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Example of an Insightful Literary Analysis Essay

Student writing Insightful Literary Analysis Essay

Get a sense of what to do right with this literary analysis essay example. A literary analysis is more than a book report ; it goes deeper into the text, examining the themes, literary devices, characters, and more. To write a great literary analysis essay, you need a good thesis and a good grasp of the novel , story, poem, or other literary work you’re discussing. You also need examples for inspiration.

Sample Literary Analysis Essay for Middle School or High School

At the middle school level, a literary analysis essay can be as short as one page. For high schoolers, the essay may become much longer as they progress. Often, this type of essay will focus on a specific area of literary analysis , such as character development or imagery within a text. Students can sometimes choose the story, novel, or book series they wish to write about, and they learn to use quotes from the text to support their thesis statements.

This sample essay focuses on the character development of Laura in the book By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder . The thesis statement for this literary analysis essay is, “When her eldest sister loses her sight, Laura must suddenly take on the role of the oldest child in the family and grow in maturity.”

Literary Analysis of By the Shores of Silver Lake

In By the Shores of Silver Lake , Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses on the theme of coming of age, especially as it relates to her main character, Laura. Although this theme runs throughout the novel, it’s especially apparent as Laura’s role in the family changes. The novel begins with Laura’s older sister, Mary, losing her sight due to scarlet fever. This directly affects Laura, who must go from being a middle child to suddenly assuming the role of the oldest and acting as Mary’s eyes. It’s a role she has had no experience with, and as she learns to accept it and grow to meet her responsibilities, she begins to leave childhood behind.

In previous novels in the “Little House” series, Laura and Mary have a typical sibling relationship. Mary is the oldest and is often placed in charge of Laura, such as when Pa and Ma go to town and leave them alone together in the chapter “Keeping House” in On the Banks of Plum Creek . The two sometimes fight, and Laura plainly resents Mary’s bossiness while at the same time looking up to her sister. This relationship changes at the beginning of By the Shores of Silver Lake , which opens with a simple description of Mary’s rapidly fading eyesight and eventual blindness.

Throughout the first chapters, the reader sees the impact of Mary’s blindness on the family’s daily life. Mary can no longer see to care for herself, and as the family sets out on a journey to their new homestead in South Dakota, Laura’s responsibilities increase. She must guide Mary carefully at the depot as they board the train. In the boarding house, she must cut Mary’s meat for her at dinner and help her find her silverware and food. In the wagon that takes them farther west, she must sit on the uncomfortable end of a board seat to give Mary the safer spot in the middle. At the age of 12, Laura must suddenly make countless small adjustments to show she is responsible for Mary’s safety and well-being.

Even more significantly, Laura must “see out loud” for Mary, as is described in the chapter “Riding the Cars”: “On that dreadful morning when Mary could not see even sunshine full in her eyes, Pa had said that Laura must see for her.” Being Mary’s eyes is perhaps one of the most essential duties Laura takes on. She is not only responsible for Mary’s safety and practical needs, but she must also share her outlook on the world in a way that allows Mary to experience it too. This is no light burden, although Laura carries it well.

By the end of the novel, Laura has taken on the role of eldest. She even takes over Mary’s dream of becoming a school teacher. Laura swears to Mary that she will study hard and become a teacher so she can help finance Mary’s college education. She no longer has the option of sitting back and allowing her sister to lead. Instead, she must literally guide her sister from place to place. She must offer direction with her vision and words, and she must provide a means for her sister to achieve her dreams. Although Laura is only 13 at the end of the novel, she has grown significantly in maturity due to her changing role within the family.

Literary Analysis Essay Example

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Why This Essay Is Successful

There are several qualities that make this an insightful literary analysis essay:

Remember Your Style

As you write your essay don’t forget to document your sources and use the proper style guide. Whether you’re writing an essay in MLA style or a different style, you’ll find that proper formatting will help you get a better grade on any literary essay.

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Literary analysis: sample essay.

We turn once more to Joanna Wolfe’s and Laura Wilder’s  Digging into Literature: Strategies for Reading, Writing, and Analysis  (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016) in order to show you their example of a strong student essay that has a strong central claim elucidated by multiple surface/depth arguments supported by patterns of evidence.

Paragraph 1

Sylvia Plath’s short poem “Morning Song” explores the conflicted emotions of a new mother. On the one hand, the mother recognizes that she is expected to treasure and celebrate her infant, but on the other hand, she feels strangely removed from the child. The poem uses a combination of scientific and natural imagery to illustrate the mother’s feelings of alienation. By the end of the poem, however, we see a shift in this imagery as the mother begins to see the infant in more human terms.

Paragraph 2

There are several references to scientific imagery in “Morning Song” that suggest that mother is viewing the baby in clinical, scientific terms rather than as a new life. The poem refers to magnification (4) and reflection (8), both of which are scientific methods. The word “distills” (8) refers to a scientific, chemical process for removing impurities from a substance. The baby’s cry is described as taking “its place among the elements” (3), which seems to refer to the periodic table of elements, the primordial matter of the universe. The watch in the first line is similarly a scientific tool and the gold the watch is made of is, of course, an element, like the baby’s cry. Even the balloons in the last line have a scientific connotation since balloons are often used for measurements and experiments in science. These images all serve to show how the speaker feels distanced from the baby, who is like a scientific experiment she is conducting rather than a human being.

Paragraph 3

Natural imagery also seems to further dehumanize the baby, reducing it to nothing more than its mouth. The baby’s breathing is compared to a moth in line 10, suggesting that the speaker feels the infant is fragile and is as likely to die as a moth dancing around candlelight. A few lines later, the baby’s mouth is compared to another animal—a cat—who greedily opens its mouth for milk. Not only does the speaker seem to feel that the baby is like an animal, but she herself is turned into an animal, as she arises “cow-heavy” (13) to feed the infant. These images show how the speaker sees both the baby and herself as dumb animals who exist only to feed and be fed. Even the morning itself seems to be reduced to another mouth to feed as she describes how the dawn “swallows its dull stars” (16). These lines suggest that just as the sun swallows up the stars, so the baby will swallow up this mother.

Paragraph 4

However, in the last few lines the poem takes a hopeful turn as the speaker begins to view the baby as a human being. The baby’s mouth, which has previously been greedy and animal-like, now becomes a source of music, producing a “handful of notes” (17) and “clear vowels” (18). Music is a distinctly human sound. No animals and certainly not the cats, cows, or moths mentioned earlier in the poem, make music. This change in how the speaker perceives the baby’s sounds—from animalistic cry to human song—suggest that she is beginning to relate the baby as an individual. Even the word “handful” in the phrase “handful of notes” (17) seems hopeful in this context since this is the first time the mother has referred to the baby as having a distinctly human body part. When the baby’s notes finally “rise like balloons” (18), the speaker seems to have arrived at a place where she can celebrate the infant. For the first time, the infant is giving something to the speaker rather than threatening to take something away. The mother seems to have finally accepted the child as an independent human being whose company she can celebrate.

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How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on January 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on September 2, 2022.

Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.

A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis , nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

Before beginning a literary analysis essay, it’s essential to carefully read the text and c ome up with a thesis statement to keep your essay focused. As you write, follow the standard structure of an academic essay :

Table of contents

Step 1: reading the text and identifying literary devices, step 2: coming up with a thesis, step 3: writing a title and introduction, step 4: writing the body of the essay, step 5: writing a conclusion.

The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.

Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writing itself and discuss how the text works on a deeper level. Primarily, you’re looking out for literary devices —textual elements that writers use to convey meaning and create effects. If you’re comparing and contrasting multiple texts, you can also look for connections between different texts.

To get started with your analysis, there are several key areas that you can focus on. As you analyze each aspect of the text, try to think about how they all relate to each other. You can use highlights or notes to keep track of important passages and quotes.

Language choices

Consider what style of language the author uses. Are the sentences short and simple or more complex and poetic?

What word choices stand out as interesting or unusual? Are words used figuratively to mean something other than their literal definition? Figurative language includes things like metaphor (e.g. “her eyes were oceans”) and simile (e.g. “her eyes were like oceans”).

Also keep an eye out for imagery in the text—recurring images that create a certain atmosphere or symbolize something important. Remember that language is used in literary texts to say more than it means on the surface.

Narrative voice

Ask yourself:

Is it a first-person narrator (“I”) who is personally involved in the story, or a third-person narrator who tells us about the characters from a distance?

Consider the narrator’s perspective . Is the narrator omniscient (where they know everything about all the characters and events), or do they only have partial knowledge? Are they an unreliable narrator who we are not supposed to take at face value? Authors often hint that their narrator might be giving us a distorted or dishonest version of events.

The tone of the text is also worth considering. Is the story intended to be comic, tragic, or something else? Are usually serious topics treated as funny, or vice versa ? Is the story realistic or fantastical (or somewhere in between)?

Consider how the text is structured, and how the structure relates to the story being told.

Think about why the author chose to divide the different parts of the text in the way they did.

There are also less formal structural elements to take into account. Does the story unfold in chronological order, or does it jump back and forth in time? Does it begin in medias res —in the middle of the action? Does the plot advance towards a clearly defined climax?

With poetry, consider how the rhyme and meter shape your understanding of the text and your impression of the tone. Try reading the poem aloud to get a sense of this.

In a play, you might consider how relationships between characters are built up through different scenes, and how the setting relates to the action. Watch out for  dramatic irony , where the audience knows some detail that the characters don’t, creating a double meaning in their words, thoughts, or actions.

Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.

If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example:

Essay question example

Is Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” a religious parable?

Your thesis statement should be an answer to this question—not a simple yes or no, but a statement of why this is or isn’t the case:

Thesis statement example

Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” is not a religious parable, but a story about bureaucratic alienation.

Sometimes you’ll be given freedom to choose your own topic; in this case, you’ll have to come up with an original thesis. Consider what stood out to you in the text; ask yourself questions about the elements that interested you, and consider how you might answer them.

Your thesis should be something arguable—that is, something that you think is true about the text, but which is not a simple matter of fact. It must be complex enough to develop through evidence and arguments across the course of your essay.

Say you’re analyzing the novel Frankenstein . You could start by asking yourself:

Your initial answer might be a surface-level description:

The character Frankenstein is portrayed negatively in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

However, this statement is too simple to be an interesting thesis. After reading the text and analyzing its narrative voice and structure, you can develop the answer into a more nuanced and arguable thesis statement:

Mary Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

Remember that you can revise your thesis statement throughout the writing process , so it doesn’t need to be perfectly formulated at this stage. The aim is to keep you focused as you analyze the text.

Finding textual evidence

To support your thesis statement, your essay will build an argument using textual evidence —specific parts of the text that demonstrate your point. This evidence is quoted and analyzed throughout your essay to explain your argument to the reader.

It can be useful to comb through the text in search of relevant quotations before you start writing. You might not end up using everything you find, and you may have to return to the text for more evidence as you write, but collecting textual evidence from the beginning will help you to structure your arguments and assess whether they’re convincing.

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literary essay examples

To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction.

Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on. It usually contains the name of the author and text(s) you’re analyzing. Keep it as concise and engaging as possible.

A common approach to the title is to use a relevant quote from the text, followed by a colon and then the rest of your title.

If you struggle to come up with a good title at first, don’t worry—this will be easier once you’ve begun writing the essay and have a better sense of your arguments.

“Fearful symmetry” : The violence of creation in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

The introduction

The essay introduction provides a quick overview of where your argument is going. It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay’s structure.

A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement. You might refer to a commonly held idea about the text and show how your thesis will contradict it, or zoom in on a particular device you intend to focus on.

Then you can end with a brief indication of what’s coming up in the main body of the essay. This is called signposting. It will be more elaborate in longer essays, but in a short five-paragraph essay structure, it shouldn’t be more than one sentence.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

Some students prefer to write the introduction later in the process, and it’s not a bad idea. After all, you’ll have a clearer idea of the overall shape of your arguments once you’ve begun writing them!

If you do write the introduction first, you should still return to it later to make sure it lines up with what you ended up writing, and edit as necessary.

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs : the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to your thesis. Don’t try to include everything you can think of to say about the text—only analysis that drives your argument.

In longer essays, the same principle applies on a broader scale. For example, you might have two or three sections in your main body, each with multiple paragraphs. Within these sections, you still want to begin new paragraphs at logical moments—a turn in the argument or the introduction of a new idea.

Robert’s first encounter with Gil-Martin suggests something of his sinister power. Robert feels “a sort of invisible power that drew me towards him.” He identifies the moment of their meeting as “the beginning of a series of adventures which has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it” (p. 89). Gil-Martin’s “invisible power” seems to be at work even at this distance from the moment described; before continuing the story, Robert feels compelled to anticipate at length what readers will make of his narrative after his approaching death. With this interjection, Hogg emphasizes the fatal influence Gil-Martin exercises from his first appearance.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he waits.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as religious symbolism.

This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous paragraph’s conclusion.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance to your point.

It’s important to contextualize quotes and explain why you’re using them; they should be properly introduced and analyzed, not treated as self-explanatory:

It isn’t always necessary to use a quote. Quoting is useful when you’re discussing the author’s language, but sometimes you’ll have to refer to plot points or structural elements that can’t be captured in a short quote.

In these cases, it’s more appropriate to paraphrase or summarize parts of the text—that is, to describe the relevant part in your own words:

The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader.

A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis provides on the text as a whole:

By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

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literary essay examples

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The Best Literature Essay Samples

Boy in the striped pyjamas by john boyne.

The sample reveals the book’s core message, which is very important. Neither children nor adults should ever forget the horrors of the Holocaust. The story displays the events during World War II, as seen by an 8-year-old boy named Bruno, a son of a concentration camp commandant. One day he meets a Jewish boy, his agemate, Shmuel, and they start a friendship on different sides of the camp.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

By discovering one of the most famous literary works in the world’s history, War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, you can find many significant symbols. In the literary analysis essay sample, we discuss the two primary signs. The first one, The Old Oak Tree, is a form of hope, life, and death. The second one, the rebuilding of Bald Hills, is a symbol of happiness and quiet family life.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The story of an Afghan boy whose uneasy life path leads him from surviving a war to becoming a famous writer in America. This analysis essay discovers the role of religion in the lives of the novel’s main characters, Baba, Amir, and Assef. The readers can see the different views towards religion and their prerequisites depending on a person’s background.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This sample discovers the role of first impressions in the world-known novel ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ As known, the first name of the story was ‘First impressions.’ Thus, the first interaction’s role in the piece is significant. One of the novel’s primary ideas is that judging a person according to the first impression is not right and unfair. This literary essay example would be an excellent reference for a student who wishes to dig deeper into the main topic of the novel.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The sample helps to see the revelation of one of the main questions that stand before the readers of this novel. So, how do you think whose ambitions are the driving force here: Macbeth’s? Lady Macbeth’s, or both characters? Through the dynamic interactions of the couple, you can reveal the main idea of the play, and you will easily do it by reading this impeccable sample that will help writing a literature essay perfectly.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

‘Sane,’ ‘insane,’ ‘sick,’ and ‘healthy’: could these definitions be taken differently, and why? By reading this sample, you will reveal how an author makes readers doubt the standard views and think outside the box. You will reveal how a reader can discover some hidden elements of the novel and what impact these findings could make concerning the characters.

Read this text if you are looking for compelling literary essay examples about Doctor Faustus, a famous English dramatist written by Christopher Marlowe. Many readers consider the story of Faustus a Christian tragedy as the protagonist acts through the negative Christian pattern. However, is it so? If you want answers to this question, go through our sample.

Japanese poetry

Japanese literature is full of exciting pieces that can help to understand poetry much better. It is not a secret that many people think of love when they think of poetry. Full of beauty metaphors, Japanese poetry discovers love from each angle, picturing the beauty of true feelings. Find the most exciting examples of how one can understand the portrayal of love in poetry.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Destroying the impact of war on soldiers’ humanity is one of the main ethical concerns related to the army. The magnificence of the Remark’s talent helps readers discover the correlation between the power of patriotism and the condition of people facing the reality of being attacked. One of the novel’s central ideas is the older generation’s betrayal by the younger and other impacts of war. This literature essay example reveals the concept of enemies in war.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

The objectifying of intangibles through the scope of the plot of ‘The Things They Carried’ is the core topic of this sample. How can telling the story helps you separate yourself from your experience? The collection of short stories of men during the Vietnam War’s Alpha Company talks mostly about the emotional baggage they carried. The sample explains how each soldier’s personal experience can help discover the overall emotional state of war.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Why is the count so compelling? Read this one of the most compelling examples of literary essays about ‘The Count Of Monte Cristo’ to find out the answer to essential questions regarding this outstanding novel by Alexander Duma. In the sample, you will find the analysis of the count’s personality and the secrets of publishing the novel.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Holden’s character changes through the novel, and thanks to our sample, you will reveal the core milestones of his transformation. J.D. Salinger perfectly portrays the struggle of a teenager with adolescence. The sample helps to find inspiration for a paper that reveals the answer to a question, ‘If Holden is a great rescuer, why does he fail to save himself?’

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

In this great sample, you will find inspiration for a perfect essay about ‘A Doll’s House.’ The volume paper provides a thoughtful analysis of Nora’s behavior, answering many essential questions. The main idea of the sample is to look for notions of social justice and injustice in the deeds of different characters in the book.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

One of the world’s bestsellers by Anthony Burgess provides readers with an exciting story of a boy who grew up in a deviant family. Alex’s struggles with finding a real home and the consequences of facing many difficult situations are in the scope of this sample. You will understand the nature of the relationships between Alex and his parents to get many ideas for your essay.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A sample of a basic 5-paragraph essay concentrates on one of the main questions raised in The Little Prince. This world-known story always reminds adults to stay open to everything life brings. By reading this essay, you will get an idea of what differentiates children from adults, as seen by an author, a former pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is considered one of the best pieces of American literature. Such timeless terms as love, freedom, and dedication are arising on the canvas of a post-war reality of America. The sample concentrates on the figure of Jay Gatsby, as seen by Nick Carraway. You will track the shaping of Gatsby’s character and find an answer to what makes him so great.

William Shakespeare writing

Look at this sample about the writing art of the legendary William Shakespeare. This paper is one of the most meaningful Shakespeare literature essay examples as it provides a deep analysis of the supernatural elements in his writing. The interaction between humans and society as a central element of Shakespeare’s works is in the scope of the sample that gives loads of inspiration.

Personification tool

Why do writers use personification, and is this literary tool ultimately effective for all genres? The sample discovers the main purpose of personification: drawing the readers’ interest and catching their attention. You will realize how personification helps visualize any story’s plot, leaving some space for the reader’s imagination.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

‘Good things come to those who wait’ and ‘Good things come in small packages’ are the two main phrases on which we concentrate in the sample about the legendary ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ world created by the talented writer Roald Dahl. The author of this sample objects that to get something, one should wait for it, declaring that instead, one should deserve good things.

Hemingway’s ‘Iceberg’ principle

‘The Old Man And The Sea’ is one of Hemingway’s most famous novels. The sample will explain the ‘Iceberg’ principle of writing about this novel. You will realize how the fact that Hemingway specialized in short stories impacted his approach to creating this masterpiece. Short semantics, concise language, and other instruments of a famous author are discovered in the review.

Life of Pi by David Magee

Spending 227 days alone in the sea: is it possible to stay alive and sane simultaneously? If you are preparing to write a literature essay about ‘Life Of Pi’ consider this sample as a source of inspiration. The author of this review is looking for an answer to a vital question: ‘What is the level of one’s need in communication?’ Through the scope of Pi’s survival process, the author proves that even written communication is still a way to keep up.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

A great sample of the well-known novel ‘Flowers For Algernon’ tells us more about the questions raised by the author, Daniel Keyes. The review discovers the role of intelligence in people’s lives and provides an analysis of instruments used by Keyes to explain his points. Readers of the novel develop a deep understanding of people considered ‘different’ by society.

Victorian poetry

Most Victorian poetry is about death and sorrow. ‘Break, break, break’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a poem in the scope of this great review. The author of the sample analyses the poem about the sorrow and pain of a person who cannot share the pain. The struggle of living the unspeakable emotions alone is in the scope of the paper.

Pushkin and the Russian literature

Alexander Pushkin is one of the world’s most famous poets. He was and still stays one of the significant figures of Russian literature. Encouraging other authors to discover the history of Russia and put the findings into novels is one of the examples of Pushkin’s impact on the literature of his native country. The sample discovers the life of Pushkin as a protector of the Russian language and culture.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury started to generate the idea of ‘Fahrenheit 451’ in the 1950s. The narrative of a post-modern society where reading and keeping books are prohibited is at the center of the novel’s plot. The sample discovers the relationship between Montag and Mildred, picturing that all genuine feelings and emotions, appreciation, and more are no longer part of society’s life. As a result, relationships between people become a burden.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

William Faulkner, the author of ‘A Rose For Emily,’ created a wonderful country that never existed, situated on the Mississippi river. The life of a small but well-developed society of the country is a metaphor for the society of the modern USA. A society where marriage is considered the biggest value impacts people. The sample explains how and why the life of Emily becomes different in the end.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Read this review to get one of the best ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ literature essay samples. Thanks to the talent of Harper Lee, who published her novel in 1960, modern readers can dive into the world of childhood as seen by the characters. The sample discovers the world of Jem, Dill, and Scout in the scope of their relationships with Boo in part one of the novel.

Edgar Allan Poe writings

One of the most mystique authors, Edgar Allan Poe, is still surrounded by unrevealed secrets. The sample raises the question about the fear, insanity, and depression in the literature of an author. You will see how difficult it is to find where the writing ends, and an author’s real life begins. Read the sample to learn more about the horror and mysteries of Poe’s life.

Common pitfalls to avoid in writing a literature essay

Our team knows a lot about how to write a literary essay. We will gladly share with you several widespread mistakes of students who will master an effective paper.

Avoiding the main thesis

Some students looking for effective literature essay samples think that analyzing a novel or a poem does not assume generating the main thesis. Only by finding the paper’s core idea can one make the essay readable and meaningful. The reader will be interested in continuing to read the story after getting the snippet of the topic and what it entails.

Complicated sentence structure

Writing an essay on literature means using precise formulation and avoiding word overload. Your paper must be precise to impress readers and let them easily get your points. Remember that simple sentences impress the reader and glue them to the story. Simple vocabulary is recommended, as not all readers will understand the jargon.

Using unchecked facts

One of the main characteristics explaining what a literature essay is is its relevance to the subject. Students who avoid deep research on a topic, in most cases, fail by using unchecked data. One should always ensure that the information is verified. Therefore, credible sources like books and articles are essential to derive your research and are easy to reference.

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COMMENTS

  1. Example of an Insightful Literary Analysis Essay

    A literary analysis is more than a book report; it goes deeper into the text, examining the themes, literary devices, characters, and more. To write a great

  2. HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

    for a 500-750 word essay) that support your thesis statement. Good literary analysis essays contain an explanation of your ideas and evidence from the text

  3. Free Essay Samples & Examples

    This sample high school AP English essay argues that F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby illustrates what is wrong with America's attitude towards wealth.

  4. Sample Literary Analysis Essay

    Sample Literary Analysis Essay. The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to closely examine some aspect of a literary work. In this essay

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    Literary essays are often made to convey a message. For students, it is a way to gauge their knowledge of books or stories they read. Sample essay outlines

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    Literary Analysis: Sample Essay. We turn once more to Joanna Wolfe's and Laura Wilder's Digging into Literature: Strategies for Reading, Writing

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    A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or

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  10. Literary Essay 4th Grade Teachers College

    Jan 26, 2016 - This includes a sample literary essay written by myself about the text "Fox" to supplement TCRWP's 4th grade unit on literary essays.