook Fifth+Edition

Literary Analyses / 245

that hemp, too, is woven. Indeed, Ahab is said to weave the rope’s yarns around the pole of

his specially made harpoon. “This done, pole, iron, and rope—like the Three Fates—remained

inseparable... .” Again, the element of chance, the famous three sisters, is paralleled with the

weaving motif.

The three mates of the Pequod could, perhaps, suggest yet another weaving motif. Flask,

who never questions, imagines, or thinks, could represent the limited and calculated variation

of the warp. Starbuck, the one who “bucks the stars,” who would oppose necessity and chance,

obviously represents the woof of free will. Stuff, who professes the postulates of fatalism, repre-

sents chance. Together, they weave the mat of the voyage.

Melville’s weaving motif stands, then, as a representation for a philosophy of man’s life in

particular and in intermingling, interacting, multifaceted life in abstract.

ANALYSIS of THE SAMPLE LITERARY ANALYSIS of A

SYMboL

The preceding multi-paragraph paper includes certain characteristics not otherwise
addressed in this section. The following characteristics are unique to a longer paper:

•    Long quotations, supporting the major points of the paper, are set in from the

left margin and typed single-spaced. Even though they are direct quotations,

no quotation marks are used. The format replaces the punctuation.

•    Documentation is omitted for quotations from the novel. Some instructors may

ask that the numbers of the pages from which the quotations are taken appear

parenthetically after the quoted passage. Follow your instructor’s preference.

•    Frequent references to other pieces of literature, although optional, enhance

a literary paper, particularly for more advanced classes. References that

indicate other authors’ use of similar techniques broaden the reader’s literary

understanding.

•    Parenthetical notes show outside sources, a quick, easy means for limited

documentation.

•    A chart helps the reader visualize the writer’s ideas. An optional device, the

chart provides a clever, if unconventional, way to summarize the paper’s ideas

to this point.