Writing About Literature Character Analysis Research Paper Writing About Literature

Become an Academic Writer Analyze your audience Determine your audience Format your structure Develop a thesis statement Organize your thoughts logically

Analyze your character What is the character’s role in the story? How did the character interact with others? What does the character’s thoughts, actions, and words reveal about the character? Was the character static or dynamic? In other words, stay the same or change?

Literary Research Paper Analysis of a literary work combined with research about the work, characters, or author. The paper focuses on primary sources (the piece of literature and your observations) and secondary sources (a critic’s view)

Language in Literary Analysis Use Present Tense Verbs E.g. The old people live in a meager existence. Brooks emphasizes how isolated the couple is. The critic describes the lines as despairing.

Language in Literary Analysis Put in your opinions, but avoid using I. E.g. I think the character evokes the reader’s sympathy. The character evokes the reader’s sympathy. Use quotes, paraphrases, and summaries.

Do’s and Don’ts Do not merely summarize the literary work. Use quotations from the literary work. Integrate quotes into your own sentences. Use present tense verbs Follow the MLA format