English Notes - Literary Analysis

Why write a literary analysis? ●​ A literary analysis broadens understanding and appreciation of a piece of literature ●​ It helps you pick up context clues. ​ ​ Think 1.​ The author attempts to convey what themes and how? 2.​ The author uses which techniques to convey the theme, mood, characters, and etc.? 3.​ What idea(s) lie beneath the text or set of texts? 4.​ What significance/importance does the reader (you) find in the work? You do not have to be an english major to find the meaning in a work of literature What is the author's purpose and how do you define it? ●​ When writing a literary analysis, go beyond the basic literary elements and apply them to other issues/categories. This is where you apply your own interests/disciplines: Psychology Politics History Etc. An analysis needs to be focused on a combination (preferred) of literary elements to convey your investigation of the author’s purpose. Important concepts: remember that the basics is a means by which you-the student writer,-comes to understand the meaning of the text as a whole. Theme ●​ Is a main idea or an underlying meaning of a work(s) that may be stated directly or indirectly. There might be one or several themes present in the text ●​ Don’t: analyze the theme alone. It is better to analyze the author's theme through the use of other elements. Conflict Through what kind(s) of conflict can the purpose be revealed? ●​ Internal? ●​ External? ●​ Human vs. human? ●​ Human vs. nature? ●​ Human vs. society? ●​ Human vs. self? Characterization Literary device that is used step by step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in the story. ●​ Thoughts ●​ Dialogue ●​ Actions ●​ Thoughts of others How do author’s reveal characterization to their readers? ●​ Emotional ●​ Characters “place” in setting ●​ Personality elements What is an analysis? ●​ An analysis of literary work may do the following: ❏​ Study how the various components of one work relate to each other. ❏​ Study how two separate literary works- by one author or by different authorsdeal with similar concepts or forms. ❏​ Study how concepts and forms in literary works relate to larger ideas. ` The process ●​ Read the piece of literature several times, use active reading strategies to note important passages before you forget your ideas. ●​ Decide upon the literature’s theme and author’s purpose. Then explore the means by which the author reveals the purpose of the text. ●​ Keep collecting information until you have enough to develop your topic thoroughly. Finally use this information during brainstorming activities. If the sentence merely summarizes, but does not analyze the work, then you are just summarizing the text. Regurgitating without contributing to the ongoing conversation about the text. Integrating sources When to use quotations ●​ When language is especially vivid ●​ When exact wording is needed for accuracy ●​ When it is important to let the debates of an issue explain their position in their own words ●​ When the words of authority lend weigh to an argument/position ●​ Remember that you do not always use the full quotation, but can incorporate works or phrases from your source into your own sentences. Ellipsis: used to condense a quoted passage, this indicates that words have been omitted from the quote. Brackets: allow you to insert your own words into quotes material ●​ Legal scholar Jay Kesan that “a decade ago losses [from employees’ computer crimes] were already mounting to five billion dollars annually”(311). Signal Phrases 1.​ In the words of researchers Greenfield and Davis, “...” (). 2.​ As legal scholar Jay Kesan noted, “..”() 3.​ The policy institute, an organization that advises companies about reducing risks from technology, reports that 4.​ “...” writes Daniel Tynan 5.​ “...,” attorney Schmitt claims Verbs: clarify the source's position, take, and view on the topic. This will help guide your reader in understanding Context ●​ a signal phrase can help you connect your own ideas with those of another writer by clarifying how the source will contribute to your paper. Moreover, it signals the reader that they are about to read another’s ideas, and not those of the student writer. It is a boundary between the student writer and their sources. Visual Analysis “Examine the smaller parts and how they work together to create a larger meaning of the whole” ●​ What does the artist intend for the viewer to see beyond what is literally there? ●​ How does the artist achieve this? ●​ Why does the artist want the viewer to see this? Actions to take ●​ To write a visual analysis, you must look closely at an art object- or at a photograph of an art object- and translate your visual observations into written text 1.​ Observe the artwork and write down your observations. Support your main claim with visual details. ●​ Analyze the form of the artwork: line, color, shape, texture, and material are good places to start ●​ Target your description. Address only those elements relevant to your main claim. ●​ Ask yourself what the viewer needs to know about the time period in order to understand this artwork. ●​ Important framing of the social, political, or economic contexts of the time. ●​ Choose evidence that supports your main claim Elements & principles of composition Visual techniques of composition Visual techniques or devices ●​ Line ●​ Color ●​ size/shape/form ●​ placement/space ●​ texture Principles of art ●​ Balance ●​ Complexity ●​ Simplicity ●​ Rhythm ●​ Gradation ●​ Contrast ●​ Space ●​ Movement ●​ Emphasis ●​ repetition/pattern ●​ Proportion ●​ unity Visual elements ●​ Characters ●​ Setting ●​ tone Elements of Composition: on paper Reflection ●​ What is the tone or mood of the image? ●​ What symbolism or cultural references are being used? ●​ What is the message? ●​ Who is the intended audience Kal:326