Language in use for analysis The imagery employed by the writer

The effectiveness of the stylistic device for conveying…

The atmosphere of the growing suspense is created by…

…add a dramatic flavour to the extract

to resort to…

the rhythm and the intonation of the prose imitate…

The ironic intention of the author affects the style.

The frequent use of…

The syntax contributes to … effect

The grammatical constructions favoured by the author are…

Besides verbal, there is dramatic irony that lies in the story…

To produce an effect of…

The effect is hghilighted by the use of…

The metaphoric picture

To contribute into the illusion of…

The writer resorts to various expressive means and stylistic devices …

The key word

Ш. STRATEGIES

1. Plan your essay. Your writing plan or outline can help you organize your thoughts, but keep yourself open to new ideas and interpretations that occur to you as you draft. To start your draft, you might begin with a thesis statement.

2. Organize your draft. Keep in mind the following points for making your analysis effective:

• In the introduction to your literary analysis, identify the title and author of the work you are analyzing, and briefly state your main point.

• Provide enough of a summary of the work, so that your essay will be clear to readers unfamiliar with the work. Avoid giving a detailed plot summary.

• Cover all the points suggested in this Guide (genre, social and cultural context, thematic structure, the author’s tone and intent, composition, view-point, type of narration, methods of characterisation, setting, language and style, imagery, etc).

• Use quotations from the text to show that your claims are valid, but don’t count on quotations alone. Explain how the quotations support the claims you make about the text. In a literary analysis, long quotations – usually those of four lines or more – should be set off from the text. Double-space the quotation, indent from the left, do not use quotation marks, and place the page reference in parentheses after the final period. Remember to place quotation marks at the beginning and end of short passages that you are quoting.

• Don’t misrepresent your understanding of a literary work for the sake of convenient interpretation. Sometimes a work of literature will reflect two opposing value systems or suggest two contradictory views of human nature. Let your interpretation reflect such complexities; analyze the conflicting ideas you find.

3. Reread and reflect. Review your writing.

4. Standards for evaluation An effective literary analysis…

• written in the present tense

• identifies clearly the title and author of the literary text

• uses author’s background to substantiate interpretation

• provides short summary of important plot events (the whole story should not be told or irrelevant details repeated)

• states the central problem of the text and establishes the author’s approach

• ties the background information to the problem

• presents an interpretation of a literary text that clarifies the meaning of the text or reveals how the text operates

• provides textual evidence for interpretation in advances and shows how the evidence supports the interpretation

• cites the quotation that supports interpretation

• provides symbolic interpretation

• concludes by tying the ideas in the essay together

• takes into account any plausible alternative interpretations and any contradictory evidence.