What Are the 5 Components of a Literary Analysis?

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In most cases, the word analysis appearing in the same sentence as the essay strikes fear in most students. Interestingly, understanding what it is about to compose an analysis essay is a skill you will appreciate. So, do not chicken out. Instead, get your glasses as we break the concept into bits.

Literary Analysis

Typically, the name analysis means selecting a theory or concept in a complex situation and focusing on it. The process aims to understand its mechanisms while answering questions about it. The process also involves providing evidence to back up your claims. 

You may have interacted with this kind of essay in class. Do you remember when your teacher asked you to discuss specific elements in your book while providing evidence from the story, its characters, and the themes being brought out? That is one such instance.

Before getting into in-depth details about this essay, it is essential to set a disclaimer; an analysis essay differs from a summary. While a summary is more of a recount of your understanding of the topic, analysis has a sense of being humanized. In most cases, you can pay less attention to the story’s plot, the characters, and their significance.

To understand this concept better, compare it with an argumentative essay. Instead of arguing a point and proving it right or wrong, it analyzes an idea, addresses questions, and provides supporting answers. How do you write it?

Literary Analysis Sections

By now, you must have established that most college essays have a consistent format of three main sections, the head, the body, and the conclusion. The contents and structure of these sections differ depending on the type of essay. How about taking a deep dive to understand these sections in depth?

1. Introduction

As the name suggests, the introduction alerts the reader about the piece’s context being analyzed. It comprises the title of the writing, the article, or the book’s author. It also includes a slight summary of the publication and a thesis statement. 

Given the limited number of words in the introduction and the whole essay, this only means that you should be as brief as possible. Therefore, consider what you believe should be included in this section.

2. Thesis statement

The thesis statement is a brief statement that introduces the reader to the primary argument of the essay. In this case, it is not an argument but an interpretation of the analysis. 

Therefore, when tackling this section, ensure to be specific since the thesis statement is the anchor that determines the direction the rest of the essay will take. If you need help and guidance in developing a definitive thesis statement, contact ”do my essay for me“ service providers for assistance.

3. Body

The body paragraphs tackle several other sub-sections that you should discuss independently. They include:

Analysis of Literary Elements

It involves analyzing the numerous literary in the text. The following components make up the literary elements:

The Plot

Analyze the story by instinctively focusing on its structure, flow of events, and how the plot is built.

The Setting

Establish the story’s location and time. Do so by drawing particular attention to the descriptive sections in the text. Focus more on their significance to the plot.

Characters

Characters bring out the story’s actions. However, draw more attention to their traits and significance to the story. 

Theme

Pinpoint the story’s main themes and ideas explored throughout the story. Remember not to limit yourself to the central theme. 

Symbolism

Establish the use of symbolism in the text. While doing so, be careful to have the correct translation and ensure you have the right message being communicated. 

Language

Pay attention to the author’s use of language and style. Remember to consider their use of imagery, tone, figurative and imagery during their communication.

4. Evidence

An analysis essay depends solely on the evidence you provide to support your claims. The evidence should directly influence the effect and meaning of your work and standpoint.

Remember, the evidence you choose to provide should come from the text. Refrain from sharing your opinion on how you understood the text. Instead, ensure the evidence is directly interpretable. It could include paraphrases or directly quoted text. 

At the same time, ensure to contextualize the evidence for ease of reference from your reader’s side. Also, elaborate on how the evidence contributes to and supports the thesis statement and analysis.

5. Conclusion

The conclusion is the final section of this kind of essay. It ends the analysis by recounting the relationship between the thesis statement and the main points. 

The conclusion also includes the final insights on the analysis without introducing new arguments and evidence or new information. Instead, it provides closure to the analysis of the topic.

The five components highlighted above go hand in hand with one another to create a comprehensive analysis. They work by exploring diverse aspects of the literary piece while providing critical perspectives and evidence to support them.

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