Literary Analysis

In a database or search engine, try:

author's name AND (criticism OR analysis)

For example:

kate chopin AND (criticism OR analysis)

"william blake" AND (criticism OR analysis)

You might include a literary theory or term:

flannery o'connor AND (feminist OR gender)

robert frost AND metaphor
 

Simpler is usually better! Avoid complete sentences: stick to key terms.

• Give your paper a title that indicates your topic. Do not merely use the title of the literary work as your paper title.
• Write about literature in the present tense. For example: "The grandmother dresses carefully to show that she is 'a lady.'"
• Introduce the work's full title and author's full name early in your first paragraph. Subsequently refer to the author by his or her surname only, unless it is necessary to include the first name for clarity.
• Do not refer to authors of literary works or outside sources by their first names alone. (Rare exceptions may be made in cases where the writer is best known by a single name, such as Dante or Sapphire.)
• Refer to characters by the names used most frequently in the work.
• Avoid conflating author and speaker. A narrator should not be assumed to stand in for the author.
• Keep plot summary to a minimum. Summarize only what you need to make your arguments, and do so concisely. Focus on your analysis.
• Quote only what you need to illustrate your points.
• Use literary terms meaningfully. For example, don't write: "The author uses imagery to engage the reader." Be specific: which images does the author use, and what are their effects?
• Reread what you've written. Ask yourself: does each sentence serve a distinct purpose and advance the thesis? If not, revise. Don't repeat yourself to fill up pages.