Textual Analysis – Instructions | Homework Essay Helpers

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Textual Analysis – Instructions

For this assignment, you need to choose ONE of the literary works you will be writing about in your Literary Analysis Research Paper.

By now, you should’ve read this particular text at least once. With that completed, you will now need to go back through that specific text and perform an analysis of it. For this, you’ll need to engage in close reading, which we learned about during Week One in class.

In order to complete a textual analysis, you need to consider how individual elements of the text combine to create the whole. In order to do that, you will look at each individual element on its own. Essentially, you are mining the text for additional details that you may have overlooked before.

In your analysis, please include sections on the following:

1. Setting: What is the setting? Why is it important? Is there any information given about time and location? Is there anything implied? Why might this be significant?
2. Character: Who are the major characters? What are their defining characteristics? Do any characters change significantly throughout the text? Does it seem like a certain character is meant to represent something?
3. Plot: What is the basic outline of what happens in the text? What are the most important moments in the text? Include information about any exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
4. Point-of-view: what is the POV? Why is it important? What style of narration is presented? How does this affect the text overall?
5. Theme: What point or lesson is the author trying to highlight in this text? Are there multiple themes? Are these themes easily recognizable? How might viewers relate to these themes?
6. Symbolism: Is there anything in the text that seems to stand for something else? Are there certain figures or objects of importance? Why might these items be made to stand out?

• You might also include information about imagery, style, tone, and diction.

Structure

• This analysis should be at least 500 words in length, and should be written in essay/paragraph form. Please include your working thesis—this is the argument you are going to focus on in your Literary Analysis Research Paper later in the term. Please address all significant elements of the text, based on the above list. A good method would be to give a paragraph of each element.

MLA Style

• Your paper must be formatted according to MLA format (this includes having a header, double spacing, appropriate font, etc.)
• Include at least one quotation or paraphrase in each element section with appropriate usage and citation, according to MLA formatting standards.
• You must include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
• For more information about MLA style, you should view the Purdue OWL’s pages on MLA: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html.

Mechanics, Grammar, and Punctuation

• All written assignments should be mechanically and grammatically correct with proper punctuation.
• For more information on each of these, you should view the Purdue OWL’s General Writing Resources page: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_introduction.html