15 POINTS !!!!!!
Writing a Literary Analysis Essay
In this unit you learned about literary elements such as point of view, setting, plot, characters, structure, word choice, and theme by reading and analyzing the following short stories:
“Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
“Federigo's Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio
“An Episode of War” by Stephen Crane
In this task, you’ll select one of these short stories and explore its literary elements. You’ll use an outline to develop a first draft of your essay. If you completed the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson, you can use the story you analyzed there. If you did not complete this lesson, take some time to read one of the stories.
Recall that the purpose of a literary analysis essay is to closely examine elements of a literary work. A literary analysis essay begins with an introductory paragraph. The introduction should include a brief summary of and background information about the literary work. This type of essay also has a clear thesis statement that includes the central idea of the essay. The introductory paragraph is followed by three body paragraphs. Each body paragraph includes an argument that supports and develops the thesis statement. The argument should be supported by relevant evidence from the literary work. Parenthetical citations should be included for textual evidence so that readers know where the quotes and other information come from. Each paragraph also includes a commentary or analysis on the quotes taken from the literary work, which further develops the argument. The essay ends with a conclusion that restates the thesis statement and briefly summarizes the main points covered in the essay.
Here is the writing prompt for the literary analysis essay from the lesson “Writing About Short Fiction”:
In a work of literature, conflict is the struggle between opposing characters or forces. Each of the five stories in this unit deal with either internal conflict (a character’s personal struggle) or external conflict (a character's struggle with the environment or another character). In a five-paragraph essay, explain how either internal or external conflict is demonstrated within one of the stories. Cite specific examples from the story to support your theory.
You’ll use the following template to outline your literary analysis essay. If you completed this outline in the “Writing About Short Fiction” lesson, you may want to start by copying the outline into a word processing program or printing it out for reference. If you have not already created an outline, use the template to create one.
