2. Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis Essay

3. Prompt In a well-organized essay, analyze how William Golding employs characterization to convey theme.

4. Definition Analytic writing breaks a subject-in our case a novel- into parts in order to understand better how it works or what it means. A literary analysis essay is not a plot summary

5. How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay  You begin to explain how the author communicates your theme through narrative techniques (our focus: characterization, symbolism, and allegory).  Create a thesis statement.  Explain and support the thesis.

6. Thesis Write a "working thesis," making a claim about the techniques you will analyze. Remember, you are making a statement about the author's use of these techniques in relation to the theme The purpose of your essay will be to support, explore, demonstrate, and/or illustrate the validity of the claim you have made about that element.

7. Formulas for a Thesis In (title of poem/novel/play), (author's name) uses/employs/creates (character 1), (character 2), (character 3)and (character 4) to (show/criticize/explain/etc.) (theme statement). –Bottom line: characterization supporting/backing up one theme

8. Pre Write Step 1 Write your thesis

9. Topic Sentences Compose topic sentences that support, explore, demonstrate, explain, or illustrate your thesis. Always begin with a topic sentence (a claim); never begin a paragraph in the body of your paper with a quotation or summary sentence. Look at your thesis. What 4 characters did you mention? What theme statement did you mention? The combination of specific character and theme statement become your topic sentences.

10. Prewrite: Body 1 Through the characterization of _________, Golding establishes/shows/displays his idea that ____ (theme statement). CD 1: 1 st piece of text evidence CD 2 nd piece of text evidence CD: 3 rd piece of text evidence

11. Prewrite: Body 2 Golding further conveys the theme of _______of____________ In addition to ___________, Golding also enhances his theme through ______. CD 1: quote/summary of the symbol CD2: another quote/summary of the symbol CD3: another quote/summary of the symbol

12. PreWrite: Body 3 Another transition that mentions the new character and the theme or theme statement. 4 pieces of text evidence

13. Prewrite: Body 4 Finally, Golding solidifies his theme with the _____________. CD 1: TE CD 2: TE CD 3: TE CD 4: TE

14. 11 Sentence Paragraph Outline 1.Topic Sentence 2.Concrete Details:Specific examples from the novel (4) 3.Commentary explaining how those examples help the reader understand theme (2 sent of CM for each CD)

15. Warning If all you do in one body paragraph is give a few examples of the character from the text and simply identify them, then you haven't analyzed anything. The analysis part involves explaining how the characterl contributes to the development of theme (your point). But to be sophisticated in your analysis, you must have ideas that are "in-depth" - not just the superficial facts of what you see on the page. You must interpret what the author has given you to work with and show that you understand the theme.

16. Rough Draft Due next class Typed, double spaced (or handwritten, double spaced) Thesis plus 4 body paragraphs = 100

17. Introduction Start with a quote Get the reader's attention. Set the tone of the essay. State the controlling idea (thesis) of the essay. Orient Reader: In 1-3 sentences, identify the title, author, and subject of the novel.

18. Introduction Ideas Look at the quotations we started the novel with. Go to bartleby.com for more quotations.

19. Example Intro Aristotle once wrote, “Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst.” Aristotle’s idea comes to life in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Golding shares Aristotle’s low opinion of mankind and Golding realizes that the only thing keeping humanity civil, law and justice, can easily be destroyed………… In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the symbols of the conch, the fire, and the Lord of the Flies to enforce his belief that a fine line exists between civilization and savagery.

20. Conclusion Why is this novel important to us? The conclusion should tie together the main ideas of the essay. It should not simply summarize or repeat the ideas, but should extend them by establishing a relationship between the novel and why we should understand it. It’s helpful to think of this as the answer to the “so what” question

21. Embedding Quotations Use quotes (with page numbers) from the book. Blend them in with your context, by having quotes and context share sentences. For example: Not embedded: Janie’s images for romantic happiness come from nature. “Life should be more like a pear tree in bloom, she thinks” (67). She thinks this when she is unhappy in her relationships. Embedded: Because Janie’s image for romantic happiness comes from nature, she thinks, “life should be more like a pear tree in bloom” (67) when she is unhappy in her relationship.

22. Using Quotations Commentary: Make sure that before or after each quote, you point out how it connects to the thesis. As with blending in quotes, you can do this with variety and finesse. (You don’t have to mention the word “thesis” or say the term, “proves my point”. For example: –This also proves the thesis because a rich man is happier with an expensive toy than he is when in love »VS –Once again, O’Neil portrays rich men as happier with expensive toys than in love.