Literary Analysis
In this lesson, you will explore strategies for writing essays that analyze literary works.
start
Objectives
Students will:- Write a claim that can be used as the basis for an analytical essay about a work of literature.
skills needed
Students must be able to:- Identify the parts of an argument.
- Analyze a work of literature.
key words
- literary analysis
- analytical
- claim
Literature Up Close
What is a literary analysis?
When you analyze a work of literature, you have something in common with this boy.
An up-close look at a leaf reveals features and structures that aren't visible to a casual observer. Likewise, you understand a work of literature much better after you examine its elements and structure.
A literary analysis is a kind of argument based on close examination of a literary work. An analysis is different from a summary. Instead of explaining what the work is about, you make a well-informed statement of opinion about the work. For example, you might make and support a claim about the author's intended meaning, or you might discuss the work's possible impact on real-life events.
Why might a literary analysis require research?
Building an Argument
What are the parts of an argument?
When you write a literary analysis, you are building an argument for a particular way of understanding or interpreting the work. Your argument should be analytical instead of emotional: That is, it should be based on evidence from the text and from other reliable sources. Since literary analysis is a type of argument, you should make sure that your analysis includes all the parts needed to argue a point of view. Look through the following to review the parts of an argument.
The Claim
Your claim is the position that you are trying to communicate and persuade readers to accept. As you've learned, a solid claim is both reasonable and debatable. Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
The message of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is as important and meaningful today as it was when the book was published more than fifty years ago.
The Evidence
You'll need to provide evidence to support your claim. Evidence may include quotes and details from the literary work, results of your research about the work or its author, and other facts related to the work and its historical context.
Evidence may include: Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
The Reasons
Reasons are a way of organizing your evidence into an effective argument. A reason links evidence to your claim by showing how the evidence supports the claim. Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
Making a Claim
What point will you make?
In some ways, literary analysis is no different from any other argument. As with any good argument, your claim must be debatable: Your reader should be able to take a different view of the work than you do. Of course, your claim should also be one that you can support--you should be able to provide convincing evidence for it. Which claim about the novel The Great Gatsby is both debatable and supportable?
What's the Claim?
Can you identify the claim in a literary analysis?
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, nine years before the start of the American Civil War. The novel follows the life of a long-suffering African American slave, Uncle Tom, and includes the tragic stories of other slaves around him. Uncle Tom's Cabin became the best-selling novel of the 19th century and had a huge impact on American society.
Read the first two paragraphs from a student's literary analysis of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
What is the claim of this student's argument? State the claim in your own words.
Some examples
Review some examples of claims.
You've seen that a literary analysis starts with a claim about the literary work. This claim should meet the same criteria as the claim of any written argument. It should be debatable: That is, it should be a statement that your readers could disagree with, not a fact that is either true or false. Just as important, you should be able to support it with logical reasons and factual evidence. Review the examples of claims in the following slides.
Example One
Sometimes, a work of fiction presents a mystery for the reader to solve. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the mystery is the narrator's motive for murdering his friend.
Example Two
Since a claim is debatable, a different writer might make the opposite claim about the same story. How might the writer support this claim?
Write a Claim
Write a claim using what you've learned from this lesson.
Click the Activity button to access the Writing a Claim worksheet, which will help you generate a claim and some supporting ideas for a literary analysis. When you have completed the worksheet, submit it to your teacher. Make sure you've completed all the requirements for this assignment. Look at the rubric below to see how you will be graded.
Rubric
Questions?
Take the "Literary Analysis" Quiz
Thank you very much!
Literary Analysis
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Created on February 2, 2026
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Transcript
Literary Analysis
In this lesson, you will explore strategies for writing essays that analyze literary works.
start
Objectives
Students will:- Write a claim that can be used as the basis for an analytical essay about a work of literature.
skills needed
Students must be able to:- Identify the parts of an argument.
- Analyze a work of literature.
key words
Literature Up Close
What is a literary analysis?
When you analyze a work of literature, you have something in common with this boy. An up-close look at a leaf reveals features and structures that aren't visible to a casual observer. Likewise, you understand a work of literature much better after you examine its elements and structure. A literary analysis is a kind of argument based on close examination of a literary work. An analysis is different from a summary. Instead of explaining what the work is about, you make a well-informed statement of opinion about the work. For example, you might make and support a claim about the author's intended meaning, or you might discuss the work's possible impact on real-life events.
Why might a literary analysis require research?
Building an Argument
What are the parts of an argument?
When you write a literary analysis, you are building an argument for a particular way of understanding or interpreting the work. Your argument should be analytical instead of emotional: That is, it should be based on evidence from the text and from other reliable sources. Since literary analysis is a type of argument, you should make sure that your analysis includes all the parts needed to argue a point of view. Look through the following to review the parts of an argument.
The Claim
Your claim is the position that you are trying to communicate and persuade readers to accept. As you've learned, a solid claim is both reasonable and debatable. Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
The message of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is as important and meaningful today as it was when the book was published more than fifty years ago.
The Evidence
You'll need to provide evidence to support your claim. Evidence may include quotes and details from the literary work, results of your research about the work or its author, and other facts related to the work and its historical context. Evidence may include: Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
The Reasons
Reasons are a way of organizing your evidence into an effective argument. A reason links evidence to your claim by showing how the evidence supports the claim. Why do you need to include both reasons and evidence in a literary analysis?
Making a Claim
What point will you make?
In some ways, literary analysis is no different from any other argument. As with any good argument, your claim must be debatable: Your reader should be able to take a different view of the work than you do. Of course, your claim should also be one that you can support--you should be able to provide convincing evidence for it. Which claim about the novel The Great Gatsby is both debatable and supportable?
What's the Claim?
Can you identify the claim in a literary analysis?
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, nine years before the start of the American Civil War. The novel follows the life of a long-suffering African American slave, Uncle Tom, and includes the tragic stories of other slaves around him. Uncle Tom's Cabin became the best-selling novel of the 19th century and had a huge impact on American society. Read the first two paragraphs from a student's literary analysis of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
What is the claim of this student's argument? State the claim in your own words.
Some examples
Review some examples of claims.
You've seen that a literary analysis starts with a claim about the literary work. This claim should meet the same criteria as the claim of any written argument. It should be debatable: That is, it should be a statement that your readers could disagree with, not a fact that is either true or false. Just as important, you should be able to support it with logical reasons and factual evidence. Review the examples of claims in the following slides.
Example One
Sometimes, a work of fiction presents a mystery for the reader to solve. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the mystery is the narrator's motive for murdering his friend.
Example Two
Since a claim is debatable, a different writer might make the opposite claim about the same story. How might the writer support this claim?
Write a Claim
Write a claim using what you've learned from this lesson.
Click the Activity button to access the Writing a Claim worksheet, which will help you generate a claim and some supporting ideas for a literary analysis. When you have completed the worksheet, submit it to your teacher. Make sure you've completed all the requirements for this assignment. Look at the rubric below to see how you will be graded.
Rubric
Questions?
Take the "Literary Analysis" Quiz
Thank you very much!