Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

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

Loading content…
Transcript

Analyzing Literature

TAMIU Writing Center

Example

The color blue is ironic in In the Mouth of Madness. Blue is typically associated with calmness and tranquility. It’s used in places like hospitals in order to psychologically calm us (Smith 87). In the movie, however, items turn blue when John hallucinates, causing him to panic. This is the opposite of how most people would react to this color, and it shows how disconnected he has become from normal reactions.

Thank you, and please stop by the Writing Center!

Location: Dr. Billy F. Cowart Hall, 203

Phone: 956-326-2884

E-mail: writingcenter@tamiu.edu

Find us online!

Website: tamiu.edu/uc/writingcenter

Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are accepted.

Sample Paragraph Format

Practice

1. Topic Sentence

What are you trying to prove?

2. Evidence

How do you know your opinion is true? Who backs you up?

3. Explanation

What does your quote/citation mean?

4. Repeat 2 and 3 until you prove your point.

Look at the following poem and apply what we've discussed. Think of imagery, character, theme, etc.

Remember there are no wrong answers, just answers without support.

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove

At recess, in the ring;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;

The dews grew quivering and chill,

For only gossamer my gown,

My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses' heads

Were toward eternity.

Support

Explain your thought process. This is an argument, so you need to show how you came to your conclusion.

Use secondary sources to lend credibility to your thesis, but don't build your paper around just quoting others.

What's YOUR contribution?

Questions to Consider when Analyzing Characters

  • Behavior: What actions did the character take, and why did he/she take them?
  • Consequences: What results from the character’s behavior?
  • Responsibility: Is the character held accountable for his/her actions?
  • Expectations: How are the reader’s expectations fulfilled or challenged?
  • Purpose: Why did the author create a character in a certain way?

Sample Element: Symbolism

Sample Element: Character Analysis

Symbolism occurs when an object is meant to be representative of something or an idea greater than the object itself. There are two types of symbols: contextual which are symbolic only within a certain work and universal which mean much the same in any culture.

A character is a person depicted in a story or poem. The qualities of a character are revealed in a few ways: through dialogue, descriptions, and conflict. Put all together, these qualities can influence other aspects of a text, such as theme and tone.

Questions to Consider when Analyzing Symbolism

  • What cultural or historical relevance does it have?
  • What makes it different from others?
  • What negative or positive associations does it have?
  • What associations does the narrator's language (word choice, tone, etc) imply about it?
  • How do different characters use, discuss, or interact with it?
  • How did it influence the characters or story overall?

Approach #2

Examine how the ideas and elements in a text relate to a broad social, political, or cultural situation.

For example, analyze the symbolism and the depiction or social representation of American Indians/Native Americans in Sherman Alexie’s “Evolution.”

Approach #1

Examine the elements in relation to a piece of literature.

For example, examine the theme of isolation in Robert Frost's poetry. What can we infer from the treatment of isolation in Frost's work?

What does it mean to "analyze" literature?

When you analyze literature, or any art for that matter, you're trying to come to a deeper understanding of its meaning and its place in the world.

Ways to Analyze Literature

There are several literary elements/concepts writers can use when analyzing a piece of literature. The following sections will go over some common elements and how to use them.

Why Analyze Literature?

Analyzing literature provides writers with an opportunity to think critically about a text. This practice will enhance critical thinking skills which are important in other disciplines, too.

Welcome

This presentation was created by the TAMIU Writing Center to guide students on possible approaches and reasoning in analyzing and writing about literature.

You can navigate this presentation using the arrows below.

You can also zoom in and out when needed with your mouse wheel.

Sample Analysis:

Modern Readings of Older texts

Look at the following poem. It's filled with vivid images and surreal elements, but it's trying to say something.

What is it?

How does it go about doing this?

Treasure Island was written in the 19th century and is set in the 18th century. It's portrayal of Long John Silver sheds light on Victorian ideas of crime, but we can also use it to discuss the modern fascination with outlaws.

"Where the Sidewalk Ends," by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright,

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.”

Modern Readings of Older texts

Author's Intent?!

For example, "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written over a hundred years ago, but we can read it in the context of the modern 21st century and apply modern women's rights and modern women's struggles to the ideas in the book.

Analysis does not mean you must figure out exactly what the author intended. It's unlikely the author meant any one thing by writing a piece of work, and many authors don't write poems or stories with themes and metaphors in mind. The purpose is not to guess what the author intended.

Superficial

Dracula is a vampire, an undead creature, so he represents death. Since he can spread his vampirism to others, he's like a plague, a disease.

In-Depth

Dracula gets rid of his accent before arriving in London. As a noble from a foreign country, he is in a position to spread his influence to the population, subverting British culture as a reverse-colonizer, a fear of the Victorian reader, thus representing not just physical but social death.

In-Depth vs Superficial Analysis

Deep analysis aims to find meaning not readily apparent at a first or even second reading.

A superficial reading points out an obvious or otherwise blatant aspect of the story and either repeats itself or uses summary to show an "argument" that almost anyone could make.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi