Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Writing Analytical Claims

Literary Analysis Paragraph

A Literary analysis paragraph presents evidence and analysis to support a claim or topic sentence about some aspect of a literary text.

Why is this important?

These literary paragraphs are important first steps for writing insightful responses to literary texts.

It's also expected of you on the Georgia Milestones.

And it's what I look for in my classroom, either as short response to a question on test or as an exercise in class, or as part of a larger assignment like an essay.

Structure of a Literary Paragraph

The Claim/Topic Sentence

  • Analytical claim (topic sentence) R.A.
  • Evidence C.
  • Analysis of the evidence and an explanation of how it connects to your claim E.
  • More evidence (if necessary)
  • More analysis (if necessary)
  • A concluding sentence that wraps up your analysis

A complete sentence that states an opinion about the suggested or implied meaning of the text.

It can be a connection you notice in the text, a contradiction, or something about a symbol, theme, diction, figurative language, or character in the text.

"The R.A.C.E. Method"

Ask yourself . . .

Continued

What do I notice in the text that stands out?

What do I want to say about the text?

What do I think this means? (the characters' actions, for example, the dark setting, the short dialogue, the figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, etc), the tone, etc)

Why is this important for understanding the literary text?

A claim is not a fact that can be discovered in the literary text: what happens to the characters, what the characters do, etc.

It is about why something happens the way it does, or why a character acts or behaves the way he/or she does.

It is a point that needs analysis to be proven. It requires textual evidence to support your claim.

There must only be one claim/main idea per paragraph.

Continued

How to write a claim

Refer to the literary text:

Example #1: “In the excerpt from King's “I Have a Dream” speech, King...

Example #2: "The poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy uses symbolism to

represent...

The significance is usually your interpretation of an implied or suggested idea or theme in the story or poem.

Remember: texts and interpretations are subjective, so you may notice and assume one thing about a particular action, setting, theme, and someone else may think something different, but that's okay! This is where you argue your point with evidence and analysis (sandwich method).

Exercise 1: Which are analytical claims?

How to write a claim continued

Use a verb such as “reveals,” “suggests,” “indicates,” and so on to introduce the significance in the literary text.

A. The descriptive language in "Outsiders" indicates that Ponyboy is a selfless person.

B. In today's world some people do not care about other people's feelings.

C. "Outsiders" suggests that we should never judge a book by it's cover.

D. In "Outsiders" the greasers are at war with the socs.

Example

How to write a claim

Reference to literary text

Verb to introduce idea/connecting verb

The repetition used in “Stop the Sun” implies Terry’s confusion regarding his father’s behavior.

The implied or suggested idea

A and C are analytical claims because they point out ideas suggested by the text:

  • A focuses on a literary technique like the descriptive language as evidence to show/prove that Ponyboy is a selfless person.
  • C identifies a particular theme/motif and moral of the story that is not explicitly stated in the text itself but rather determined through a textual analysis/close reading

B and D are facts that cannot really be refuted or argued:

  • Although B is a general statement that many people would agree with, it also does not specify how it's relevant to the literary text
  • D is simply a plot summary and therefore cannot be proven or argued

In the text, it states, “there would be a long pause while his eyes went away, far away...his father’s eyes started going away more and more often.” This reveals that Terry is confused about what happened at Vietnam that caused his father to check out any time or any place. Furthermore, it foreshadows Terry father’s PTSD incident at the mall. By repeating that his father’s eyes started going away more, the reader can infer that something is going to happen when Terry and his father separate at the mall. Through the use of diction, Gary Paulsen is able to create a sharp, tense atmosphere for Terry and his father.

Exercise 2: Read and evaluate literary concepts used in the short story “Stop the Sun” by Gary Paulsen. Provide an analytical claim for each concept.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi