When you read for pleasure, satisfaction is your main objective. You can find yourself reading to lose yourself in an intriguing tale, discover information about a fascinating era or location, or simply to pass the time. Perhaps you’re looking for ideas, direction, or a picture of your own life. As there are books in the world, there are as many distinct and legitimate methods to read them.

The Seven Steps

No one is born knowing how to analyze literature; it’s a skill you learn and a process you can master. As you gain more practice with this kind of thinking and writing, you’ll be able to craft a method that works best for you. But until then, here are seven basic steps to writing a well-constructed literary essay.

Collect Evidence

When you have decided on the question you wish to address, it is time to search the book for information that will aid in your response. You’re just gathering information and letting it all sit, so don’t stress if you don’t currently have anything to say. Note any texts, symbols, pictures, or scenes that touch on your subject. You’ll eventually begin to draw connections between these examples, and your thesis will start to take shape.

Here is a quick breakdown of the numerous components that make up every literary work. These are the components that you will examine in your essay and use as evidence to back up your claims. See the Glossary of Literary Terms for further information on the components of literary works.

Elements of Story

These are the whats of the work—what happens, where it happens, and to whom it happens.

• Plot

  All of the events and actions of the work.

• Character

  The people who act and are acted upon in a literary work. The main character of a work is known as the protagonist.

• Conflict

  The central tension in the work. In most cases, the protagonist wants something, while opposing forces (antagonists) hinder the protagonist’s progress.

• Setting

  When and where the work takes place. Elements of setting include location, time period, time of day, weather, social atmosphere, and economic conditions.

• Narrator

  The person telling the story. The narrator may straightforwardly report what happens, convey the subjective opinions and perceptions of one or more characters, or provide commentary and opinion in his or her own voice.

• Themes

  The main ideas or messages of the work—usually abstract ideas about people, society, or life in general. A work may have many themes, which may be in tension with one another.

Elements of Style

These are the hows—how the characters speak, how the story is constructed, and how language is used throughout the work.

• Structure and organization

  How the parts of the work are assembled. Some novels are narrated in a linear, chronological fashion, while others skip around in time. Some plays follow a traditional three-or five-act structure, while others are a series of loosely connected scenes. Some authors deliberately leave gaps in their works, leaving readers to puzzle out the missing information. A work’s structure and organization can tell you a lot about the kind of message it wants to convey.

• Point of view

  The perspective from which a story is told. In first-person point of view, the narrator involves him or herself in the story. (“I went to the store”; “We watched in horror as the bird slammed into the window.”) A first-person narrator is usually the protagonist of the work, but not always. In third-person point of view, the narrator does not participate in the story. A third-person narrator may closely follow a specific character, recounting that individual character’s thoughts or experiences, or it may be what we call an omniscient narrator. Omniscient narrators see and know all: they can witness any event in any time or place and are privy to the inner thoughts and feelings of all characters. Remember that the narrator and the author are not the same thing!

• Diction

  Word choice. Whether a character uses dry, clinical language or flowery prose with lots of exclamation points can tell you a lot about his or her attitude and personality.

• Syntax

  Word order and sentence construction. Syntax is a crucial part of establishing an author’s narrative voice. Ernest Hemingway, for example, is known for writing in very short, straightforward sentences, while James Joyce characteristically wrote in long, incredibly complicated lines.

• Tone

  The mood or feeling of the text. Diction and syntax often contribute to the tone of a work. A novel written in short, clipped sentences that use small, simple words might feel brusque, cold, or matter-of-fact.

• Imagery

  The language that appeals to the senses, representing things that can be seen, smelled, heard, tasted, or touched.

• Figurative language

  Language that is not meant to be interpreted literally. The most common types of figurative language are metaphors and similes, which compare two unlike things in order to suggest a similarity between them— for example, “All the world’s a stage,” or “The moon is like a ball of green cheese.” (Metaphors say one thing is another thing; similes claim that one thing is like another thing.)

Construct a Thesis

When you’ve examined all the evidence you’ve collected and know how you want to answer the question, it’s time to write your thesis statement.

• Arguable.

  “The Great Gatsby describes New York society in the 1920s” isn’t a thesis—it’s a fact.

• Provable through textual evidence.

  “Hamlet is a confusing but ultimately very well-written play” is a weak thesis because it offers the writer’s personal opinion about the book. Yes, it’s arguable, but it’s not a claim that can be proved or supported with examples taken from the play itself.

• Surprising.

  “Both George and Lenny change a great deal in Of Mice and Men ” is a weak thesis because it’s obvious. A really strong thesis will argue for a reading of the text that is not immediately apparent.

• Specific.

  “Dr. Frankenstein’s monster tells us a lot about the human condition” is almost a really great thesis statement, but it’s still too vague. What does the writer mean by “a lot”? How does the monster tell us so much about the human condition?

Good Thesis Statements

Develop and Organize Arguments

The body paragraphs of your essay will contain the arguments and evidence that back up your thesis. You’ll likely work on steps 3 and 4 concurrently because you can’t really develop your thesis statement until you know how you’ll organize your argument.

There is no one type of argumentation that will be effective in all circumstances. You can be asked to compare and contrast two characters for one essay prompt, while another would ask you to follow a picture in a piece of literature. These inquiries call for various types of responses, and consequently various types of arguments. We’ll go through three popular types of essay questions in the section below, along with some tips for putting together a compelling argument.

Types of Literary Essays

Compare and contrast

Trace

Choose an image—for example, birds, knives, or eyes—and trace that image throughout

Debate

Is the society depicted in 1984 good for its citizens?

Write the Introduction

Your introduction sets up the entire essay. It’s where you present your topic and articulate the particular issues and questions you’ll be addressing. It’s also where you, as the writer, introduce yourself to your readers. A persuasive literary essay immediately establishes its writer as a knowledgeable, authoritative figure.

Provide any necessary context.

Answer the “So what?” question.

Present your thesis.

Be vague.

Open with any grandiose assertions.

Wildly praise the work.

Go off-topic.

Write the Body Paragraphs

Once you’ve written your introduction, you’ll take the arguments you developed in step 4 and turn them into your body paragraphs. The organization of this middle section of your essay will largely be determined by the argumentative strategy you use, but no matter how you arrange your thoughts, your body paragraphs need to do the following:

Write the Conclusion

Just as you used the introduction to ground your readers in the topic before providing your thesis, you’ll use the conclusion to quickly summarize the specifics learned thus far and then hint at the broader implications of your topic