"How can a story be analyzed, and what am I looking for in it?"

The study of literature is the study of life through the eyes of an artist, and as such is an important part of a liberal arts education.

Composition students in ENG 104, 108, and 112 often engage in literary analysis. When you analyze a literary text, you will deal with basic elements of literature, like plot, theme, character, and setting. Close study of these elements will then lead to an essay focusing on one aspect of the work.

Literary analysis is also known as literary criticism. In this context, "criticism" means a close reading and interpretation of a literary text, such as a poem, a short story, a play, a novel, or even a movie. The elements which make up a literary work ar e closely examined for their meaning and significance. Some of these elements are theme, character, and plot. Regardless of what aspect you choose to write about, your essay will focus on one controlling idea which can be stated in one direct sentence. For example: "Although most critics regard Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra as a great love tragedy, it is actually a mockery of a tragedy, for Cleopatra is incapable of love, and Antony is interested only in sex." This student then introduced evidence from the play to prove her thesis.

Following are some thoughts to keep in mind when you analyze literary texts:

Plot Summary

Some teachers will assign plot summary as a formal essay, as prewriting which will lead to a deeper analysis, or as part of a longer analysis. Make sure you understand your assignment and use plot summary appropriately.

• Name the work and the author in the first paragraph.
  
• Give a brief statement of narrative events (what happens in the story).
  
• Remember that a plot is tied together by causality determined by character.
  
• Remember that the action may be either physical or mental.
  
• Name the protagonist, the antagonist, and the most important characters.
  
• You may want to mention the setting, if it is significant.

Character Analysis

What kind of person is the protagonist? This is an inference you make based on the following:

• What the person says (what he or she says need not be taken at face value; the person may be hypocritical, or self-deceived, or biased)
  
• What the person does
  
• What others (including the narrator of the story) say about the person
  
• What others do (their actions may help to indicate what the person could do but does not do)
  
• What the person looks like - face, body, clothes (these may help to convey the personality, or they may in some measure help to disguise it)
  
• Determine the character's appearance, personality, and ethical qualities.
  
• Use descriptions of other characters sparingly (comparison/contrast) to make your point about the main character(s). Sometimes the environment (setting) is as powerful a force as a character.

Theme

• Theme should be stated in one sentence.
• The theme should be stated as a generalization about life.
• Theme(s) is/are the central and unifying concept(s) of the work.
• Statement of theme should not be cliché.

Six Steps to Literary Analysis

Some teachers will ask their students to use a series of intellectual steps leading to analysis of a literary text, such as a novel or a short story. These six steps are as follows:

1. A double-entry reading journal of a literary or non-literary text.

2. A plot summary of a novel or short story giving only a brief statement of the narrative events (what happened?).

3. A character analysis of the protagonist (main character), or sometimes the protagonist and the antagonist, to expose the conflict in the story.

4. A personal interpretation is the first step in the three-step research process. Give your personal judgment of the theme or one of the themes of a short story or a novel.

5. Annotated Bibliography. Make a bibliography of about ten library sources of critical opinion about your short story or novel. Use MIA style of entries. Make a short summary of each piece of criticism, giving the main point(s) in about ten sentences .

6. The short research paper is the culminating event in the three-step research process. Write a short (five to ten page) research paper focused on one of the major themes from a short story or novel. Add a title page, a full sentence outline, and a Works Cited or Works Consulted page (whichever your teacher requests) using MLA style.