literary heroes essay

Essays About Heroes: 5 Examples And Topic Ideas

Here, we’ll look at examples of essays about heroes and questions that can be used as topics for essays about an imagined or real hero .

A few different images likely come to mind when you hear the word hero . You may imagine Superman flying above the world with his superpower of flight. You may imagine a personal hero , a real person who has made a significant impact on your life for the better. You might think of a true hero as someone who has shown heroic qualities in the public eye, working to help ordinary people through difficult situations.

When writing an essay about your life hero , it’s important to consider the qualities of that person that make them stand out to you. Whether you choose to write an essay about how your mom got you through tough times and became your role model or about a political figure who made a difference in the lives of people in history, it’s key to not just focus on the person’s actions —you’ll also want to focus on the qualities that allowed them to act heroically.

Here, we’ll explore examples of hero essays and potential topics to consider when writing about a hero .

For help with your essays , check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

Examples Of Essays About Heroes

• 1. These Are The Heroes Of The Coronavirus Pandemic By Ruth Marcus
• 2. Why Teachers Are My Heroes By Joshua Muskin
• 3. Martin Luther King Jr.—Civil Rights Activist & Hero By Kathy Weiser-Alexander

4. Steve Prefontaine: The Track Of A Hero By Bill O’Brian

5. forget hamilton, burr is the real hero by carey wallace, topic ideas for essays about heroes, 1. what makes a hero, 2. what are the most important characteristics of heroes in literature, 3. what constitutes a heroic act, 4. is selflessness required for heroism.

1.  These Are The Heroes Of The Coronavirus Pandemic  By Ruth Marcus

“Is this what they signed up for? There is some danger inherent in the ordinary practice of medicine, but not this much. I confess: I do not know that I would do the same in their circumstances; I am not sure I am so generous or so brave. If my child were graduating from medical school, how would I deal with her being sent, inadequately protected, into an emergency room? If my husband were a physician, would I send him off to the hospital — or let him back into the house in the interim?” Ruth Marcus

Healthcare workers have had no choice but to go above and beyond in recent years. In this essay, Marcus discusses the heroism of those in the healthcare field. He delves into the traits (including selflessness and courage) that make doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers heroes.

2.  Why Teachers Are My Heroes   By Joshua Muskin

“Teachers are my heroes because they accept this responsibility and try extremely hard to do this well even when the conditions in which they work are far from ideal; at least most do. Our jobs as society, education systems, and parents is to do our best to be strong allies to teachers, since their success is essential to ours.” Joshua Muskin

In this essay, Dr. Muskin discusses the many challenges teachers face and what parents, administrators, and education researchers can do to help teachers support students. Muskin explains that most teachers go above and beyond the call of duty to serve their classrooms.

3.  Martin Luther King Jr.—Civil Rights Activist & Hero   By Kathy Weiser-Alexander

“During this nonviolent protest, activists used boycotts, sit-ins, and marches to protest segregation and unfair hiring practices that caught the attention of the entire world. However, his tactics were put to the test when police brutality was used against the marchers, and King was arrested. But, his voice was not silenced, as he wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to refute his critics.” Kathy Weiser-Alexander

In this essay, Weiser-Alexander details both the traits and the actions of Dr. King before and during the civil rights movement. The author touches on King’s commitment to justice, persistence, and willingness to stand for his beliefs despite difficult circumstances.

“I remember this so vividly because Prefontaine was a hero to me, a hero in a way that no one was before, or really has been since. A British commentator once called him “an athletic Beatle.” If so, his persona was much more Lennon than McCartney. Actually, I thought of him more as Mick Jagger — or ultimately James Dean.” Bill O’Brian

A hero to many in the running world, Prefontaine’s confidence, unique style, and unmatched athletic ability have been heralded for decades. In this essay, O’Brian shares how he, as a distance runner during the era of Pre, related to his struggles and ambition.

“Burr fought against an ugly tide of anti-immigrant sentiment in the young republic, led by Hamilton’s Federalist party, which suggested that anyone without English heritage was a second-class citizen, and even challenged the rights of non-Anglos to hold office. In response, Burr insisted that anyone who contributed to society deserved all the rights of any other citizen, no matter their background.” Carey Wallace

In this essay, Wallace explains why Aaron Burr, the lifelong nemesis of founding father Alexander Hamilton, should be considered a historical hero . This essay exposes someone seen as a villain but much of society with a different take on their history. 

It can be interesting to think about your definition of a hero . When describing what the term hero means to you, you may want to choose a person (or a few people) you look up to as a hero to solidify your point. You might want to include fictional characters (such as those in the Marvel universe) and real-life brave souls, such as police officers and firefighters.

A word of caution: stay away from the cliche opening of describing how the dictionary defines a hero . Instead, lead-in with a personal story about a hero who has affected your life. While talking about a public figure as a hero is acceptable, you may find it easier to write about someone close to you who you feel has displayed heroic qualities . Writing about a family member or friend who has shown up as a heroic main character in your life can be just as exciting as writing about a real or imagined superhero.

From Beowulf to Marvel comics, heroes in literature take on many different traits. When writing an essay on what trait makes a hero come alive in a short story, novel, or comic, choose a few of your favorite heroes and find common themes that they share.

Perhaps your favorite heroes are selfless and are willing to put themselves last in the name of sacrifice for others. Perhaps they’re able to dig deep into the truth, being honest even when it’s hard, for the greater good. There’s no need to list endless heroes to make your point—choosing three or four heroes from literature can be a great way to support your argument about what characteristics define heroism in literature.

When someone is named a hero in real life, we often picture them saving people from a burning building or performing a difficult surgical operation. It can be difficult to pin down exactly what constitutes a heroic act. When writing about what constitutes a heroic act, think about people who go above and beyond, performing feats of courage, honesty, and bravery to support themselves or others. When writing about what constitutes a heroic act, discuss real-life or literary examples of heroes at work.

To many people, being a hero means giving back to others. While giving something away or trading in one’s well-being for others can certainly be seen as a heroic act, many people wonder if selflessness is required for heroism or if a hero can serve the greater good in a way that also supports their happiness. When writing about whether selflessness is required for heroism, choose examples from literature and real-life to support your point.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

If you’re still stuck, check out our available resource of essay writing topics .

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• Knowledge Base
• How to write a literary analysis essay | A step-by-step guide

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on January 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.

A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis , nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

Before beginning a literary analysis essay, it’s essential to carefully read the text and c ome up with a thesis statement to keep your essay focused. As you write, follow the standard structure of an academic essay :

• An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.
• A main body, divided into paragraphs , that builds an argument using evidence from the text.
• A conclusion that clearly states the main point that you have shown with your analysis.

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Table of contents

Step 1: reading the text and identifying literary devices, step 2: coming up with a thesis, step 3: writing a title and introduction, step 4: writing the body of the essay, step 5: writing a conclusion, other interesting articles.

The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.

Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writing itself and discuss how the text works on a deeper level. Primarily, you’re looking out for literary devices —textual elements that writers use to convey meaning and create effects. If you’re comparing and contrasting multiple texts, you can also look for connections between different texts.

To get started with your analysis, there are several key areas that you can focus on. As you analyze each aspect of the text, try to think about how they all relate to each other. You can use highlights or notes to keep track of important passages and quotes.

Language choices

Consider what style of language the author uses. Are the sentences short and simple or more complex and poetic?

What word choices stand out as interesting or unusual? Are words used figuratively to mean something other than their literal definition? Figurative language includes things like metaphor (e.g. “her eyes were oceans”) and simile (e.g. “her eyes were like oceans”).

Also keep an eye out for imagery in the text—recurring images that create a certain atmosphere or symbolize something important. Remember that language is used in literary texts to say more than it means on the surface.

Narrative voice

Ask yourself:

• Who is telling the story?
• How are they telling it?

Is it a first-person narrator (“I”) who is personally involved in the story, or a third-person narrator who tells us about the characters from a distance?

Consider the narrator’s perspective . Is the narrator omniscient (where they know everything about all the characters and events), or do they only have partial knowledge? Are they an unreliable narrator who we are not supposed to take at face value? Authors often hint that their narrator might be giving us a distorted or dishonest version of events.

The tone of the text is also worth considering. Is the story intended to be comic, tragic, or something else? Are usually serious topics treated as funny, or vice versa ? Is the story realistic or fantastical (or somewhere in between)?

Consider how the text is structured, and how the structure relates to the story being told.

• Novels are often divided into chapters and parts.
• Poems are divided into lines, stanzas, and sometime cantos.
• Plays are divided into scenes and acts.

Think about why the author chose to divide the different parts of the text in the way they did.

There are also less formal structural elements to take into account. Does the story unfold in chronological order, or does it jump back and forth in time? Does it begin in medias res —in the middle of the action? Does the plot advance towards a clearly defined climax?

With poetry, consider how the rhyme and meter shape your understanding of the text and your impression of the tone. Try reading the poem aloud to get a sense of this.

In a play, you might consider how relationships between characters are built up through different scenes, and how the setting relates to the action. Watch out for  dramatic irony , where the audience knows some detail that the characters don’t, creating a double meaning in their words, thoughts, or actions.

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Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.

If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example:

Essay question example

Is Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” a religious parable?

Your thesis statement should be an answer to this question—not a simple yes or no, but a statement of why this is or isn’t the case:

Thesis statement example

Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” is not a religious parable, but a story about bureaucratic alienation.

Sometimes you’ll be given freedom to choose your own topic; in this case, you’ll have to come up with an original thesis. Consider what stood out to you in the text; ask yourself questions about the elements that interested you, and consider how you might answer them.

Your thesis should be something arguable—that is, something that you think is true about the text, but which is not a simple matter of fact. It must be complex enough to develop through evidence and arguments across the course of your essay.

Say you’re analyzing the novel Frankenstein . You could start by asking yourself:

Your initial answer might be a surface-level description:

The character Frankenstein is portrayed negatively in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

However, this statement is too simple to be an interesting thesis. After reading the text and analyzing its narrative voice and structure, you can develop the answer into a more nuanced and arguable thesis statement:

Mary Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

Remember that you can revise your thesis statement throughout the writing process , so it doesn’t need to be perfectly formulated at this stage. The aim is to keep you focused as you analyze the text.

Finding textual evidence

To support your thesis statement, your essay will build an argument using textual evidence —specific parts of the text that demonstrate your point. This evidence is quoted and analyzed throughout your essay to explain your argument to the reader.

It can be useful to comb through the text in search of relevant quotations before you start writing. You might not end up using everything you find, and you may have to return to the text for more evidence as you write, but collecting textual evidence from the beginning will help you to structure your arguments and assess whether they’re convincing.

To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction.

Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on. It usually contains the name of the author and text(s) you’re analyzing. Keep it as concise and engaging as possible.

A common approach to the title is to use a relevant quote from the text, followed by a colon and then the rest of your title.

If you struggle to come up with a good title at first, don’t worry—this will be easier once you’ve begun writing the essay and have a better sense of your arguments.

“Fearful symmetry” : The violence of creation in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

The introduction

The essay introduction provides a quick overview of where your argument is going. It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay’s structure.

A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement. You might refer to a commonly held idea about the text and show how your thesis will contradict it, or zoom in on a particular device you intend to focus on.

Then you can end with a brief indication of what’s coming up in the main body of the essay. This is called signposting. It will be more elaborate in longer essays, but in a short five-paragraph essay structure, it shouldn’t be more than one sentence.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

Some students prefer to write the introduction later in the process, and it’s not a bad idea. After all, you’ll have a clearer idea of the overall shape of your arguments once you’ve begun writing them!

If you do write the introduction first, you should still return to it later to make sure it lines up with what you ended up writing, and edit as necessary.

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs : the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to your thesis. Don’t try to include everything you can think of to say about the text—only analysis that drives your argument.

In longer essays, the same principle applies on a broader scale. For example, you might have two or three sections in your main body, each with multiple paragraphs. Within these sections, you still want to begin new paragraphs at logical moments—a turn in the argument or the introduction of a new idea.

Robert’s first encounter with Gil-Martin suggests something of his sinister power. Robert feels “a sort of invisible power that drew me towards him.” He identifies the moment of their meeting as “the beginning of a series of adventures which has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it” (p. 89). Gil-Martin’s “invisible power” seems to be at work even at this distance from the moment described; before continuing the story, Robert feels compelled to anticipate at length what readers will make of his narrative after his approaching death. With this interjection, Hogg emphasizes the fatal influence Gil-Martin exercises from his first appearance.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he waits.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as religious symbolism.

This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous paragraph’s conclusion.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance to your point.

It’s important to contextualize quotes and explain why you’re using them; they should be properly introduced and analyzed, not treated as self-explanatory:

It isn’t always necessary to use a quote. Quoting is useful when you’re discussing the author’s language, but sometimes you’ll have to refer to plot points or structural elements that can’t be captured in a short quote.

In these cases, it’s more appropriate to paraphrase or summarize parts of the text—that is, to describe the relevant part in your own words:

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The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader.

A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis provides on the text as a whole:

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

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Introduction

You’ve been assigned a literary analysis paper—what does that even mean? Is it like a book report that you used to write in high school? Well, not really.

A literary analysis essay asks you to make an original argument about a poem, play, or work of fiction and support that argument with research and evidence from your careful reading of the text.

It can take many forms, such as a close reading of a text, critiquing the text through a particular literary theory, comparing one text to another, or criticizing another critic’s interpretation of the text. While there are many ways to structure a literary essay, writing this kind of essay follows generally follows a similar process for everyone

Crafting a good literary analysis essay begins with good close reading of the text, in which you have kept notes and observations as you read. This will help you with the first step, which is selecting a topic to write about—what jumped out as you read, what are you genuinely interested in? The next step is to focus your topic, developing it into an argument—why is this subject or observation important? Why should your reader care about it as much as you do? The third step is to gather evidence to support your argument, for literary analysis, support comes in the form of evidence from the text and from your research on what other literary critics have said about your topic. Only after you have performed these steps, are you ready to begin actually writing your essay.

Writing a Literary Analysis Essay

How to create a topic and conduct research:.

Writing an Analysis of a Poem, Story, or Play

If you are taking a literature course, it is important that you know how to write an analysis—sometimes called an interpretation or a literary analysis or a critical reading or a critical analysis—of a story, a poem, and a play. Your instructor will probably assign such an analysis as part of the course assessment. On your mid-term or final exam, you might have to write an analysis of one or more of the poems and/or stories on your reading list. Or the dreaded “sight poem or story” might appear on an exam, a work that is not on the reading list, that you have not read before, but one your instructor includes on the exam to examine your ability to apply the active reading skills you have learned in class to produce, independently, an effective literary analysis.You might be asked to write instead or, or in addition to an analysis of a literary work, a more sophisticated essay in which you compare and contrast the protagonists of two stories, or the use of form and metaphor in two poems, or the tragic heroes in two plays.

You might learn some literary theory in your course and be asked to apply theory—feminist, Marxist, reader-response, psychoanalytic, new historicist, for example—to one or more of the works on your reading list. But the seminal assignment in a literature course is the analysis of the single poem, story, novel, or play, and, even if you do not have to complete this assignment specifically, it will form the basis of most of the other writing assignments you will be required to undertake in your literature class. There are several ways of structuring a literary analysis, and your instructor might issue specific instructions on how he or she wants this assignment done. The method presented here might not be identical to the one your instructor wants you to follow, but it will be easy enough to modify, if your instructor expects something a bit different, and it is a good default method, if your instructor does not issue more specific guidelines.You want to begin your analysis with a paragraph that provides the context of the work you are analyzing and a brief account of what you believe to be the poem or story or play’s main theme. At a minimum, your account of the work’s context will include the name of the author, the title of the work, its genre, and the date and place of publication. If there is an important biographical or historical context to the work, you should include that, as well.Try to express the work’s theme in one or two sentences. Theme, you will recall, is that insight into human experience the author offers to readers, usually revealed as the content, the drama, the plot of the poem, story, or play unfolds and the characters interact. Assessing theme can be a complex task. Authors usually show the theme; they don’t tell it. They rarely say, at the end of the story, words to this effect: “and the moral of my story is…” They tell their story, develop their characters, provide some kind of conflict—and from all of this theme emerges. Because identifying theme can be challenging and subjective, it is often a good idea to work through the rest of the analysis, then return to the beginning and assess theme in light of your analysis of the work’s other literary elements.Here is a good example of an introductory paragraph from Ben’s analysis of William Butler Yeats’ poem, “Among School Children.”

“Among School Children” was published in Yeats’ 1928 collection of poems The Tower. It was inspired by a visit Yeats made in 1926 to school in Waterford, an official visit in his capacity as a senator of the Irish Free State. In the course of the tour, Yeats reflects upon his own youth and the experiences that shaped the “sixty-year old, smiling public man” (line 8) he has become. Through his reflection, the theme of the poem emerges: a life has meaning when connections among apparently disparate experiences are forged into a unified whole.

In the body of your literature analysis, you want to guide your readers through a tour of the poem, story, or play, pausing along the way to comment on, analyze, interpret, and explain key incidents, descriptions, dialogue, symbols, the writer’s use of figurative language—any of the elements of literature that are relevant to a sound analysis of this particular work. Your main goal is to explain how the elements of literature work to elucidate, augment, and develop the theme. The elements of literature are common across genres: a story, a narrative poem, and a play all have a plot and characters. But certain genres privilege certain literary elements. In a poem, for example, form, imagery and metaphor might be especially important; in a story, setting and point-of-view might be more important than they are in a poem; in a play, dialogue, stage directions, lighting serve functions rarely relevant in the analysis of a story or poem.

The length of the body of an analysis of a literary work will usually depend upon the length of work being analyzed—the longer the work, the longer the analysis—though your instructor will likely establish a word limit for this assignment. Make certain that you do not simply paraphrase the plot of the story or play or the content of the poem. This is a common weakness in student literary analyses, especially when the analysis is of a poem or a play.

Here is a good example of two body paragraphs from Amelia’s analysis of “Araby” by James Joyce.

Within the story’s first few paragraphs occur several religious references which will accumulate as the story progresses. The narrator is a student at the Christian Brothers’ School; the former tenant of his house was a priest; he left behind books called The Abbot and The Devout Communicant. Near the end of the story’s second paragraph the narrator describes a “central apple tree” in the garden, under which is “the late tenant’s rusty bicycle pump.” We may begin to suspect the tree symbolizes the apple tree in the Garden of Eden and the bicycle pump, the snake which corrupted Eve, a stretch, perhaps, until Joyce’s fall-of-innocence theme becomes more apparent.

The narrator must continue to help his aunt with her errands, but, even when he is so occupied, his mind is on Mangan’s sister, as he tries to sort out his feelings for her. Here Joyce provides vivid insight into the mind of an adolescent boy at once elated and bewildered by his first crush. He wants to tell her of his “confused adoration,” but he does not know if he will ever have the chance. Joyce’s description of the pleasant tension consuming the narrator is conveyed in a striking simile, which continues to develop the narrator’s character, while echoing the religious imagery, so important to the story’s theme: “But my body was like a harp, and her words and gestures were like fingers, running along the wires.”

The concluding paragraph of your analysis should realize two goals. First, it should present your own opinion on the quality of the poem or story or play about which you have been writing. And, second, it should comment on the current relevance of the work. You should certainly comment on the enduring social relevance of the work you are explicating. You may comment, though you should never be obliged to do so, on the personal relevance of the work. Here is the concluding paragraph from Dao-Ming’s analysis of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

First performed in 1895, The Importance of Being Earnest has been made into a film, as recently as 2002 and is regularly revived by professional and amateur theatre companies. It endures not only because of the comic brilliance of its characters and their dialogue, but also because its satire still resonates with contemporary audiences. I am still amazed that I see in my own Asian mother a shadow of Lady Bracknell, with her obsession with finding for her daughter a husband who will maintain, if not, ideally, increase the family’s social status. We might like to think we are more liberated and socially sophisticated than our Victorian ancestors, but the starlets and eligible bachelors who star in current reality television programs illustrate the extent to which superficial concerns still influence decisions about love and even marriage. Even now, we can turn to Oscar Wilde to help us understand and laugh at those who are earnest in name only.

Dao-Ming’s conclusion is brief, but she does manage to praise the play, reaffirm its main theme, and explain its enduring appeal. And note how her last sentence cleverly establishes that sense of closure that is also a feature of an effective analysis.

You may, of course, modify the template that is presented here. Your instructor might favour a somewhat different approach to literary analysis. Its essence, though, will be your understanding and interpretation of the theme of the poem, story, or play and the skill with which the author shapes the elements of literature—plot, character, form, diction, setting, point of view—to support the theme.

Academic Writing Tips : How to Write a Literary Analysis Paper. Authored by: eHow. Located at: https://youtu.be/8adKfLwIrVk. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license

BC Open Textbooks: English Literature Victorians and Moderns: https://opentextbc.ca/englishliterature/back-matter/appendix-5-writing-an-analysis-of-a-poem-story-and-play/

Literary Analysis

The challenges of writing about english literature.

Writing begins with the act of reading . While this statement is true for most college papers, strong English papers tend to be the product of highly attentive reading (and rereading). When your instructors ask you to do a “close reading,” they are asking you to read not only for content, but also for structures and patterns. When you perform a close reading, then, you observe how form and content interact. In some cases, form reinforces content: for example, in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 14, where the speaker invites God’s “force” “to break, blow, burn and make [him] new.” Here, the stressed monosyllables of the verbs “break,” “blow” and “burn” evoke aurally the force that the speaker invites from God. In other cases, form raises questions about content: for example, a repeated denial of guilt will likely raise questions about the speaker’s professed innocence. When you close read, take an inductive approach. Start by observing particular details in the text, such as a repeated image or word, an unexpected development, or even a contradiction. Often, a detail–such as a repeated image–can help you to identify a question about the text that warrants further examination. So annotate details that strike you as you read. Some of those details will eventually help you to work towards a thesis. And don’t worry if a detail seems trivial. If you can make a case about how an apparently trivial detail reveals something significant about the text, then your paper will have a thought-provoking thesis to argue.

Common Types of English Papers Many assignments will ask you to analyze a single text. Others, however, will ask you to read two or more texts in relation to each other, or to consider a text in light of claims made by other scholars and critics. For most assignments, close reading will be central to your paper. While some assignment guidelines will suggest topics and spell out expectations in detail, others will offer little more than a page limit. Approaching the writing process in the absence of assigned topics can be daunting, but remember that you have resources: in section, you will probably have encountered some examples of close reading; in lecture, you will have encountered some of the course’s central questions and claims. The paper is a chance for you to extend a claim offered in lecture, or to analyze a passage neglected in lecture. In either case, your analysis should do more than recapitulate claims aired in lecture and section. Because different instructors have different goals for an assignment, you should always ask your professor or TF if you have questions. These general guidelines should apply in most cases:

• A close reading of a single text: Depending on the length of the text, you will need to be more or less selective about what you choose to consider. In the case of a sonnet, you will probably have enough room to analyze the text more thoroughly than you would in the case of a novel, for example, though even here you will probably not analyze every single detail. By contrast, in the case of a novel, you might analyze a repeated scene, image, or object (for example, scenes of train travel, images of decay, or objects such as or typewriters). Alternately, you might analyze a perplexing scene (such as a novel’s ending, albeit probably in relation to an earlier moment in the novel). But even when analyzing shorter works, you will need to be selective. Although you might notice numerous interesting details as you read, not all of those details will help you to organize a focused argument about the text. For example, if you are focusing on depictions of sensory experience in Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” you probably do not need to analyze the image of a homeless Ruth in stanza 7, unless this image helps you to develop your case about sensory experience in the poem.
• A theoretically-informed close reading. In some courses, you will be asked to analyze a poem, a play, or a novel by using a critical theory (psychoanalytic, postcolonial, gender, etc). For example, you might use Kristeva’s theory of abjection to analyze mother-daughter relations in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. Critical theories provide focus for your analysis; if “abjection” is the guiding concept for your paper, you should focus on the scenes in the novel that are most relevant to the concept.
• A historically-informed close reading. In courses with a historicist orientation, you might use less self-consciously literary documents, such as newspapers or devotional manuals, to develop your analysis of a literary work. For example, to analyze how Robinson Crusoe makes sense of his island experiences, you might use Puritan tracts that narrate events in terms of how God organizes them. The tracts could help you to show not only how Robinson Crusoe draws on Puritan narrative conventions, but also—more significantly—how the novel revises those conventions.
• A comparison of two texts When analyzing two texts, you might look for unexpected contrasts between apparently similar texts, or unexpected similarities between apparently dissimilar texts, or for how one text revises or transforms the other. Keep in mind that not all of the similarities, differences, and transformations you identify will be relevant to an argument about the relationship between the two texts. As you work towards a thesis, you will need to decide which of those similarities, differences, or transformations to focus on. Moreover, unless instructed otherwise, you do not need to allot equal space to each text (unless this 50/50 allocation serves your thesis well, of course). Often you will find that one text helps to develop your analysis of another text. For example, you might analyze the transformation of Ariel’s song from The Tempest in T. S. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land. Insofar as this analysis is interested in the afterlife of Ariel’s song in a later poem, you would likely allot more space to analyzing allusions to Ariel’s song in The Waste Land (after initially establishing the song’s significance in Shakespeare’s play, of course).
• A response paper A response paper is a great opportunity to practice your close reading skills without having to develop an entire argument. In most cases, a solid approach is to select a rich passage that rewards analysis (for example, one that depicts an important scene or a recurring image) and close read it. While response papers are a flexible genre, they are not invitations for impressionistic accounts of whether you liked the work or a particular character. Instead, you might use your close reading to raise a question about the text—to open up further investigation, rather than to supply a solution.
• A research paper. In most cases, you will receive guidance from the professor on the scope of the research paper. It is likely that you will be expected to consult sources other than the assigned readings. Hollis is your best bet for book titles, and the MLA bibliography (available through e-resources) for articles. When reading articles, make sure that they have been peer reviewed; you might also ask your TF to recommend reputable journals in the field.

Harvard College Writing Program: https://writingproject.fas.harvard.edu/files/hwp/files/bg_writing_english.pdf

In the same way that we talk with our friends about the latest episode of Game of Thrones or newest Marvel movie, scholars communicate their ideas and interpretations of literature through written literary analysis essays. Literary analysis essays make us better readers of literature.

Only through careful reading and well-argued analysis can we reach new understandings and interpretations of texts that are sometimes hundreds of years old. Literary analysis brings new meaning and can shed new light on texts. Building from careful reading and selecting a topic that you are genuinely interested in, your argument supports how you read and understand a text. Using examples from the text you are discussing in the form of textual evidence further supports your reading. Well-researched literary analysis also includes information about what other scholars have written about a specific text or topic.

Literary analysis helps us to refine our ideas, question what we think we know, and often generates new knowledge about literature. Literary analysis essays allow you to discuss your own interpretation of a given text through careful examination of the choices the original author made in the text.

ENG134 – Literary Genres Copyright © by The American Women's College and Jessica Egan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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English Studies

This website is dedicated to English Literature, Literary Criticism, Literary Theory, English Language and its teaching and learning.

Hero: Creating and Critiquing

Hero serves as a focal point in narratives, symbolizing universal themes and ideals while demonstrating courage, selflessness, and integrity.

Introduction to Hero

Table of Contents

A hero, as a literary device , embodies the archetype of a central character who embarks on a transformative journey, often facing adversity and challenges that reveal his/her inner qualities and virtues.

This character serves as a focal point in narratives , symbolizing universal themes and ideals while demonstrating acts of courage, selflessness, and moral integrity. Through their actions and personal growth, heroes contribute to the development of the plot and themes, resonating with readers as embodiments of human aspirations and heroism.

Literary Examples of Hero

• Siddhartha Gautama in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse : Siddhartha embarks on a spiritual journey to seek enlightenment and discover the path to true wisdom. His quest for self-discovery and enlightenment makes him a central hero in this philosophical novel.
• Prince Hamlet in Hamlet by William Shakespeare : Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, grapples with existential questions and seeks to avenge his father’s murder. His introspection, moral dilemmas, and tragic journey make him an iconic literary hero.
• Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky : Raskolnikov is a complex antihero who contemplates committing a heinous crime for what he believes is a greater good. His internal struggles and eventual moral reckoning are central to this psychological masterpiece.
• Kunta Kinte in Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley : Kunta Kinte, an African man sold into slavery, remains a symbol of resilience, identity, and the enduring spirit of his people. His journey and determination to preserve his heritage resonate throughout this epic narrative.
• Oscar Wao in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz : Oscar is a nerdy and overweight young man who navigates life as an outsider while struggling with his Dominican heritage and family’s curse. His pursuit of love, acceptance, and identity makes him a memorable modern hero.

These literary heroes from world literature masterpieces represent diverse cultures, time periods, and themes, contributing to the rich tapestry of global literary heritage.

How to Create a Hero

Benefits of Creating a Hero

• Engagement : Heroes captivate readers, fostering a strong emotional connection and keeping them invested in the story.
• Identification : Readers often identify with heroes, seeing themselves in the protagonist’s struggles and triumphs.
• Conflict and Resolution : Heroes drive the plot by facing conflicts and striving toward resolution, creating tension and suspense.
• Moral Exploration : Heroes can explore complex moral dilemmas, prompting readers to contemplate ethical choices and consequences.
• Character Development : The hero’s journey allows for profound character growth and transformation, adding depth to the narrative.
• Inspiration : Heroes inspire readers with their courage, resilience, and noble qualities, offering role models and ideals.
• Universal Themes : Heroic narratives often address universal themes like good vs. evil, justice, and the human condition.
• Escapism : Heroes transport readers to fantastical or extraordinary worlds, providing an escape from daily life.
• Symbolism : Heroes can symbolize cultural, social, or historical values, enriching the story’s symbolism.
• Entertainment : Heroic tales are inherently entertaining, offering excitement, adventure, and a sense of wonder.
• Empowerment : Heroes empower readers by showing that individuals can make a difference and overcome adversity.
• Catharsis : The hero’s journey often leads to catharsis, allowing readers to experience emotional release and cathartic relief.
• Teaching and Learning : Heroic stories can impart valuable life lessons and wisdom through the hero’s experiences.
• Timelessness : Heroic archetypes have enduring appeal, making hero-driven narratives timeless and accessible across generations.
• Variety : Heroes come in various forms, allowing writers to explore diverse perspectives and character types.
• Memorability : Iconic heroes and their stories remain etched in readers’ memories, becoming part of literary canon.
• Cultural Significance : Heroes often reflect cultural values and serve as symbols of cultural identity.
• Social Commentary : Heroes can be used to comment on societal issues and provoke thought on important topics.
• Artistic Exploration : Crafting heroes challenges writers to create compelling and multi-dimensional characters.
• Narrative Structure : Heroes provide a structured framework for storytelling, aiding in plot development and pacing.

Hero and Literary Theory

Suggested Readings

• Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton University Press, 1949.
• Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton University Press, 1957.
• Lé vi-Strauss, Claude. Structural Anthropology. Basic Books, 1963.

You may read more on Literary Devices below:

• Anti-Climax: A Literary Device
• Anticlimax: Creating and Critiquing It
• Antecedent: A Lingusitic Term
• Antecedents: Creating and Critiquing It

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Who are Heroes? An Analysis of the Literary Hero and an Interpretation of the Modern Hero

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Heroes appear in literature and reality in various forms. Given the changing times, the definition of heroism has evolved to incorporate modern societal values, but remains built on a structural foundation of moral righteousness prevalent in philosophy. Utilizing Immanuel Kant, David Hume, and John Stuart Mill’s philosophical evaluations of moral righteousness and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, this thesis seeks to understand the structural components to heroism both in theoretical and practical applications. Analysis of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will provide distinctions between traditional and modern heroism as well as highlight developments of hero archetypes. Through understanding these idealized hero archetypes in literature, this thesis will further examine heroism and its manifestation in the modern world through case studies of activists, whistleblowers, doctors, teachers, mentors, and good Samaritans – ultimately bringing light to the compassionate, empathic, and inspirational qualities prevalent across heroic figures.

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My 27 Favourite Heroes, Heroines, and Villains from Classic Lit

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On September 1st, I added another birthday to my collection.

It’s been my tradition for the past few birthdays to publish a “just for fun” list post to help my readers get to know me better. Two years ago, I shared 25 Things About Me , and last year’s topic was 26 Things I Need to Nail Down Before I Get Any Older .

For my 27th birthday, I’d like to introduce you to 27 heroes, heroines, and villains who I think are some of the greatest literary creations (or I just happen to personally like).

Is this list heavily weighted towards classic British literature? Unashamedly, yes.

Am I leaving out many excellent candidates? Inevitably.

But I’m only 27, after all.

Greatest Fictional Characters from Classic Books

1. sir percy blakeney.

From  The Scarlet Pimpernel  (and series ) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy . Although he’s adept at donning disguises to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine, his best disguise is the one he lives daily–that of a foolish, frivolous Englishman whom nobody would suspect as a hero willing to risk his life repeatedly.

2. John Rokesmith

From Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens . For most of the book, he plays the part of a quiet, dutiful secretary to an elderly couple. His heroism lies in his loyalty and his patience as he waits for the rest of the society–and one girl in particular–to know him for who is really is.

3. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey

From the Lord Peter novels by Dorothy Sayers. In Lord Peter, Sayers intentionally created the ultimate hero: handsome, rich, witty, and in every way desirable. And he solves murder mysteries for fun. (But he’s deadly serious.)

4. Hercule Poirot

From the mystery novels by Agatha Christie . Although he has a completely different personality and physical appearance from Lord Peter, Poirot is no less dear to my heart. And the man’s a genius.

5. Harry Feversham

From The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason . The interesting thing is, Feversham wouldn’t have been such an admirable hero if he hadn’t been so gravely un-heroic to begin with.

6. Dr. Peter Blood

From Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini . What do you get when you take a respectable English doctor and send him to Barbados as a slave? A pirate, apparently! But one with a code of honour, bravery, and leadership, or course.

7. Henry Tilney

From Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen . He doesn’t hold a grudge like Captain Wentworth, and unlike Darcy, he’s warm and generous at first introductions. As much as I admire the heroes from other Austen novels, there are few as likeable, genuine, and unselfish as Henry Tilney.

8. Gabriel Oak

From Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy . The most plain and unassuming of all the heroes on this list, I fully admit that I mistook him for “just a shepherd” at first.

The Heroines

9. nancy drew.

From the Nancy Drew mystery series by Carolyn Keene . Nancy Drew is brave, smart, independent, feminine, good with people,  persistent, a good friend, a loving daughter…I could go on! She might be too perfect, but I honestly don’t care.

10. Emily Starr

From the Emily series by L.M. Montgomery. Did you think I was going to say Anne of Green Gables? This lesser-known heroine is more introverted than Anne and faces harder struggles, but is deeply and elegantly drawn. As an introvert and Thursday’s child myself, Emily has a special place in my heart.

11. Laura Ingalls Wilder

From the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder . Maybe I like Laura so much because I envy her! Hearing those books read aloud, I always wanted to be her, riding horses bareback across the prairie, exploring new places, or just reveling in simple, everyday rituals.

12. Sara Crewe

From A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett . I admire Sara’s indefatigable optimism, her story-telling, and the way she chooses to treat people around her.

13. ALL of the March sisters (and their mother!)

From Little Women by Louisa May Alcott . I could never pick a favourite, and reading the book, I could identify at parts with each one of the girls. And Marmee? She is a wonderful homemaker and a wise mother.

14. Marian Halcombe

From The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins . Although she doesn’t look the part, Marian is the good angel in this page-turner of a Gothic novel that’s heavy with melodrama, intrigue, and exquisite writing.

15. Rose Campbell

From Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott . As much as I enjoy rooting for unlikely heroines, sometimes it’s just fun (and refreshing) to meet a heroine who has beauty, brains, money, and likability!

16. Christy

From Christy by Catherine Marshall. Christy heads into the the Appalachian mountains as a school teacher and finds herself in a completely different world, culturally. I love how this book is based on a true story; it’s one of my favourite bildungsroman novels.

17. Lizze Hexam

From Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens . I was hard pressed with picking Bella or Lizzie for this list. Although I like and identify more with Bella, I think Lizzie is the more “true” heroine. At first glance, she’s a docile, one-dimensional Victorian “angel in the house,” but by novel’s end she’s proven her mettle as strong (both physically and mentally), sacrificial, and realistically human.

18. Jane Eyre

From Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte . Jane Eyre was one of the first pieces of classic British literature I ever read. I drank it in, spellbound by the inner workings of Jane’s mind and letting myself feel as deeply every choice she had to make.

19. Anne Shirley

From Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery . Okay, fine. Who am I kidding? I could never leave Anne off this list!

The Villains

20. count dracula.

From Dracula by Bram Stoker . While modern-day stories like Once Upon a Time are bent on redeeming and softening every villain that enters the story, Stoker makes it clear that Dracula is elementally evil.

21. Signor Montoni

From The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. Montoni presides as the villain in this “ultimate” grandfather of a Gothic novel. He’s at once passionate and utterly cold, alluring and repulsive, and as a reader, you never feel like you can entirely grasp his character or what secrets lie in his past, moldering in shadow like the castle he lives in.

22. Miss Minchin

From  A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett . Petty, capricious, and artificial, Miss Minchin is the antithesis of Sara Crewe in every way.

23. Armand Chauvelin

From The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy . Chauvelin is intrepid, ruthless, and cunning in his knack for using others to get to Sir Percy, his arch-rival.

24. Heathcliff

From Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte . I’m not sure if the people who swoon over Heathcliff as a romantic hero have actually read the book! Granted, he has a sympathetic background. But it’s clear by the end of the novel that’s he’s chosen to be a villain.

25. Count Fosco

From The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins . Gothic novels definitely win the jackpot for vivid villains! Although he enters the book with a magnetic personality, Fosco doesn’t appear at first to be the arch villain of this story. And that makes him all the more sinister as he’s gradually shown to be the real mastermind behind the plot.

26. Gilbert Osmond

From The Portrait of a Lady   by Henry James. This despicable man is detached, entitled, inhuman, unscrupulous, and all manner of other unsavory adjectives.

27. Mrs. Danvers

From Rebecca   Daphne Du Maurier . Like many good villains in literature, Mrs. Danvers lurks in the shadows, haunting the novel’s heroine both by her silence and by poisonous words, carefully chosen.

[question]Alright, I know you CAN’T WAIT to tell me about all the people I’ve left off this list! Who are your favorite heroes, heroines, and villains?[/question]

Want more bookish-themed blog posts? Come join the Tea and Ink Society , a blog and community for the literary woman! I’ll see you over there …

13 Comments

Happy Birthday!!! I love Emily Starr (and Anne, of course!). Hope you have something fun planned to celebrate your day!

How lovely to have a Fall birthday – hope it is a special one! Just finished reading Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin. Not sure if Alice is my favorite character but the one that comes to mind – during the Great Depression she goes to Kentucky to deliver donated books to a small town library. An easy read but I enjoyed how she grew as a person.

Happy Birthday! there are some really good reads in this list

Elsie, love your list! Of course, I always prefer a book over its movie version, but I just watched both Far From the Madding Crowd movies, first the one from the 60s then the new one. I liked the one from the 60s so much more.

Good to know! I haven’t seen either movie version, although I did catch a preview for the recent one. Now I want to watch both to compare!

My daughter and I would like to add Sir Daniel Brackley from “The Black Arrow” by Robert Louis Stevenson to the ‘Villians’ list. Totally cunning, ruthless, and duplicitous. If you haven’t read, you should. But this is a great list, I’m going to use it as a ‘to read’ list, for all the ones I haven’t yet, possibly starting with “The Woman in White” which has been on my bedside table longer than I care to admit, or Our Mutual Friend, because – Dickens <3

Thank you! It sounds like we’re kindred spirits, if you love Dickens and The Woman in White is on your nightstand!! I hope you’ll come back and tell me (or email me!) about how you like those two books, once you read them. Our Mutual Friend was Dickens’s last completed novel before The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It’s very satisfying, and beautifully, intricately plotted.

I actually have NOT read The Black Arrow , I’m sad to say! I started it when I was young, and something must’ve sidetracked me because I know I never finished it. So, I need to do that. I did think about including Alan Breck Stewart from Kidnapped , though. (As a hero, of course!)

HA! Finally someone who recognizes Heathcliff for who and what he was! He was a mean little boy and an evil man. Sometimes I think those who paint him as “romantic” have only seen the horrid movie adaptations of this book and have certainly not read the unabridged story.

Precisely. He’s “romantic” in the sense of a Bryonic tragedy. But not romantic in the sense that he’s a hero or a worthy lover.

I just stumbled across this blog post and feel the need to defend Heathcliff 😉

I teach Wuthering Heights in my AP Literature class, and most students are surprised that they actually enjoy the book. But I had one insightful student who said that the character development of Heathcliff is heartbreaking. She could see his potential, his love for Cathy, his goodness, etc. But because of the child abuse at the hands of Hinley, the racist/classist attitudes of the Lintons, and Cathy’s cruel rejection (not intended for Heathcliff’s ears), Heathcliff kills his own heart so he doesn’t hurt.

Also, I think the argument could be made that everyone is villainous and heroic in some way in the novel. At least, everyone in the first generation is the villain: Hinley, old Cathy, Heathcliff, Edgar Linton, Isabelle Linton, the Lintons, Mrs. Earnshaw, and Mr. Earnshaw. They all engage in violence, whether physical or with words that cut. The 13-year-old Heathcliff says “I shall be as dirty as I please; and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty” before he runs away from Cathy; yet, then the very next page he says “Nelly, make me decent, I’m going to be good.” It is in these moments when the reader sees Heathcliff’s desire to be good/heroic. His heroism is stunted, but it is still there.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to write a long post, but just wanted to provide a counterpoint (from someone who has read the book 🙂

I’m sorry I’m late on replying to this…in my mind I already had! I completely agree that Heathcliff is a sympathetic character. It’s one of the things that makes him such a compelling villain later on. And for sure there are a lot of other problematic characters and pivotal moments when characters make a fateful choice. It’s a great book. But still, with what Heathcliff becomes and with the choices he makes, it’s impossible for me to place him with true and admirable heroes like Gabriel Oak and Harry Feversham (two men who were also spurned by the women they loved).

Happy birthday and thank you for the list. There are several books here that I haven’t read yet and being a lover of classic British literature myself, I definitely will be adding some of these books to me to-read list. P.S. I know that I am totally being predictable but my favorite hero and heroine will always be Darcy and Elizabeth.

It’s so nice to meet a fell Brit lit enthusiast! Darcy and Elizabeth are pretty awesome, no question there!

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Literary Articles

Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers.

Literary Heroism

Hero definition.

The word hero is commonly applied to many different types of people performing wildly varying acts. For instance, extraordinary acts of physical strength and courage, such as saving a stranger from a burning house or standing up to an armed assailant, are feats we would typically label heroic. Physical courage is not the only component of heroism, however. Those who exhibit moral courage, such as people who put their own lives or reputations at stake to do or say what is right, rather than what is merely popular, are also called heroes. Heroes can also be those close friends or loved ones whom we admire and treat as role models, calling such a person “my hero.” We routinely use the term for our popular and talented sports figures as well, whether or not their behavior off the playing field can be considered heroic.

We even use it to refer to people who are inspirations to others, inspirations that do not necessarily hinge on physical strength or moral superiority. With all of these varied uses, clearly explaining the allure of heroism as a literary theme is difficult. Compounding that difficulty is the fact that in literary studies, the term hero is used to refer to the central character of a work. John Dryden first used the term this way in 1697, and it is still commonly accepted as a synonym for protagonist, even when the protagonist does nothing particularly heroic. We have long used the word heroic to refer to acts that are special or extraordinary. The exploits of professional athletes, the life-saving missions of soldiers and firefighters, the bravery of whistleblowers, and even the lives of fictional characters in our most cherished works of literature seem, in our minds, to certify them as “heroes.” Getting at the heart of what qualifies behavior as heroic may explain why Dryden’s arguable misuse of the term has had such staying power. The word hero is of Greek origin, and in Greek mythology it referred to those who were favored by the gods or had “godlike” qualities. The Oxford English Dictionary describes heroes as “men of super human strength, courage, or ability.” The emphasis here is on super, an adjective that suggests heroism goes beyond what human beings are expected to do.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s übermensch(superman) theory

Friedrich Nietzsche’s theory of the übermensch (sometimes translated as “superman”) speaks to this concept of going beyond human ability. Nietzsche, a 19th-century German philosopher, wrote in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) that in the modern world, God, or the concept of God, had ceased to give life meaning. This void, he wrote, could be filled by the übermensch, a superior, transcendent human being who would give new meaning to life. All could seek to reach this status, thus creating a world in which all were motivated by a love of the present world and the present time. The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, writing in 1840, would agree that the heroism must be lifeaffirming, although he would not agree that religion had ceased to give life meaning. In fact, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, he wrote that “all religions stand upon” the worship of heroes, and that Jesus Christ could be considered the “greatest of all heroes” (249). Carlyle goes on to set up criteria for what makes a hero or a heroic action: He says a hero must conquer fear, otherwise he is acting as but a “slave and coward” (268). Further, he must be earnest and sincere and have a vision that penetrates beyond what the average eye might see (281, 325). Finally, he must be an inspiration to others, someone who can “light the way” (347). As Carlyle was one of the first to write on the subject seriously, many of his criteria have lasted and are reinforced by theorists of the present day.

Crane’s treatment of heroism

Polster goes on to note that hero and heroism are words that have long been associated with men because of the popular focus on physical courage and strength. Indeed, the word first appeared in Homer’s The Iliad, when the name was given to all those who had participated in the Trojan Wars and about whom a story could be told. But, as Carlyle and Campbell both stress, possessing great moral courage is just as rare and should be honored with as much fervor. For example, in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Jane displays more moral courage than anyone in the novel, standing by her friend Charlotte Temple, standing up to her evil Aunt Reed, refusing to marry St. John Rivers because she is not in love with him, and returning to the injured Mr. Rochester. Jane’s efforts are consistently heroic because they affirm life, they are selfless, and they inspire others to good. In contrast, Henry Fleming’s actions in Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage are not so consistent. Fleeing his first battle, Fleming acts only out of fear. However, when he returns to battle a changed man, Crane seems to suggest that he is still acting out of fear. He is now motivated by his desire not to be seen as a coward. Tim O’Brien, author of the Vietnam War novels Going after Cacciato and The Things They Carried, has asserted that men have killed and died “because they were afraid not to.”

This is exactly the point of Crane’s treatment of heroism: that it is complicated, is hard to discern, and can carry with it a great deal of ambiguity. Henry Fleming is a soldier, and physical acts of courage such as those displayed in war have long been the province of heroism. But what of ordinary people, those whose daily lives do not place them in typically “heroic” situation? Can these people exhibit heroism as well? For example, in John Updike’s “A&P,” Sammy, the supermarket cashier who tells the story, abruptly quits his job when his manager is disrespectful to three teenaged girls who enter the store. In the grand scheme of things, this action might not seem noteworthy. But in the world of the A&P, it certainly is. To return to some of the criteria discussed above, Sammy has respect for life and respect for the present in that he does not want to simply carry on as though nothing has happened. He wants to acknowledge the girls’ worth as human beings and not simply see them as “sheep” like the other people in the store. Also, Sammy has vision. He does not want the A&P to be his life; he is thinking of the future and how he can contribute toward it in a more meaningful way than he would standing behind the cash register.

Heroic behavior can also come from those whom we might not see as typically “good” people. Sometimes, the term antihero is used for these characters. In John Gay’s The Begg ar’s Opera, Macheath is a thief and a murderer. He “marries” several women under false pretenses and exhibits little regard for the laws of the city. However, Macheath is arguably a hero because the system within which he operates is so corrupt and bereft of compassion itself that the audience actually roots for him to beat that system. He has his own moral code, and he sticks by it. Looked at from this perspective, one can easily see how Macheath’s daring actions might be seen as heroic. There is quite a leap from a character such as Macheath to a character such as Sammy the checker. And again, there is another great leap from Sammy to characters such as Jane Eyre and Antigone. However, all of these characters exhibit behavior that is inspirational, courageous, and extraordinary, and in doing so all of them exemplify the theme of heroism.

See also Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart; Allende, Isabel: House of the Spirits, The; Atwood, Margaret: Handmaid’s Tale, The; Behn, Aphra: Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave; Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: Hound of the Baskervilles, The; Conrad, Joseph: Lord Jim; Dickens, Charles: Tale of Two Cities, A; Douglass, Frederick: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave; Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones; Heller, Joseph: Catch-22; Hersey, John: Hiroshima; Homer: Odyssey, The; Hinton S. E.: Outsiders, The; Kesey, Ken: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Lewis, C. S.: Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The; Malamud, Bernard: Natural, The; McMurtry, Larry: Lonesome Dove; Orwell, George: Nineteen Eighty-Four; Rand, Ayn: Anthem; Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Stevenson, Robert Louis: Treasure Island; Synge, John Millington: Playboy of the Western World, The; Tolkien, J. R. R.: Hobbit, The; Lord of the Rings, The; Virgil: Aeneid, The.

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Literary Analysis Essay

Literary Analysis Essay Writing

Last updated on: May 21, 2023

Literary Analysis Essay - Ultimate Guide By Professionals

By: Cordon J.

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Dec 3, 2019

A literary analysis essay specifically examines and evaluates a piece of literature or a literary work. It also understands and explains the links between the small parts to their whole information.

It is important for students to understand the meaning and the true essence of literature to write a literary essay.

One of the most difficult assignments for students is writing a literary analysis essay. It can be hard to come up with an original idea or find enough material to write about. You might think you need years of experience in order to create a good paper, but that's not true.

This blog post will show you how easy it can be when you follow the steps given here.Writing such an essay involves the breakdown of a book into small parts and understanding each part separately. It seems easy, right?

Trust us, it is not as hard as good book reports but it may also not be extremely easy. You will have to take into account different approaches and explain them in relation with the chosen literary work.

It is a common high school and college assignment and you can learn everything in this blog.

Continue reading for some useful tips with an example to write a literary analysis essay that will be on point. You can also explore our detailed article on writing an analytical essay .

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What is a Literary Analysis Essay?

A literary analysis essay is an important kind of essay that focuses on the detailed analysis of the work of literature.

The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to explain why the author has used a specific theme for his work. Or examine the characters, themes, literary devices , figurative language, and settings in the story.

This type of essay encourages students to think about how the book or the short story has been written. And why the author has created this work.

The method used in the literary analysis essay differs from other types of essays. It primarily focuses on the type of work and literature that is being analyzed.

Mostly, you will be going to break down the work into various parts. In order to develop a better understanding of the idea being discussed, each part will be discussed separately.

The essay should explain the choices of the author and point of view along with your answers and personal analysis.

How To Write A Literary Analysis Essay

So how to start a literary analysis essay? The answer to this question is quite simple.

The following sections are required to write an effective literary analysis essay. By following the guidelines given in the following sections, you will be able to craft a winning literary analysis essay.

Introduction

The aim of the introduction is to establish a context for readers. You have to give a brief on the background of the selected topic.

It should contain the name of the author of the literary work along with its title. The introduction should be effective enough to grab the reader’s attention.

In the body section, you have to retell the story that the writer has narrated. It is a good idea to create a summary as it is one of the important tips of literary analysis.

Other than that, you are required to develop ideas and disclose the observed information related to the issue. The ideal length of the body section is around 1000 words.

To write the body section, your observation should be based on evidence and your own style of writing.

It would be great if the body of your essay is divided into three paragraphs. Make a strong argument with facts related to the thesis statement in all of the paragraphs in the body section.

Start writing each paragraph with a topic sentence and use transition words when moving to the next paragraph.

Summarize the important points of your literary analysis essay in this section. It is important to compose a short and strong conclusion to help you make a final impression of your essay.

Pay attention that this section does not contain any new information. It should provide a sense of completion by restating the main idea with a short description of your arguments. End the conclusion with your supporting details.

You have to explain why the book is important. Also, elaborate on the means that the authors used to convey her/his opinion regarding the issue.

For further understanding, here is a downloadable literary analysis essay outline. This outline will help you structure and format your essay properly and earn an A easily.

DOWNLOADABLE LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY OUTLINE (PDF)

Types of Literary Analysis Essay

• Close reading - This method involves attentive reading and detailed analysis. No need for a lot of knowledge and inspiration to write an essay that shows your creative skills.
• Theoretical - In this type, you will rely on theories related to the selected topic.
• Historical - This type of essay concerns the discipline of history. Sometimes historical analysis is required to explain events in detail.
• Applied - This type involves analysis of a specific issue from a practical perspective.
• Comparative - This type of writing is based on when two or more alternatives are compared

Examples of Literary Analysis Essay

Examples are great to understand any concept, especially if it is related to writing. Below are some great literary analysis essay examples that showcase how this type of essay is written.

A ROSE FOR EMILY LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

THE GREAT GATSBY LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

If you do not have experience in writing essays, this will be a very chaotic process for you. In that case, it is very important for you to conduct good research on the topic before writing.

There are two important points that you should keep in mind when writing a literary analysis essay.

First, remember that it is very important to select a topic in which you are interested. Choose something that really inspires you. This will help you to catch the attention of a reader.

The selected topic should reflect the main idea of writing. In addition to that, it should also express your point of view as well.

Another important thing is to draft a good outline for your literary analysis essay. It will help you to define a central point and division of this into parts for further discussion.

Literary Analysis Essay Topics

Literary analysis essays are mostly based on artistic works like books, movies, paintings, and other forms of art. However, generally, students choose novels and books to write their literary essays.

Some cool, fresh, and good topics and ideas are listed below:

• Role of the Three Witches in flaming Macbeth’s ambition.
• Analyze the themes of the Play Antigone,
• Discuss Ajax as a tragic hero.
• The Judgement of Paris: Analyze the Reasons and their Consequences.
• Oedipus Rex: A Doomed Son or a Conqueror?
• Describe the Oedipus complex and Electra complex in relation to their respective myths.
• Betrayal is a common theme of Shakespearean tragedies. Discuss
• Identify and analyze the traits of history in T.S Eliot’s ‘Gerontion’.
• Analyze the theme of identity crisis in The Great Gatsby.
• Analyze the writing style of Emily Dickinson.

If you are still in doubt then there is nothing bad in getting professional writers’ help.

We at 5StarEssays.com can help you get a custom paper as per your specified requirements with our do essay for me service.

Our essay writers will help you write outstanding literary essays or any other type of essay. Such as compare and contrast essays, descriptive essays, rhetorical essays. We cover all of these.

So don’t waste your time browsing the internet and place your order now to get your well-written custom paper.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a literary analysis essay include.

A good literary analysis essay must include a proper and in-depth explanation of your ideas. They must be backed with examples and evidence from the text. Textual evidence includes summaries, paraphrased text, original work details, and direct quotes.

What are the 4 components of literary analysis?

Here are the 4 essential parts of a literary analysis essay;

No literary work is explained properly without discussing and explaining these 4 things.

How do you start a literary analysis essay?

Start your literary analysis essay with the name of the work and the title. Hook your readers by introducing the main ideas that you will discuss in your essay and engage them from the start.

How do you do a literary analysis?

In a literary analysis essay, you study the text closely, understand and interpret its meanings. And try to find out the reasons behind why the author has used certain symbols, themes, and objects in the work.

Why is literary analysis important?

It encourages the students to think beyond their existing knowledge, experiences, and belief and build empathy. This helps in improving the writing skills also.

What is the fundamental characteristic of a literary analysis essay?

Interpretation is the fundamental and important feature of a literary analysis essay. The essay is based on how well the writer explains and interprets the work.

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Cordon. is a published author and writing specialist. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years, providing writing services and digital content. His own writing career began with a focus on literature and linguistics, which he continues to pursue. Cordon is an engaging and professional individual, always looking to help others achieve their goals.

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Macbeth: a Tragic Hero Analysis

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The definition of a tragic hero, macbeth’s tragic flaw: ambition, the influence of the supernatural, moral decline and guilt, the tragic end.

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Bradley, A. C. (2008). Shakespearean tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Penguin Classics.Cavell, S. (2005). Disowning knowledge in seven plays of Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press.Garber, M. [...]

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Literary Analysis Essay

Literary Analysis Essay - Step by Step Guide

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Published on: Aug 16, 2020

Last updated on: Jan 29, 2024

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Literature is an art that can inspire, challenge, and transform us. But how do we analyze literature in a way that truly captures its essence? 

That's where a literary analysis essay comes in. 

Writing a literary analysis essay allows you to delve into the themes, characters, and symbols of a literary work. It's a chance to engage with literature on a deeper level and to discover new insights. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will take you through the process of writing a literary analysis essay, step by step. Plus, you’ll get to read some great examples to help you out!

So let’s dive in!

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What is a Literary Analysis Essay?

Literary analysis is a process of examining a literary work in detail to uncover its meaning and significance. 

It involves breaking down the various elements of a work, such as plot, character, setting, and theme. And then analyzing how they work together to create a specific effect on the reader.

In other words, literary analysis is an exercise in interpretation. The reader of a work asks questions about what the author means to say, how they are saying it, and why. 

A literary analysis essay is an essay where you explore such questions in depth and offer your own insights.

What is the Purpose of a Literary Analysis Essay?

In general, the purpose of a literary analysis essay is as follows: 

• To gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the work.
• To be able to think critically and analytically about a text. 

Content of a Literary Analysis 

A literary analysis essay delves deep into the various aspects of a literary work to examine its meaning, symbolism, themes, and more. Here are the key elements to include in your literary analysis essay:

Plot Analysis 

Plot refers to the sequence of events that make up the storyline of a literary work. It encompasses the main events, conflicts, and resolutions that drive the narrative forward. 

Elements of Plot Analysis 

The elements of a plot typically include:

• Exposition: The introduction of the story that establishes the setting, characters, and initial circumstances.
• Rising action: A set of events or actions that sets the main conflict into motion, often occurring early in the story.
• Conflict: The series of events that build tension and develop the conflict, leading to the story's climax.
• Climax: The turning point of the story, where the conflict reaches its peak and the outcome hangs in the balance.
• Falling Action: The events that occur after the climax, leading towards the resolution of the conflict.
• Resolution: The point in the story where the conflict is resolved, providing closure to the narrative.

Character Analysis 

Character analysis involves studying the role, development, and motivations of the characters in a literary work. It explores how characters contribute to the overall narrative and themes of the story.

Elements of Character Analysis 

• Identification of major and minor characters.
• Examination of their traits, behaviors, and relationships.
• Analysis of character development and changes throughout the story.
• Evaluation of the character's role in advancing the plot or conveying themes.

Symbolism and Imagery Analysis 

Symbolism and imagery analysis focuses on the use of symbols, objects, or images in a work. It analyzes and explores the use of literary devices to convey deeper meanings and evoke emotions. 

Elements of Symbolism and Imagery Analysis 

• Identification of key symbols or recurring motifs.
• Interpretation of their symbolic significance.
• Analysis of how imagery is used to create vivid mental pictures and enhance the reader's understanding and emotional experience.

Theme Analysis 

Analyzing the theme involves exploring the central ideas or messages conveyed in a literary work. It examines the underlying concepts, or messages that the author wants to convey through the story.

Elements of Theme Analysis 

• Identification of the main themes or central ideas explored in the text.
• Analysis of how the themes are developed and reinforced throughout the story.
• Exploration of the author's perspective and the intended message behind the themes.

Setting Analysis 

The Setting of a story includes the time, place, and social context in which the story takes place. Analyzing the setting involves how the setting influences the characters, plot, and overall atmosphere of the work.

Elements of Setting Analysis 

• Description and analysis of the physical, cultural, and historical aspects of the setting.
• Examination of how the setting contributes to the mood, atmosphere, and themes of the work.
• Evaluation of how the setting shapes the characters' actions and motivations.

Structure and Style Analysis 

Structure and style analysis involves studying the organization, narrative techniques, and literary devices employed by the author. It explores how the structure and style contribute to the overall impact and effectiveness of the work.

Elements of Structure and Style Analysis 

• Analysis of the narrative structure, such as the use of flashbacks, nonlinear timelines, or multiple perspectives.
• Examination of the author's writing style, including the use of language, tone, and figurative language.
• Evaluation of literary devices, such as foreshadowing, irony, or allusion, and their impact on the reader's interpretation.

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How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay?  

Writing a great literary analysis piece requires you to follow certain steps. Here’s what you need to do to write a literary essay:

Preparing for Your Essay 

The pre-writing process for writing a literary analysis essay includes the following:

• Choosing a literary work to analyze
• Reading and analyzing the work
• Taking notes and organizing your thoughts
• Creating an outline for your essay

Choosing a Work to Analyze 

As a student, you would most probably be assigned a literary piece to analyze. It could be a short story, a novel, or a poem.  However, sometimes you get to choose it yourself.

In such a case, you should choose a work that you find interesting and engaging. This will make it easier to stay motivated as you analyze the work and write your essay.

Moreover, you should choose a work that has some depth and complexity. This will give you plenty of material to analyze and discuss in your essay. Finally, make sure that your choice fits within the scope of the assignment and meets the expectations of your instructor.

Reading and Analyzing 

Once you’ve chosen a literary work, it's time to read the work with careful attention. There are several key elements to consider when reading and analyzing a literary work:

• Plot - The sequence of events that make up the story. Analyzing the plot involves examining the structure of the story, including its exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
• Characters - The people or entities that populate the story. Analyzing characters involves examining their motivations, personalities, relationships, and development over the course of the story.

Want to learn more about character analysis? Head to our blog about how to conduct character analysis and learn easy steps with examples.

• Setting - The time, place, and environment in which the story takes place. Analyzing the setting involves examining how the atmosphere contributes to the story's overall meaning.
• Theme - The underlying message or meaning of the story. Analyzing themes involves examining the work's central ideas and how they are expressed through the various elements of the story.

Moreover, it's important to consider the following questions while analyzing:

• What is the central theme or main point the author is trying to make?
• What literary devices and techniques has the author used?
• Why did the author choose to write this particular work?
• What themes and ideas are present in the work?

These questions will help you dive deeper into the work you are writing about.

Take Notes and Gather Material 

As you read and analyze the literary work, it's important to take notes so you don’t forget important details and ideas. This also helps you identify patterns and connections between different elements of the piece.

One effective way to take notes is to list important elements of the work, such as characters, setting, and theme. You can also use sticky notes, highlighters, or annotations to mark important passages and write down your ideas.

Writing Your Literary Analysis Essay 

Once you have read a piece of literature and taken notes, you have all the material you need to write an essay. Follow the simple steps below to write an effective literary analysis essay.

Create an Outline for Your Essay 

Firstly, creating an outline is necessary. This will help you to organize your thoughts and ideas and ensure that your essay flows logically and coherently.

This is what your literary essay outline would look like: 

Writing the Introduction 

Writing your essay introduction involves the three following parts:

• Begin the introductory paragraph with an engaging hook statement that captures the readers' attention. An effective hook statement can take many different forms, such as a provocative quote, an intriguing question, or a surprising fact. 

Make sure that your hook statement is relevant to the literary work you are writing about. Here are a few examples of effective hooks:

• Afterward, present the necessary background information and context about the literary work. For instance, 
• Talk about the author of the work or when and where it was written. 
• Give an overview of the work or why it is significant. 
• Provide readers with sufficient context so they can know what the work is generally about.
• Finally, end the introduction with a clear thesis statement . Your thesis statement should be a concise statement that clearly states the argument you will be making in your essay. It should be specific and debatable, and it should provide a roadmap for the rest of your essay.

For example, a thesis statement for an essay on "Hamlet" might be: 

Watch this video to learn more about writing an introduction for a literary analysis essay:

Writing the Body 

Here are the steps to follow when writing a body paragraph for a literary analysis essay:

• Start with a topic sentence: 

The topic sentence should introduce the main point or argument you will be making in the paragraph. It should be clear and concise and should indicate what the paragraph is about.

• Provide evidence: 

After you have introduced your main point, provide evidence from the text to support your analysis. This could include quotes, paraphrases, or summaries of the text.

• Explain and discuss the evidence:

Explain how the evidence supports your main point or argument or how it connects back to your thesis statement.

• Conclude the paragraph: 

End the paragraph by relating your main point to the thesis and discussing its significance. You should also use transitions to connect the paragraph to your next point or argument.

Writing the Conclusion 

The conclusion of a literary analysis essay provides closure to your analysis and reinforces your thesis statement. Here’s what a conclusion includes:

• Restate your thesis statement: 

Start by restating your thesis statement in a slightly different way than in your introduction. This will remind the reader of the argument you made and the evidence you provided to support it.

• Summarize your main points: 

Briefly summarize the main points you made in your essay's body paragraphs. This will help tie everything together and provide closure to your analysis.

• Personal reflections:

The conclusion is the best place to provide some personal reflections on the literary piece. You can also explain connections between your analysis and the larger context. This could include connections to other literary works, your personal life, historical events, or contemporary issues.

• End with a strong statement: 

End your conclusion with a strong statement that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. This could be a thought-provoking question, a call to action, or a final insight into the significance of your analysis.

Finalizing your Essay

You’ve completed the first draft of your literary analysis essay. Congratulations!

However, it’s not over just yet. You need some time to polish and improve the essay before it can be submitted. Here’s what you need to do:

Proofread and Revise your Essay 

After completing your draft, you should proofread your essay. You should look out for the following aspects:

• Check for clarity: 

Make sure that your ideas are expressed clearly and logically. You should also take a look at your structure and organization. Rearrange your arguments if necessary to make them clearer.

• Check for grammar and spelling errors: 

Use spelling and grammar check tools online to identify and correct any basic errors in your essay. 

• Verify factual information:

You must have included information about the work or from within the work in your essay. Recheck and verify that it is correct and verifiable. 

• Check your formatting: 

Make sure that your essay is properly formatted according to the guidelines provided by your instructor. This includes requirements for font size, margins, spacing, and citation style.

Helpful Tips for Revising a Literary Essay 

Here are some tips below that can help you proofread and revise your essay better:

• Read your essay out loud:

Reading your essay out loud makes it easier to identify awkward phrasing, repetitive language, and other issues.

• Take a break: 

It can be helpful to step away from your essay for a little while before starting the editing process. This can help you approach your essay with fresh eyes and a clearer perspective.

• Be concise:

Remove any unnecessary words or phrases that do not add to your argument. This can help to make your essay more focused and effective.

• Let someone else proofread and get feedback: 

You could ask a friend or a teacher to read your essay and provide feedback. This way, you can get some valuable insights on what you could include or catch mistakes that you might have missed.

Literary Analysis Essay Examples 

Reading a few good examples helps to understand literary analysis essays better. So check out these examples below and read them to see what a well-written essay looks like. 

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay

Literary Analysis Essay Example

Sample Literary Analysis Essay

Lord of the Rings Literary Analysis

The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis Example for 8th Grade

Literary Analysis Essay Topics 

Need a topic for your literary analysis essay? You can pick any aspect of any work of literature you like. Here are some example topics that will help you get inspired:

• The use of symbolism in "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• The theme of isolation in "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.
• The portrayal of social class in "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.
• The use of magical realism in "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
• The role of women in "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.
• The use of foreshadowing in "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.
• The portrayal of race and identity in "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.
• The use of imagery in "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.
• The theme of forgiveness in "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
• The use of allegory in "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.

To conclude,

Writing a literary analysis essay can be a rewarding experience for any student or writer, But it’s not easy. However, by following the steps you learned in this guide, you can successfully produce a well-written literary analysis essay. 

Also, you have got some examples of essays to read and topic ideas to get creative inspiration. With these resources, you have all you need to craft an engaging piece. So don’t hesitate to start writing your essay and come back to this blog whenever you need.

The deadline is approaching, but you don’t have time to write your essay? No worries! Our analytical essay writing service is here to help you out!

At CollegeEssay.org, we have a team of professional and experienced literature writers who can help you craft a compelling literary essay. Our affordable and reliable essay writing website focuses on providing high-quality essays and deliver them timely.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 components of literary analysis.

The four main components of literary analysis are: 

• Conflict 
• Characters 
• Setting 

What is the fundamental characteristic of a literary analysis essay?

Interpretive is the fundamental characteristic of a literary analysis essay. 

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Literary analysis: sample essay.

We turn once more to Joanna Wolfe’s and Laura Wilder’s  Digging into Literature: Strategies for Reading, Writing, and Analysis  (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016) in order to show you their example of a strong student essay that has a strong central claim elucidated by multiple surface/depth arguments supported by patterns of evidence.

Paragraph 1

Sylvia Plath’s short poem “Morning Song” explores the conflicted emotions of a new mother. On the one hand, the mother recognizes that she is expected to treasure and celebrate her infant, but on the other hand, she feels strangely removed from the child. The poem uses a combination of scientific and natural imagery to illustrate the mother’s feelings of alienation. By the end of the poem, however, we see a shift in this imagery as the mother begins to see the infant in more human terms.

Paragraph 2

There are several references to scientific imagery in “Morning Song” that suggest that mother is viewing the baby in clinical, scientific terms rather than as a new life. The poem refers to magnification (4) and reflection (8), both of which are scientific methods. The word “distills” (8) refers to a scientific, chemical process for removing impurities from a substance. The baby’s cry is described as taking “its place among the elements” (3), which seems to refer to the periodic table of elements, the primordial matter of the universe. The watch in the first line is similarly a scientific tool and the gold the watch is made of is, of course, an element, like the baby’s cry. Even the balloons in the last line have a scientific connotation since balloons are often used for measurements and experiments in science. These images all serve to show how the speaker feels distanced from the baby, who is like a scientific experiment she is conducting rather than a human being.

Paragraph 3

Natural imagery also seems to further dehumanize the baby, reducing it to nothing more than its mouth. The baby’s breathing is compared to a moth in line 10, suggesting that the speaker feels the infant is fragile and is as likely to die as a moth dancing around candlelight. A few lines later, the baby’s mouth is compared to another animal—a cat—who greedily opens its mouth for milk. Not only does the speaker seem to feel that the baby is like an animal, but she herself is turned into an animal, as she arises “cow-heavy” (13) to feed the infant. These images show how the speaker sees both the baby and herself as dumb animals who exist only to feed and be fed. Even the morning itself seems to be reduced to another mouth to feed as she describes how the dawn “swallows its dull stars” (16). These lines suggest that just as the sun swallows up the stars, so the baby will swallow up this mother.

Paragraph 4

However, in the last few lines the poem takes a hopeful turn as the speaker begins to view the baby as a human being. The baby’s mouth, which has previously been greedy and animal-like, now becomes a source of music, producing a “handful of notes” (17) and “clear vowels” (18). Music is a distinctly human sound. No animals and certainly not the cats, cows, or moths mentioned earlier in the poem, make music. This change in how the speaker perceives the baby’s sounds—from animalistic cry to human song—suggest that she is beginning to relate the baby as an individual. Even the word “handful” in the phrase “handful of notes” (17) seems hopeful in this context since this is the first time the mother has referred to the baby as having a distinctly human body part. When the baby’s notes finally “rise like balloons” (18), the speaker seems to have arrived at a place where she can celebrate the infant. For the first time, the infant is giving something to the speaker rather than threatening to take something away. The mother seems to have finally accepted the child as an independent human being whose company she can celebrate.

Works Cited

The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The word “Hero” as a literary device is commonly used to describe the main character of a story. However, the word relates to a rather specific kind of protagonist. A hero is someone who is willing to face dangers and opposition while displaying feats of moral integrity, bravery, and strength. These qualities are admired throughout many cultures and are found in many characters no matter what the genre, time, or country are. However, cultural and historical factors play an important role when delivering the message.

Most authors write their works through the prism of contemporary worldviews. A fictional hero is often a projection of the author in an imaginative world. It is a vessel, which carries out the writer’s thoughts and opinions. In order to understand a literary hero, one should analyze not only the story and the hero. The time and culture during which a book or a story is written have to be considered. This paper is going to analyze Candide – the main hero of Voltaire’s satire written in the year 1759, and Tripitaka from The Journey to the West – a Chinese novel from the 16th century.

Candide is a relatively classical hero. He is a genuinely good-natured character, generous and honest. This is demonstrated many times throughout the story. He readily gives money to a deposed and impoverished King and to Brother Giroflee (Voltaire 75). He also stays committed to marrying Cunegonde, even though his desire and love for her are long gone (Voltaire 92). However, being a classical hero is not the sole purpose of this character. Voltaire uses Candide in order to rebuke the wide-eyed idealism of Leibniz teachings. His story is that of naive innocence, which does not survive the confrontation with the harsh realities of the world. He is a bland character, though sympathetic.

The author did not intend to make him independent. The name Candide means “White” or “Blank” to illustrate the point. He is like a blank sheet of paper, and stronger characters are able to write whatever they want on it. The topics raised in the story correlate with the realities of the world in the year 1759. It is said that Voltaire became disillusioned with the concept of optimism after a series of terrible events in the world, starting with the Seven Year’s war and ending with the earthquake that leveled Lisbon to the ground. These tragedies caused many scholars to revoke their belief in Leibniz’s teachings. Candide was created to demonstrate this.

Tripitaka is one of the main heroes of The Journey to the West – a Chinese 16th-century novel allegedly written by Wu Cheng’en. He is a stereotypical Buddhist monk. He shares some similarities with Voltaire’s Candide – they are both somewhat naive, kind, and good-natured. Both of them are easily swayed by other peoples’ opinions. Many people influence Candide, swinging his opinions back and forth. He is unable to form his own conclusions and resorts to parroting whichever viewpoint seems right to him.

Tripitaka is constantly fooled and deceived either by demons or by Ba Jie. His own judgment is poor. However, there is a great difference between the two characters. Candide is a vessel meant to debunk a theory. Tripitaka is an accomplished character that represents a belief in benevolence, kindness, and spiritualism.

These core beliefs are the foundation of Buddhism – a prevalent religion in China. Tripitaka’s benevolence is shown through his desire to help and assist everyone he meets along the way. His compassion is his foil. The demons such as the Red Child use it to lure him into traps (Cheng’en 206). However, not only do these teachings endure, but they also change his companions for the better. Thus, the message of the story is a positive one. The Journey to the West is a novel that encompasses many tenets of Chinese life, worldview, and spirituality. It has deep roots in the local mythos, which is the reason why its popularity was so enduring.

Through these two examples, it is possible to see how much the heroes are influenced by those who create them. Through a study of culture and history, the readers would be able to understand the underlying motives of the heroes and the messages that the authors are trying to leave behind. With no context, a lot of important information would be lost. Voltaire’s work was very influential during its own time. If the readers are not aware of its historical background, however, they would be given the impression that the story is just as detached from the real world as the hero and thus have no relevance to the modern world.

Without the knowledge of Buddhism, the readers would not be able to understand the motivations behind the actions of Tripitaka and his traveling companions. Every piece of literature carries an imprint of its respective historical period, whether regarding behavior, opinions, or worldview. Without all of this, the experience of reading and understanding any story, novel, or book would not be complete.

Works Cited

Cheng’en, Wu. Journey to the West. 2013.

Voltaire. Candide. 1759 . 2016. Web.

• Satire in Voltaire’s Candide
• Compositions of Candide by Voltaire
• Tartuffe vs Candide
• Loyalty in "The Gift" by Rosario Ferre
• Marshall's, Munif's, Ondaatje's Writing Techniques
• "The Gangster We Are All Looking For" by Thúy
• "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas
• Characters and Themes in "Taxi" by Khaled Alkhamissi
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, August 25). The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-influence-of-culture-on-the-literary-heroes-portrayal/

"The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal." IvyPanda , 25 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-influence-of-culture-on-the-literary-heroes-portrayal/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal'. 25 August.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal." August 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-influence-of-culture-on-the-literary-heroes-portrayal/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal." August 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-influence-of-culture-on-the-literary-heroes-portrayal/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Influence of Culture on the Literary Heroes Portrayal." August 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-influence-of-culture-on-the-literary-heroes-portrayal/.

Heroes Literary Elements

By robert cormier.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Elizabeth Shaw

Young Adult Fiction

Setting and Context

After World War Two in Monument, Massachusetts.

Narrator and Point of View

Francis Cassavant is the first-person narrator and protagonist of this novel.

Tone and Mood

The tone of the novel is melancholy but sometimes hopeful.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is Francis, and the antagonist is Larry LeSalle.

Major Conflict

The major conflict of the novel is between Francis and Larry.

The climax of the novel is when Larry rapes Nicole.

Foreshadowing

Francis' friend Joey accurately predicts that the Wreck Center is not good news.

Understatement

Francis understates how easy it will be to kill Larry.

There are frequent allusions to World War II, and the experience of veterans after the war.

Imagery is used to describe Francis' injuries in graphic detail.

Larry LeSalle is lauded as a hero, but he is far from it.

Parallelism

Larry and Francis' suffering and suicidal tendencies are paralleled.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Personification, update this section.

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

Heroes Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Heroes is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What is a simile for someone who is a hero?

From the novel, or simply a simile?

The elements of literature in Heroes by Festus Iyayi.

GradeSaver has a number of literary elements available in its study guide for the unit. The examples below can be found in GradeSaver's study guide, in addition to many other.

The Lost Mother

The primary symbol coloring Georgie's...

based on the text, which of the following anecdotes most closely describes an epic hero?

Are you giving me choices here?

Study Guide for Heroes

Heroes study guide contains a biography of Robert Cormier, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Heroes
• Heroes Summary
• Character List

Books | Remembering Don De Grazia, a nurturing force on…

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Books | remembering don de grazia, a nurturing force on the literary scene.

He had dropped out of Warren Township High in Gurnee; lived for a time near Rogers Park and worked construction; joined the National Guard and spent 18 months at basic training at what was then Fort Benning, Georgia; got his GED and sampled a few colleges before landing as a fiction writing major at Columbia College; worked at Metro as a bouncer and security guard.

They remembered how he got his Master of Fine Arts degree and finished his novel “American Skin” and went about the arduous, years-long business of getting it published and watched it earn high praise and attract interest from the movie business; worked and became great friends with Irvine Welsh, the prolific Scottish author, with whom he collaborated on a play; orchestrated all manner of public reading events across town; met and married a writer/actress named Siera Cerny. Seventeen months ago, they had a baby girl they named Daisy Ella.

There was so much to a life cut so short. Later some of his friends shared more.

Joe Shanahan , owner of Metro/Smart Bar and Gman Tavern: “We have lost another Chicago gem. … Don was a co-conspiring cultural troublemaker that helped mix his and others literary work and music as part of Columbia College curriculum in and out of the classroom. As part of Story Week at Metro, we collaborated on many projects. My wife, Jennifer, introduced me to him. He was her classmate of hers at Columbia. We became fast friends over our love of music/books and he was hired to work at Metro. He told me from his invisible vantage point and his exposure to the punk/metal scene of that era helped in his writing of ‘American Skin.’”

Bill Hillman , author of “Mozos: A Decade Running With the Bulls of Spain” and other books, and professor at East-West University in downtown Chicago: “Don was the great mentor of my life. He brought me to Nichiren Buddhism which I practice daily. He was a fiercely loyal friend when violence sparked up. His classes improved my writing and he inspired me to be a professor. I wouldn’t be an author and professor without him. I will continue to teach ‘American Skin’ for the rest of my career because the characters challenge young people to think about identity, philosophy, and what it means to be American in a uniquely Chicago way. It’s a classic. So was he.”

Randy Albers , professor and Chair Emeritus of Fiction Writing at Columbia College: “I had the great privilege of being Don’s first fiction teacher … and of being the chair of his department after he moved through our writing program and became a much-beloved faculty member. … He could write the grittiest, most hard-assed street stories, but at their heart, they were incredibly humane tales of people trying to make their way through a challenging, often threatening world. … He was honest, reflective, a writer’s writer, but he loved the real world in all its panoply of experiences as much as the fictional. He fought passionately for what he believed in and sought deep connection.”

Don Evans , founding executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame: “Don spoke with great respect and admiration for so many young artists. He freely contributed his talents to countless upstart journals, live lit initiatives like Windy City Story Slam and other creative projects. He was an instrumental part of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He also started a bunch of his own enterprises such as the incredible literary series like Ex Libris at Soho House and Come Home Chicago. He was driven to explore and celebrate great literature — especially Chicago literature — and give other writers a platform.

Toya Wolfe , author of the prize-winning novel “Last Summer on State Street” and a former student of De Grazia: “I wish I had more eloquent words. He was a champion of me and my work. He took me from a baby writer to a professional.”

Sheryl Johnston , an entertainment publicist and friend of De Grazia’s since the early 1990s: “We met in a fiction writing class we took and I liked him immediately — he was impossible not to like — and as we worked on various projects over the years and I watched him be supportive and nurturing to, well, everybody. He was also so sweet and so funny.”

There are plenty more, all over the internet and at the funeral there were plenty of tears, some hugs, a few smiles. The crowd was peppered with people wearing softball jerseys; De Grazia was the manager and pitcher of the team named (in letters across the uniform front) the Lee Elia Experience, a reference to the former Cubs manager and his famous tirade about fans booing their own team. Most all at the funeral knew that De Grazia died June 13 of a heart attack following a game.

“At least he was doing what he loved,” one person said.

Sadly true but then this was a man who loved almost everything life had to offer.

[email protected]

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The Dawn of Automobiles in America and their Impact on American Literature

This essay examines the invention of cars in America and their significant impact on both transportation and American literature. It begins by detailing the early innovations of the Duryea brothers and Henry Ford’s revolutionary Model T, which made automobiles accessible to the masses. The essay then explores how the rise of the automobile industry reshaped American society, from the development of suburbs to changes in the economy. Additionally, it highlights the profound influence of cars on American literature, with examples from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jack Kerouac, and John Steinbeck, showing how automobiles became powerful symbols of freedom, ambition, and the American dream. The essay concludes by emphasizing the intertwined evolution of automotive technology and literary expression.

How it works

The invention of cars in America marked a pivotal moment in the nation’s history, significantly altering transportation, industry, and society. Interestingly, this technological marvel didn’t just change the way people moved but also had profound effects on American literature.

The fusion of automobiles and literary expression created a new genre that captured the essence of freedom, mobility, and the American spirit. This essay explores the origins of the automobile in America and its unexpected but fascinating influence on American literature.

In the late 1800s, the idea of a horseless carriage began to captivate the minds of inventors and engineers. Among the pioneers were Charles and Frank Duryea, who built the first gasoline-powered car in the United States in 1893. Their vehicle, a modest horseless carriage, managed to travel a short distance and sparked significant interest in this new mode of transportation. The Duryea brothers’ success demonstrated the feasibility of gasoline engines for vehicles and set the stage for further developments.

However, it was Henry Ford who revolutionized the automobile industry and made cars accessible to the masses. In 1908, Ford introduced the Model T, an affordable, reliable, and easy-to-operate vehicle that quickly became a sensation. The Model T’s popularity was due in large part to Ford’s innovative assembly line production method, which drastically reduced the cost and time required to manufacture each car. By standardizing parts and using a conveyor belt system, Ford was able to produce cars at an unprecedented rate, making the Model T affordable for many American families.

The widespread adoption of automobiles had profound effects on American society. The rise of the car culture reshaped urban and rural landscapes, as roads and highways were constructed to accommodate the growing number of vehicles. The mobility provided by cars allowed people to live farther from their workplaces, leading to the development of suburbs. This shift in living patterns also influenced the economy, as businesses and services began to cater to the needs of car owners, from gas stations and repair shops to motels and drive-in theaters.

At the same time, the advent of the automobile began to permeate American literature. The car became a powerful symbol of freedom and exploration, reflecting the changing dynamics of American life. Writers started incorporating automobiles into their narratives, using them as metaphors for the new mobility and independence that characterized the 20th century.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is a prime example of how automobiles were woven into the fabric of American literature. The novel, set in the Roaring Twenties, uses cars to symbolize the wealth, ambition, and eventual downfall of its characters. Gatsby’s lavish yellow car is not just a mode of transportation but a symbol of his desire for status and his ultimate demise. The reckless driving that leads to the tragic climax underscores the destructive potential of unchecked ambition and the moral decay of the era.

Similarly, Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” epitomizes the spirit of the Beat Generation, capturing the sense of adventure and the quest for meaning in post-war America. The car in this narrative is more than a vehicle; it is a vessel for the characters’ existential journeys, a means to explore the vastness of America and the complexities of their own identities. Kerouac’s prose, influenced by the rhythm of the open road, reflects the liberating and often chaotic experience of traveling by car.

The impact of the automobile on American literature was not limited to fiction. The car also found its way into poetry, with poets like Allen Ginsberg and Robert Lowell using the imagery of automobiles to convey themes of modernity, dislocation, and change. Ginsberg’s “Howl” includes references to “hydrogen jukebox” and “robot apartments,” blending the mechanical with the human in a critique of contemporary society. Lowell’s “Skunk Hour” features a nightmarish vision of a deserted town, with a lone car serving as a haunting reminder of isolation and decay.

The automobile industry itself became a cornerstone of the American economy. The demand for cars created jobs not only in manufacturing but also in related industries such as steel, rubber, and glass. The automotive boom also spurred innovations in various fields, including road construction, traffic management, and urban planning. The car became a symbol of personal freedom and independence, influencing American culture and lifestyle in ways that are still evident today.

By the 1920s, cars had become an integral part of American life, and the automobile industry was firmly established as a major economic force. This era saw the rise of iconic brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Lincoln, each offering a range of models to suit different tastes and budgets. The evolution of car design and technology continued through the decades, with advancements such as automatic transmissions, power steering, and air conditioning enhancing the driving experience.

As the car became more entrenched in everyday life, its representation in literature evolved. Mid-century writers like John Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor used cars to explore deeper themes of displacement and the American dream. Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” portrays the car as a lifeline for the Joad family, a means of escape from the Dust Bowl and a journey toward hope and survival. O’Connor’s short stories often feature cars as settings for dramatic encounters, revealing the complexities of human nature and the tensions of Southern life.

In conclusion, the invention of cars in America was a transformative event that reshaped the country’s transportation infrastructure, economy, and culture. Beyond these practical impacts, the automobile also left an indelible mark on American literature. From Fitzgerald’s opulent vehicles to Kerouac’s restless journeys, cars have served as powerful symbols and narrative devices, capturing the spirit of their times and the evolving American identity. The intertwining of automotive innovation and literary expression reflects the profound and multifaceted influence of the car on American society.

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Spring 2025 Semester

Undergraduate courses.

Composition courses that offer many sections (ENGL 101, 201, 277 and 379) are not listed on this schedule unless they are tailored to specific thematic content or particularly appropriate for specific programs and majors.

• 100-200 level

ENGL 201.ST2 Composition II: The Mind/Body Connection

Dr. sharon smith.

In this online section of English 201, students will use research and writing to learn more about problems that are important to them and articulate ways to address those problems. The course will focus specifically on issues related to the body, the mind, and the relationship between them. The topics we will discuss during the course will include the correlation between social media and body image; the psychological effects of self-objectification; and the unique mental and physical challenges faced by college students today, including food insecurity and stress.

English 201 S06 and S11: Composition II with an emphasis in Environmental Writing

S06: MWF at 10–10:50 a.m. in Yeager Hall Addition 231

S11: MWF at 12–12:50 p.m. in Crothers Engineering Hall 217

Gwen Horsley

English 201 will help students develop skills to write effectively for other university courses, careers, and themselves. This course will provide opportunities to further develop research skills, to write vividly, and to share their own stories and ideas. Specifically, in this class, students will (1) focus on the relationships between world environments, land, animals and humankind; (2) read various essays by environmental, conservational, and regional authors; and (3) produce student writings. Students will improve their writing skills by reading essays and applying techniques they witness in others’ work and those learned in class. This class is also a course in logical and creative thought. Students will write about humankind’s place in the world and our influence on the land and animals, places that hold special meaning to them or have influenced their lives, and stories of their own families and their places and passions in the world. Students will practice writing in an informed and persuasive manner, in language that engages and enlivens readers by using vivid verbs and avoiding unnecessary passives, nominalizations, and expletive constructions.

Students will prepare writing assignments based on readings and discussions of essays included in Literature and the Environment and other sources. They will use The St. Martin’s Handbook to review grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage as needed.

Required Text: Literature and the Environment: A Reader On Nature and Culture. 2nd ed., edited by Lorraine Anderson, Scott Slovic, and John P. O’Grady.

LING 203.S01 English Grammar

TuTh 12:30-1:45 p.m.

Dr. Nathan Serfling

The South Dakota State University 2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog describes LING 203 as consisting of “[i]nstruction in the theory and practice of traditional grammar including the study of parts of speech, parsing, and practical problems in usage.”

“Grammar” is a mercurial term, though. Typically, we think of it to mean “correct” sentence structure, and, indeed, that is one of its meanings. But Merriam-Webster reminds us “grammar” also refers to “the principles or rules of an art, science, or technique,” taking it beyond the confines of syntactic structures. Grammar also evolves in practice through application (and social, historical, economic changes, among others). Furthermore, grammar evolves as a concept as scholars and educators in the various fields of English studies debate the definition and nature of grammar, including how well its explicit instruction improves students’ writing. In this course, we will use the differing sensibilities, definitions, and fluctuations regarding grammar to guide our work. We will examine the parts of speech, address syntactic structures and functions, and parse and diagram sentences. We will also explore definitions of and debates about grammar. All of this will occur in units about the rules and structures of grammar; the application of grammar rhetorically and stylistically; and the debates surrounding various aspects of grammar, including, but not limited to, its instruction.

ENGL 210 Introduction to Literature

Jodi andrews.

Readings in fiction, drama and poetry to acquaint students with literature and aesthetic form. Prerequisites: ENGL 101. Notes: Course meets SGR #4 or IGR #3.

ENGL 222 British Literature II

TuTh 9:30-10:45 a.m.

This course serves as a chronological survey of the second half of British literature. Students will read a variety of texts from the Romantic period, the Victorian period, and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, placing these texts within their historical and literary contexts and identifying the major characteristics of the literary periods and movements that produced them.

ENGL 240.ST1 Juvenile Literature

Randi l. anderson.

A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various types of juvenile literature.

ENGL 240.ST1 Juvenile Literature: 5-12 Grade

In English 240 students will develop the skills to interpret and evaluate various genres of literature for juvenile readers. This particular section will focus on various works of literature at approximately the 5th-12th grade level.

Readings for this course include works such as Night, Brown Girl Dreaming, All American Boys, Esperanza Rising, Anne Frank’s Diary: A Graphic Adaptation, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, The Hobbit, Little Women, and Lord of the Flies . These readings will be paired with chapters from Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction to help develop understanding of various genres, themes, and concepts that are both related to juvenile literature, and also present in our readings.

In addition to exploring various genres of writing (poetry, non-fiction, fantasy, historical, non-fiction, graphic novels, etc.) this course will also allow students to engage in a discussion of larger themes present in these works such as censorship, race, rebellion and dissent, power and oppression, gender, knowledge, and the power of language and the written word. Students’ understanding of these works and concepts will be developed through readings, discussion posts, quizzes and exams.

ENGL 240.ST2 Juvenile Literature Elementary-5th Grade

April myrick.

A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various genres of juvenile literature. Text selection will focus on the themes of imagination and breaking boundaries.

ENGL 242.S01 American Literature II

TuTh 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Dr. Paul Baggett

This course surveys a range of U.S. literatures from about 1865 to the present, writings that treat the end of slavery and the development of a segregated America, increasingly urbanized and industrialized U.S. landscapes, waves of immigration, and the fulfilled promise of “America” as imperial nation. The class will explore the diversity of identities represented during that time, and the problems/potentials writers imagined in response to the century’s changes—especially literature’s critical power in a time of nation-building. Required texts for the course are The Norton Anthology of American Literature: 1865 to the Present and Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.

WMST 247.S01: Introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

As an introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality studies, this course considers the experiences of women and provides an overview of the history of feminist thought and activism, particularly within the United States. Students will also consider the concepts of gender and sexuality more broadly to encompass a diversity of gender identifications and sexualities and will explore the degree to which mainstream feminism has—and has not—accommodated this diversity. The course will focus in particular on the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect with race, class, ethnicity, and disability. Topics and concepts covered will include: movements for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights; gender, sexuality and the body; intersectionality; rape culture; domestic and gender violence; reproductive rights; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW); and more.

ENGL 283.S01 Introduction to Creative Writing

MWF 1-1:50 p.m.

Prof. Steven Wingate

Students will explore the various forms of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction and poetry) not one at a time in a survey format—as if there were decisive walls of separation between then—but as intensely related genres that share much of their creative DNA. Through close reading and work on personal texts, students will address the decisions that writers in any genre must face on voice, rhetorical position, relationship to audience, etc. Students will produce and revise portfolios of original creative work developed from prompts and research. This course fulfills the same SGR #2 requirements ENGL 201; note that the course will involve creative research projects. Successful completion of ENGL 101 (including by test or dual credit) is a prerequisite.

English 284: Introduction to Criticism

This course introduces students to selected traditions of literary and cultural theory and to some of the key issues that animate discussion among literary scholars today. These include questions about the production of cultural value, about ideology and hegemony, about the patriarchal and colonial bases of Western culture, and about the status of the cultural object, of the cultural critic, and of cultural theory itself.

To address these and other questions, we will survey the history of literary theory and criticism (a history spanning 2500 years) by focusing upon a number of key periods and -isms: Greek and Roman Classicism, The Middle Ages and Renaissance, The Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Formalism, Historicism, Political Criticism (Marxism, Post-Colonialism, Feminism, et al.), and Psychological Criticism. We also will “test” various theories we discuss by examining how well they account for and help us to understand various works of poetry and fiction.

• 300-400 level

ENGL 330.S01 Shakespeare

TuTh 8-9:15 a.m.

Dr. Michael S. Nagy

This course will focus on William Shakespeare’s poetic and dramatic works and on the cultural and social contexts in which he wrote them. In this way, we will gain a greater appreciation of the fact that literature does not exist in a vacuum, for it both reflects and influences contemporary and subsequent cultures. Text: The Riverside Shakespeare: Complete Works. Ed. Evans, G. Blakemore and J. J. M. Tobin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

ENGL 363 Science Fiction

MWF 11-11:50 a.m.

This course explores one of the most significant literary genres of the past century in fiction and in film. We will focus in particular on the relationship between science fiction works and technological and social developments, with considerable attention paid to the role of artificial intelligence in the human imagination. Why does science fiction seem to predict the future? What do readers and writers of the genre hope to find in it? Through readings and viewings of original work, as well as selected criticism in the field, we will address these and other questions. Our reading and viewing selections will include such artists as Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Stanley Kubrick and Phillip K. Dick. Students will also have ample opportunity to introduce the rest of the class to their own favorite science fiction works.

ENGL 383.S01 Creative Writing I

MWF 2-2:50 p.m.

Amber Jensen

Creative Writing I encourages students to strengthen poetry, creative nonfiction, and/or fiction writing skills through sustained focus on creative projects throughout the course (for example, collections of shorter works focused on a particular form/style/theme, longer prose pieces, hybrid works, etc.). Students will engage in small- and large-group writing workshops as well as individual conferences with the instructor throughout the course to develop a portfolio of creative work. The class allows students to explore multiple genres through the processes of writing and revising their own creative texts and through writing workshop, emphasizing the application of craft concepts across genre, but also allows students to choose one genre of emphasis, which they will explore through analysis of self-select texts, which they will use to deepen their understanding of the genre and to contextualize their own creative work.

ENGL 475.S01 Creative Nonfiction

Mondays 3-5:50 p.m.

In this course, students will explore the expansive and exciting genre of creative nonfiction, including a variety of forms such as personal essay, braided essay, flash nonfiction, hermit crab essays, profiles and more. Through rhetorical reading, discussion, and workshop, students will engage published works, their own writing process, and peer work as they expand their understanding of the possibilities presented in this genre and the craft elements that can be used to shape readers’ experience of a text. Students will compile a portfolio of polished work that demonstrates their engagement with course concepts and the writing process.

ENGL 485.S01 Writing Center Tutoring

MW 8:30-9:45 a.m.

Since their beginnings in the 1920s and 30s, writing centers have come to serve numerous functions: as hubs for writing across the curriculum initiatives, sites to develop and deliver workshops, and resource centers for faculty as well as students, among other functions. But the primary function of writing centers has necessarily and rightfully remained the tutoring of student writers. This course will immerse you in that function in two parts. During the first four weeks, you will explore writing center praxis—that is, the dialogic interplay of theory and practice related to writing center work. This part of the course will orient you to writing center history, key theoretical tenets and practical aspects of writing center tutoring. Once we have developed and practiced this foundation, you will begin work in the writing center as a tutor, responsible for assisting a wide variety of student clients with numerous writing tasks. Through this work, you will learn to actively engage with student clients in the revision of a text, respond to different student needs and abilities, work with a variety of writing tasks and rhetorical situations and develop a richer sense of writing as a complex and negotiated social process.

ENGL 492.S01 The Vietnam War in Literature and Film

Tuesdays 3-5:50 p.m.

Dr. Jason McEntee

In 1975, the United States officially included its involvement in the Vietnam War, thus marking 2025 as the 50th anniversary of the conclusion (in name only) of one of the most chaotic, confusing, and complex periods in American history. In this course, we will consider how literature and film attempt to chronicle the Vietnam War and, perhaps more important, its aftermath. I have designed this course for those looking to extend their understanding of literature and film to include the ideas of art, experience, commercial products, and cultural documents. Learning how to interpret literature and movies remains the highest priority of the course, including, for movies, the study of such things as genre, mise-en-scene (camera movement, lighting, etc.), editing, sound and so forth.

We will read Dispatches , A Rumor of War , The Things They Carried , A Piece of My Heart , and Bloods , among others. Some of the movies that we will screen are: Apocalypse Now (the original version), Full Metal Jacket , Platoon , Coming Home , Born on the Fourth of July , Dead Presidents , and Hearts and Minds . Because we must do so, we will also look at some of the more fascinatingly outrageous yet culturally significant fantasies about the war, such as The Green Berets and Rambo: First Blood, Part II .

ENGL 492.S02 Classical Mythology

TuTh 3:30-4:45 p.m.

Drs. Michael S. Nagy and Graham Wrightson

Modern society’s fascination with mythology manifests itself in the continued success of novels, films and television programs about mythological or quasi-mythological characters such as Hercules, the Fisher King, and Gandalf the Grey, all of whom are celebrated for their perseverance or their daring deeds in the face of adversity. This preoccupation with mythological figures necessarily extends back to the cultures which first propagated these myths in early folk tales and poems about such figures as Oðin, King Arthur, Rhiannon, Gilgamesh, and Odysseus, to name just a few. English 492, a reading-intensive course cross-listed with History 492, primarily aims to expose students to the rich tradition of mythological literature written in languages as varied as French, Gaelic, Welsh, Old Icelandic, Greek, and Sumerian; to explore the historical, social, political, religious, and literary contexts in which these works flourished (if indeed they did); and to grapple with the deceptively simple question of what makes these myths continue to resonate with modern audiences. Likely topics and themes of this course will include: Theories of myth; Mythological Beginnings: Creation myths and the fall of man; Male and Female Gods in Myth; Foundation myths; Nature Myths; The Heroic Personality; the mythological portrayal of (evil/disruptive) women in myth; and Monsters in myth.

Likely Texts:

• Dalley, Stephanie, trans. Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford World’s Classics, 2009
• Faulkes, Anthony, trans. Edda. Everyman, 1995
• Gregory, Lady Augusta. Cuchulain of Muirthemne: The Story of the Men of the Red Branch of Ulster. Forgotten Books, 2007
• Jones, Gwyn, Thomas Jones, and Mair Jones. The Mabinogion. Everyman Paperback Classics, 1993
• Larrington, Carolyne, trans. The Poetic Edda . Oxford World’s Classics, 2009
• Matarasso, Pauline M., trans. The Quest of the Holy Grail. Penguin Classics, 1969
• Apollodorus, Hesiod’s Theogony
• Hesiod’s Works and Days
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Homeric Hymns
• Virgil’s Aeneid
• Iliad, Odyssey
• Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica
• Ovid’s Heroides
• Greek tragedies: Orestaia, Oedipus trilogy, Trojan Women, Medea, Hippoolytus, Frogs, Seneca's Thyestes, Dyskolos, Amphitryon
• Clash of the Titans, Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, Troy (and recent miniseries), Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

ENGL 492.ST1 Science Writing

Erica summerfield.

This course aims to teach the fundamentals of effective scientific writing and presentation. The course examines opportunities for covering science, the skills required to produce clear and understandable text about technical subjects, and important ethical and practical constraints that govern the reporting of scientific information. Students will learn to present technical and scientific issues to various audiences. Particular emphasis will be placed on conveying the significance of research, outlining the aims, and discussing the results for scientific papers and grant proposals. Students will learn to write effectively, concisely, and clearly while preparing a media post, fact sheet, and scientific manuscript or grant.

Graduate Courses

Engl 575.s01 creative nonfiction.

In this course, students will explore the expansive and exciting genre of creative nonfiction, including a variety of forms such as personal essay, braided essay, flash nonfiction, hermit crab essays, profiles, and more. Through rhetorical reading, discussion, and workshop, students will engage published works, their own writing process, and peer work as they expand their understanding of the possibilities presented in this genre and the craft elements that can be used to shape readers’ experience of a text. Students will compile a portfolio of polished work that demonstrates their engagement with course concepts and the writing process.

ENGL 592.S01: The Vietnam War in Literature and Film

Engl 704.s01 introduction to graduate studies.

Thursdays 3-5:50 p.m.

Introduction to Graduate Studies is required of all first-year graduate students. The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to modern and contemporary literary theory and its applications. Students will write short response papers and will engage at least one theoretical approach in their own fifteen- to twenty-page scholarly research project. In addition, this course will further introduce students to the M.A. program in English at South Dakota State University and provide insight into issues related to the profession of English studies.

ENGL 792.ST1 Grant Writing

This online course will familiarize students with the language, rhetorical situation, and components of writing grant proposals. Students will explore various funding sources, learn to read an RFP, and develop an understanding of different professional contexts and the rhetorical and structural elements that suit those distinct contexts. Students will write a sample proposal throughout the course and offer feedback to their peers, who may be writing in different contexts, which will enhance their understanding of the varied applications of course content. Through their work in the course, students will gain confidence in their ability to find, apply for, and receive grant funding to support their communities and organizations.