YOUR LITERARY ANALYSIS:

A POWERPOINT

10 November 2014Ms. Trevathan

ENGLISH III

IN A LITERARY ANALYSIS … We examine literary texts (in this

instance a poem) to understand their messages, interpret their meanings, and appreciate writers’ (poets’) techniques.

You might read Macbeth, for example, and notice that Shakespeare’s play contains a pattern of images of blood.

You will use analytical tools to go below the surface of the work to deepen your understanding of how it works and what it means.

KEY FEATURES OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS An arguable thesis Careful attention to the language

of the text (poem) – perform “close readings”

Build on patterns or themes Demonstrate the plausibility of

the thesis by using evidence from the text and secondary sources.

Follow MLA style

CONSIDER THE RHETORICAL SITUATION

AudiencePu

rpos

e

Stance

MESSAGE

(analysis)

ORGANIZING A LITERARY ANALYSIS

1. •Introduce the TEXT (POEM) you're analyzing and state your thesis.

2. •Cite Passages from the text, one by one, explaining how each one supports your thesis and interpretation.

3. •Sum up your interpretation in light of your analysis.

4. •Document your sources.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED Five Slides (6 max)

Slide 1 - Title Slide 2 – Introduce your selection

“Poem,” Poet, etc. Slide 3 – State your thesis.

What is your focus/controlling idea? Slide 4 – Discuss secondary sources

How do your critical articles aid your analysis? What do these ‘experts’ say that pertains to your

idea? Slide 5 – Work Cited or Biographical info

Is there any biographical info regarding your poet that ties in with your analysis?-- OR --

Works Cited (MLA)

EXAMPLE

EZRA POUND AT HOME IN

EXILE:AN EXAMINATION

OF THE OTHERIN “CANTO

LXXXI”Andy Trevathan

CANTO LXXXI (81) “Canto LXXXI” of Ezra Pound’s Pisan

Cantos which was written while Pound was in custody at the DTC in Pisa.

THESIS Pound’s intricate and multi-layered use of

mythology, history, and other cultural allusions in “Canto LXXXI” exemplifies his unique status as an exile and profoundly influences the poem with connotations of ‘the other’ – the alien.

SECONDARY SOURCES Doris Eder’s book Three Writers in Exile:

Pound, Eliot, and Joyce discusses how the psychological and physical state of being an expatriate -- an exile living outside one’s native land -- influences the writer’s overall body of work.

Mark Byron’s article “This Thing That Has a Code + Not a Core” which addresses the composition history of Pound’s Pisan Cantos and how it relates to history.

WORK CITEDByron, Mark. “This Thing That Has a Code +

Not a Core: The Texts of Pound’s Pisan Cantos.” Ezra Pound and Referentiality. Ed. Helene Aji. Paris: University of Sorbonne Press, 2003. Print.

Eder, Doris L. Three Writers in Exile: Pound, Eliot & Joyce. Troy, N.Y: Whitston Publishing Co., 1984. Print.