1. Please Take out a pen, your notebooks, and turn to a fresh page
Please Take out a pen, your notebooks, and turn to a fresh page. Be prepared to write when the music stops.

2. Quickwrite
Describe an experience from your past in which you experienced some kind of joy in writing. This could be a brief “Aha!” moment or an entire assignment from your past.
If you never have or can’t remember any, try and articulate some reasons why you haven’t. Think about what parts of the process you enjoy or don’t enjoy. Please avoid: “I’m just not a good writer.” That’s too easy an excuse and is not true. Writing is a skill like any other and everyone has room to improve.

3. Hello, my friends. For today:
Literary Analysis
What is it?
What does it look like?
How do I do it?
Romeo and Juliet
What do I write about?
Evidence
What is good evidence?

4. What is a literary analysis essay?
Definition
A literary analysis essay is an attempt to evaluate and understand the work of an author, either a single work or an entire body of work.

5. What types of literary analysis are there?
Character Analysis defines characters’ qualities to explore how they react to various conditions or attempt to shape their environment
Point of View (POV) Analysis explores why the author chose a particular pov, and how this viewpoint affects the reader-writer’s perception of the work.
Analysis of Setting explores how and why a work’s time and place affects the events and/or the characters of the work.

6. More types…
Analysis of Theme involves working the concept, thought, opinion or belief that the author expresses. It is very common (and helpful) to consider theme when analyzing another aspect of literature rather than on its own. The theme of a work is the main message, insight, or observation the writer offers.
Analysis of Structure demonstrates how a work’s organization influences (or is influenced by) the plot and theme of the work.
Analysis of Symbolism (and Imagery) involves demonstrating why an author chooses to use one or more dominant, recurring symbols or images.

7. Lastly…
Analysis of Style is an attempt to show how and why the author employs word choice, sound or rhythm to convey ideas. In prose, the reader-writer may look at a key passage and consider diction, grammar, sentence length, and rhythm and sound.

8. Our Assignment
Read through, ask questions, write down important dates, ask questions, think about the prompts and ask questions.

9. Evidence and Support
Choose one of the prompts. You need not be locked into this prompt for this whole project, but I encourage you to think about which you find the most interesting.

10. What is good evidence/support?
It relates directly to your thesis/discussion
It illustrates the ideas you are developing
Please take the next 30 minutes to search through the text (that is, ALL five acts of R&J) looking for evidence you feel is appropriate.
Please make note of separate moments (these could be as short as a line or two) that support your response to the prompt.

11. For next time
Please read, annotate, and be prepared to discuss and ask questions regarding the “How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay” handout.
I will be checking this at the beginning of our next meeting.
Specific pieces of evidence that help illustrate your topic.