Chapter 1- Reading and how to pick up relevant information.
Reading, we do it more often then we think. There are, however, many different ways in which we
read, mostly determined by our goal. The tricky part is that we are often not aware of ‘how’ we read;
although it largely determines how successful we are. When reading for pleasure, the only goal is
enjoyment; to escape reality, be transported to far of realms or merely because we are curious about
the lives of others. We read to gather information, to remember things, to get inspiration or perhaps
to answer test questions; right now, or at a later date.
When reading to prepare for a Literary Analysis Essay, you are asked to read in a special way;
with the goal to analyse an object. To analyse something means to break it down to smaller parts and
then examine how each of those individual parts works, alone or together. Being able to analyse
something, whether that is the intricate workings of a machine, the social structure of a group or the
various elements in a narrative (book, film, play or tv-series) and then explaining how exactly it works
is a skill vital to function in an academic environment.
After having examined the content of this chapter you are able to select and collect relevant
information for starting your Literary Analysis Essay.
Asking Questions
There are two starting points for a Literary Analysis Essay.
Firstly, your teacher can provide you with a list of writing prompts. Lucky you! All you have to
do now is select one; preferably one about the topic you find the most interesting. Selecting
something which interests you will give you a much better (not to mention easier) time.
Secondly, you might have to think of a topic all by your lonesome. This often results into two
situations, you have too many ideas – or none at all. Whatever you do, do not panic. Take a deep
breath and start asking yourself some of the following guiding questions:
What struck you?
(Is there something, a line, an event or an image which lingered in your mind? If it fascinated
you, chances are you can write a good essay about it.)
What confused you?
(Confusing moments in literature are like loose threads in a woollen sweater; if you pull on it
you can unravel the entire thing. And, contrary to popular belief, your confusion is often not
caused by your inability to understand.)
Did you notice any patterns?
(If something keeps returning, over and over again, try to figure out how it fits in the greater
narrative. Draw it out (literally) and you might discover a pattern that weaves itself through
the entire story!)
Did you notice any contradictions or ironies?
(Literary works are complex. Good Literary Analysis Essays explain those complexities. If you
find two things (such as, for example, the title and the content of the book) which contradict
each other and you can explain how it works, you have the seeds of a great essay.
Taking Notes
Legwork for writing a Literary Analysis Essay starts when reading; and for that taking notes is key!
These are not class notes (notes you should be taking to help you prepare for tests you should have
studied for in order to get those grades you need to make up for the grades which were… let’s say…
not so good); no these notes are in a whole different ballpark.
, When making notes in preparation for your Literary Analysis Essay write down everything;
and yes, I do mean everything! Take notes on what happens in the story, make character overviews,
take notes on weird things in relation to the style, tone, instances of irony, setting, possible patterns,
themes and so on and so forth. If need be go nuts; draw timelines, plotlines, character relationship
overviews, even weird things you might find when looking something up about what the author was
doing at the time (s)he was writing the book.
The goal of making notes is not to memorise things, but to put it all into one place so you can
deal with it later in one go. It also does not matter how or where you put it; whether you use a
notebook, use sticky-notes in your novel or even scribbles in the margins, between the lines or (for
all I care) on your bedroom window. The end justifies the means; at this point you do not need to
know exactly what you are going to say about your topic; you just need some place to start your
exploration.
Tips for note taking: The best way to take notes is through: First Absorption, then reproduction.
(Eerst consumeren, dan reproducere). Everytime you have read part of your book; note down for
yourself:
What have I read?
What happened?
Where did it happen?
What did I notice?
What confused me?
This can be done in just a few sentences.
If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you are gathering choose to examine
one topic, be that plot, characterization, imagery, theme or style. Focussing on one of these elements
enables you to focus your reading and help you arrive at your thesis statement more easily. There
are other Elements of Fiction or Style you can examine; for more information on these check out the
readers on Elements of Fiction and Elements of Style respectively.
Source Material
In the world of (Literary) Analysis you have two forms of source material, primary source material
(the object you are examining; in this case a work of fiction) and secondary source material; things
written about the source material, or things written about the things about the source material… or
heaven forbid, things about the things about the things that deal with the source material.
For a Literary Analysis Essay, you will most likely only ever deal with your primary source
material. However, as you are reading or doing research, you will inevitably encounter things you do
not understand. This is where secondary source material can come into play. You do not have to
make up everything yourself; you can use other people’s work, as long as you use correct sources
and give these other people credit for the work they have done. For this we have the ‘References’
segment at the end of our essay and the in-text references in our essay itself. For more information
on this check out chapter 2 (about quotations and in-text references) and chapter 5 for the reference
page. An overview of how to refer is also in the appendix.
Good Sources
The best place to start searching for background material is; and please believe me when I say it,
Wikipedia. Yes, you have been threatened with hell and damnation if you ever quoted Wikipedia as
your source and yes you will still be thrown in the deepest darkest pits of oblivion if you do.
However, there is one thing in which Wikipedia excels; providing background sources.
, At the bottom of every Wikipedia page there is a whole collection of possible sources,
references and links you can use. Now these are quote worthy sources and great places to start
collecting further evidence or finding extra information.
But why use Wikipedia over such websites such as Shmoop, Gradesaver or Sparknotes? Well
the answer is simple; although websites such as Shmoop, Gradesaver or Sparknotes provide excellent
information, they, more often than naught, fail to provide proper accountability of their sources.
They do not tell where they got their information from, often provide no page numbers, titles or
other places you can find more information, Wikipedia does.
