ENGL 201
Checklist for a Successful Literary Analysis Essay
1. Take only what you actually need—anything more amounts to useless filler
2. Fit the quoted material into your own sentences in a way that sounds seamless when read aloud
3. Words are words, sentences are sentences—quoted material too must follow basic rules of syntax
4. Provide a signal phrase that provides necessary context for each quotation (who is speaking to whom on what occasion). The amount of information necessary will vary, depending on how much has already been made clear; generally, you will need to at least tells your readers who is speaking.
Compare the following:
In the end, Gilgamesh finally sees what he should have seen long ago: he too will die. Perhaps this is why the poem concludes as it began, with a celebration of the city Gilgamesh established. Gilgamesh may die, but Uruk lives on. There is, it would appear, more than one way to live forever.
Checklist for a Successful Literary Analysis Essay
- Begin with an interesting sentence that provides direction for the rest of your introduction.
- In the poem Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk. [Bland and dull; sets us up for pure plot summary]
- Midway through the poem Gilgamesh, the all-but-divine title character has everything going for him. [Catchy; gives a sense of where we're going]
- Allow your first paragraph to build thoroughly but succinctly to a precise thesis statement that will guide the remainder of your essay.
- Gilgamesh will do virtually anything to gain immortality. [True, but not really arguable, hence not a useful thesis]
- Gilgamesh has to learn a very hard lesson in a series of increasingly hard ways: no one, not even the great King of Uruk, gets to live forever. [Better--now we have a clear sense of the central claim (Gilgamesh has to learn a difficult lesson) and the avenue of approach (the essay will be focused on the "hard ways" he learns his lesson)]
- Begin each remaining paragraphs with a strong topic sentence that relates back clearly to the thesis of your essay and that captures precisely the specific idea that will be developed.
- His final test involves trying to stay awake. [Again--true, but provides no driving sense of purpose. We are again set up for pure plot summary]
- Ironically, Gilgamesh’s final test—just stay awake—is both the least heroic and, as it turns out, the most difficult. [Here, we can tell where the paragraph is going--the focus will be on the ironic contrast between G's "final test" and it's relative lack of "heroic" merit]
- Support your ideas by incorporating in a grammatically and stylistically appropriate manner carefully selected textual quotations.
1. Take only what you actually need—anything more amounts to useless filler
2. Fit the quoted material into your own sentences in a way that sounds seamless when read aloud
3. Words are words, sentences are sentences—quoted material too must follow basic rules of syntax
4. Provide a signal phrase that provides necessary context for each quotation (who is speaking to whom on what occasion). The amount of information necessary will vary, depending on how much has already been made clear; generally, you will need to at least tells your readers who is speaking.
Compare the following:
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. “What then should I do, Utanapishtim, whither should I go, / Now that the Bereaver has seized my flesh? / Death lurks in my bedchamber, / And wherever I turn, there is death!” [Breaks rule 1 and 4]
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure, “Death lurks in my bedchamber.” [Breaks rule 3; this is a comma splice]
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. “Death lurks in my bedchamber.” [Breaks rule 4]
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. He sees death lurking in his bedchamber and everywhere he turns. [Breaks rule 2; these words belong to the text, but they are not being presented as such. This amounts to plagiarism]
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. “Death lurks in my bedchamber, / And everywhere I turn,” he exclaims after he finally awakes. [This is just fine]
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. After he awakes, he exclaims, “Death lurks in my bedchamber, / And everywhere I turn.” [Also fine]
- Be sure to explicate quoted material; otherwise, readers are left with no sure way of knowing why the quotation is relevant. In other words, what should readers notice about the quotation? How does it help to establish the idea announced in the topic sentence (and thus in the thesis)?
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. “Death lurks in my bedchamber, / And everywhere I turn” he exclaims after he finally awakes. He is very upset at having failed. (end of paragraph)
- Gilgamesh is devastated by his failure. “Death lurks in my bedchamber, / And everywhere I turn,” he exclaims after he finally awakes. Having come so far, and accomplished so much, Gilgamesh finds himself back exactly where he started: he is, as he was, a human being who can no more escape death than he can escape sleepiness.
- Give your readers a snappy conclusion. DO NOT simply restate your thesis.
- Gilgamesh wanted so badly to live forever, but he has failed in his quest. He could not stay awake, just as he could not escape dying.
In the end, Gilgamesh finally sees what he should have seen long ago: he too will die. Perhaps this is why the poem concludes as it began, with a celebration of the city Gilgamesh established. Gilgamesh may die, but Uruk lives on. There is, it would appear, more than one way to live forever.