how to write a new criticism essay

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

10 New Criticism Lecture Notes and Presentation

Slide One: New Criticism: The Business of Literature

Welcome. I’m Dr. Liza Long. In this presentation, we’ll learn more about New Criticism. You’ll notice that I’m using the target image again, which we’ll use throughout the course. For New Criticism, the center of our target is the text. New Criticism is a formalist approach to literary analysis that looks at literature for the sake of literature, similar to a phrase you may have heard, ars gratis artis, or art for the sake of art. The name New Criticism comes from John Crowe Ransom’s 1941 book, The New Criticism. We will read a short excerpt from an essay Ransom wrote called “Criticism, Inc.,” which outlines his belief that the study of literature should be scientific and empirical in its approach.

Whether you know the name or not, New Criticism is something that probably already feels familiar to you. This is the type of critical approach many high school and introductory college literature courses take to analyzing texts. It starts with what we call a close reading of the text. This is a very slow, careful, word by word and line by line reading, where you are noticing a variety of elements that work together to make the text complex. With New Criticism, we are interested in analyzing literature, and that means that the text must have a certain level of complexity. It’s not something you would read on a blog or social media, It’s a carefully crafted text.

In our close reading, we are looking for nothing less than evidence of greatness. It is important to note here that in New Criticism, author intent does not matter at all. We don’t care what the author wanted us to get out of the of the writing; what we care about is what the text itself says. In high school when you were asked to analyze a book or a play or a poem, you probably started with a close reading and looked for elements that made the text worth your time.

Slide Two: Close Reading: “Ars Poetica”

Let’s take a look at what a close reading actually is. The 1926 poem “Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish, which you read as an example in our textbook, gives us an excellent example of how literature was developing in conversation with critical theory. This work has all the good stuff: complexity, irony, metaphor, imagery, the types of things New Critics look for when they decide that something is literature. The Ars Poetica poem is positioned in a tradition of texts that tell us how to write poetry, starting with the Latin poet Horace’s Ars Poetica, a text with which MacLeish is undoubtedly familiar. “Ars poetica” means “the art of poetry.” Even in its title, the poem starts to make a statement about what poetry is.

But this poem’s definition may be a bit different from how you seen poetry defined in the past. If you were going to define poetry, how would you define it? The Oxford English dictionary tells us that poetry is a “literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.” But MacLeish is doing something different. Instead of telling us what a poem is, he’s showing us.

I’ve posted the poem here. You’ll notice I have numbered the lines. This is something you should always do when you start a close reading of a poem. When you return to write about the poem, you’ll use line numbers in your in-text citations.

I am going to read very slowly and look at the poem line by line. (Reads poem)

What stands out to you as you listen to this text? Think about terms you’ve learned in previous literature courses, like imagery. The poem compares poetry to a globed fruit, using metaphor. But the poem is also mute. How can a poem be mute? Shouldn’t a poem say something? This is a paradox, and it also creates tension. I think there are a lot of examples of tension in the poem. What about the line, “A poem is equal to:/Not true,” for example? Tension occurs when an image creates a sense that it’s not resolved.

These are just a few examples. As you read the poem, you’re going to be looking for things like this. And remember, what I’ll be looking for in your own writing is evidence from the text to support a thesis statement that makes an argument about the text. As much as possible, try to include evidence from the text.

The three principles of New Criticism that are at work in this poem are first, that the poem should be seen as an object. In other words, author intent doesn’t matter. So this object, this text, this artifact, transcends what’s written on the page. Second, the poem is silent, it’s unchanging, it exists both inside and outside of time. And third, the poem as an unchanging object represents something that’s organized, not a meaning, but an existence. As the poem states, “A poem should not mean/ but be.”

This quote from Steven Lynn, author of Texts and Contexts , really sums up the New Criticism approach: “Only the poem can tell us how to read the poem” (p. 51) Not the author, not someone else, only the poem. Your goal in New Criticism analysis is to find the unity in this complexity. The close reading is a form of scavenger hunt through the text, searching for clues to its meaning.

Slide Three: Why and How?

So why do we do this type of analysis? Really, first and foremost, those of you who’ve done this before, know that the first statement on this slide is true: a close reading of a text can be a pleasurable experience. It can actually feel good to engage with a text at this level. We feel like we’re really connecting with ideas and with beauty as we immerse ourselves in the text. A few cautionary words: When we do this type of close reading, we do want to avoid the intentional fallacy, and also the affective fallacy. We don’t care what the author intended, and we don’t care how the poem affects you, the individual reader. We are searching for universal truths about the text.

How does “Ars Poetica” make you feel? With New Criticism, your feelings about the poem do not matter. You can still talk about tone, emotion, etc. in the text, but you’re not focusing on your own feelings. For example, when I read the line, “For all the history of grief/ An empty doorway and a maple leaf,” you might have heard my voice catch. I cry every time I read this line. It affects me personally in profound ways, in ways that it may not affect you. But in New Criticism, my personal reaction to this line does not matter. Instead, what matters is how this image functions as a metaphor for the universal human emotion of grief.

Similarly, what the author intended when he wrote the poem doesn’t matter. What matters are the words on the page and the text itself. As you read, look for evidence that comes together to support an overarching theme. How do the parts of the poem or the short story or the novel shape the whole? As you’re reading the novel assigned for this course, pay attention to the parts and how they work together. Pay attention to the speaker, the point of view. Is it first or third person? If third person, is it limited or omniscient? How does characterization contribute to the complexity of the text? Also, with New Criticism, you should evaluate the craftsmanship and artistry of the work. That’s part of the reason I chose Klara and the Sun . There’s a high level of craftsmanship and artistry in this novel.

Ultimately, though, as you engage in this type of criticism, focus on how it can be a pleasurable experience. If you’re a creative writing major, think about how the approaches you are learning here can play out in your own writing. To see an example of an essay using this approach, see the AI-generated model on John Donne’s poem, “The Canonization,” along with my annotations on the essay. This exercise will show you how artificial intelligence can serve as a starting point, but it also showcases the limitations of tools like ChatGPT.

Slide Four: Limitations of New Criticism

While New Criticism is certainly an important step in development of modern critical theories, there are also several limitations to this approach. First, this type of criticism assumes that the text is universal—that it has one universal meaning. For example, maybe you had to read The Great Gatsby in high school. I love this book. And I still remember the multiple choice test I took on it where there was one right answer to the question about what the green light at the end of the dock symbolized. If you’ve ever taken a multiple choice test on a poem or a book, chances are your teacher took a New Criticism approach. Remember again that the goal is to find empirical and scientific ways to evaluate literature. That means we have to be able to find the “right” answer.

A second rather obvious limitation is something that we all know intuitively: how the text affects you, the individual reader, DOES matter! With New Criticism, because the text is all we need to understand the text, we don’t take individual readers or their different experiences into account. But we never read the same text the same way twice. Think about a book you’ve read more than once over the course of your life. Because you are not the same person when you reread the book, your experience of reading it will inevitably be different. Or think about our responses to Natasha Tretheway’s “Theories of Time and Space.” Many readers think this poem is hopeful, and you can certainly support that reading with evidence from the text. Other readers, myself included, think the poem is melancholy—that it’s basically about death. That reading is also supported by the text. How you read this—or any—text will depend on your individual experiences.

Ultimately, both of these concerns reveal a flaw in this empirical, scientific approach to literature. In the homogenous literary culture that existed in the 1920s-1950s, the same people were writing literature, reading literature, teaching literature, and evaluating literature. In Western societies, those people happened to be white men. This does not mean that ANY of the literature produced during this period isn’t amazing. It is! I love T.S. Eliot and Archibald MacLeish. But you can see how it’s much easier to find universal meaning when you’re in a closed circle of people who all were educated in the same way, read the same types of books, and are now teaching others the things they learned. When we talk about exploding the canon, this is what we mean. By allowing new voices to enter these literary spaces, it’s no longer quite so easy to find a universal meaning in every text. These limitations ultimately led to the development of several other critical theories we will learn about in this course.

Slide Five: Terms to Use

This slide has a list of terms you should incorporate as you practice New Criticism. I expect to see these in your theoretical response. Some of these terms will feel familiar, and some might be new. I think you’re familiar with voice, speaker, tone, point of view. Using speaker or narrator instead of the author’s name might be new to you though. It’s a hallmark of this type of criticism. Instead of talking about what the author intended, we talk about how the text functions.

Imagery and figures of speech will be important to comment on, including metaphor. Diction includes things like alliteration or onomatopoeia as well as rhyme, both internal and final. For opposition, look for opposites in the text and how they work. Ambiguity is an uncertain or unclear part of the text that may be open to multiple interpretations. Paradox is something that seems impossible: Again, how can a poem be mute? All these complexities, these oppositions, tensions, ambiguities, and paradoxes are going to lead to unity. That’s the overarching theme of the work. We’re first looking for complexity—literature shouldn’t be easy, right? Then we’re considering how those complexities in the text create unity.

Slide Six: New Criticism Checklist

As you prepare to complete your own New Criticism analysis, here’s a checklist for you to help you. What complexities can you find in the work? That’s the first thing you need to look for. What idea unifies the work? How are those tensions and ambiguities resolved? It’s super important to use details or images from the text to support your responses to this question. Finally, how do the parts of the work support that whole?

As you look at this checklist, your next step is to think about the poem you’ve decided to work with for your first essay. You’ll find these poems posted in Blackboard. Don’t do all three poems, just choose one, and then ask yourself the questions on this checklist. Those are the next steps to start applying criticism to the poem that you’ve chosen. On our final slide, I’ll give you a chance to brainstorm some ideas.

You also need to complete your theoretical response. Your initial response is due on Thursday, and your follow up post is due on Sunday. Follow the instructions for the theoretical response. I want you to practice writing a mini essay with a thesis statement that makes an argument about the text and is supported by evidence.

Slide Seven: Essay One Close Reading Activity

For this activity, use the poem you have decided to work with for your first essay. Answer these questions, then start to think about how you can formulate a thesis. Remember that summary is not analysis. You should not tell me what the poem says or what the symbols and imagery are. Instead, you’ll make an argument about how these elements function in the poem to support its meaning. Reach out if you have questions or need help.

Share This Book

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Uncategorized › New Criticism: An Essay

New Criticism: An Essay

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on March 16, 2016 • ( 11 )

At a time when literary artists were turning away from society into an introspective preoccupation with ‘art for art’s sake’, a similar movement was initiated in criticism, parallel to the Modernist ethos, by Cambridge professors IA Richards, FR Leavis and William Empson, and by the American Fugitives and Southern Agrarians Allan Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks and JC Ransom, which came to be known as New Criticism (which is also the name of a book by JC Ransom, 1941).

New Critics attempted to systematize the study of literature, and develop an approach that was centred on the rigorous study of the text itself. Thus it was distinctively formalist in character, focusing on the textual aspects of the text such as rhythm, metre, imagery and metaphor, by the method of close reading, as against reading that on the basis of external evidences such as the history, author’s biography or the socio-political/cultural conditions of the text’s production. Although the New Critics were against Coleridge ‘s Impressionistic Criticism, they seem to have inherited his concept of the poem as a unified organic whole which reconciles its internal conflicts and achieves a fine balance.

Like the liberal humanists, the New Critics believed in the primacy of the text as an autotelic artefact, complete within itself, written for its own sake, unified in form, and not dependent on its relation to the author’s intent/history etc. Such a text is to be read by the technique of close reading, which would reveal that its formal aspects serve to support the structure of meaning within the text. They believed that the critic’s job is to help readers appreciate the form and technique of the art and the mastery of the artist. Like Arnold and TS Eliot , New Critics also believed that “Western Tradition” is an unbroken continuum of internally consistent set of artistic conventions, going back to ancient Greece and continuing up to the present, and that good art participates in and extends the tradition, and that a critic’s job is to uphold the tradition and protect it from encroachments from commercialism, political posturing and vulgarity. As they believed in the canon, so also, they believed that literature/criticism is an internally edifying process that hones the sensibilities of “good” readers and sets them apart from the “unreflective masses”. Like the Modernists, they also made a firm distinction between “high” art and popular art, and held that “good” literature reflects universal values and is of timeless significance.

While IA Richards proposed close reading in his Principles of Literary Criticism and Practical Criticism , Wimsatt and Beardsley in their The Verbal Icon , eschewed the reading of a text based on the author’s intention (Intentional Fallacy) and on the impression on the reader (Affective Fallacy). Cleanth Brooks in his The Well Wrought Urn conceptualized the “heresy of paraphrase” and proposed that through the use of irony, paradox and ambiguity, a poet works constantly to resist any attempt at reducing the poem to a paraphrasable core. FR Leavis upheld austerity and moral seriousness in The Great Tradition while Empson explicated the multiple semantic possibilities of individual words in The Seven Types of Ambiguity .

In their emphasis on the “formal” aspects of a text, the New Critics were closely associated with the Russian Formalist school of Jakobson, Eichenbaum, Shklovsky and others. The New Critics’ attention to language and form was extended to the schools of contextual criticism, structuralism and poststructuralism. However, its principal notions were opposed by the Chicago school, New Historicism , Reader Response theory and Culture Studies .

For detailed note The American New Critics

Critical Essay Advice: New Criticism

Being a college student means delving into many unknown waters, especially in terms of essays. You think you’ve done them all but somehow every time you start a new one for a new professor, you’re back in the now-what-do-I-do mindstate while staring at a blank Word Document. Every professor has different observations or certain aspects they want you to assimilate prior to proceeding to the writing portion. Unfortunately, we’ve all had those moments of agitated pondering. Even I’ve had my fair share of writer’s block as it pertains to topics and advancing towards a thorough paper. Though I can’t help you think of a thesis for whatever essay you have in your schedule at the moment, there is a certain technique that can work for all critical or research induced essays: new criticism.

What Is New Criticism?

Unless you’ve taken classes concerning literature techniques, studied different types of ways to make a successful essay or simple as that, are an English student, then you probably already have the concept of new criticism embedded into your brain. For those who don’t, understanding the general explanation of this new, unfamiliar term first, would benefit. New criticism bypasses the author and the reader, and instead focuses solely on the perception, theory, and precise approach to the work itself. Though we thank the author for the work they’ve done, the new criticism technique requires that in order to study the work itself, it must be its own spotlight. It is common and alright to go back to the author for biographical information, but they are not the focus. New criticism dives into the complexity of a work, unifying the text together to better understand it.

Why New Criticism?

This technique is actually consciously and unconsciously used by both students and teachers alike. As best quoted by Steven Lynn, “everything should contribute to the work’s unity - figures of speech, points of views, diction, imagery, recurrent ideas or events, and so forth” (Texts and Contexts 22). Does any of this sound familiar? Even if you’ve just graduated from highschool, yes, this concept is not so far gone from your mind. Almost every teacher that teaches literature in some form uses these ideas because they too were taught it. The importance of new criticism is throwing away outside distractions to create a paramount analysis of the literary work. This includes the author (as said above), titles, and even dates.

How to Approach New Criticism

To make your essay stand out and sound as intricate as possible, the first approach you want to make in terms of new criticism is already proposing that the work you’re writing about has a deeper, more convoluted statement that you have yet to find. What sorts of oppositions does the work take on? Are there any ironies or subtleties that can be further interpreted? Next is to consider the consolidated idea being brought to you and how it pertains to these ideas that you’ve concluded are embedded into the work. To finish, of course, the final step you should take and this is a very common, known strategy: the details. What sorts of details or examples can you take from the text to ultimately support your unifying idea of your analysis?

This technique works best when the paper focuses on deciphering a poem. Poems take an experience and defines or searches for the meaning of it through metaphors, similes, and best of all, imagery. They are more allusive and elusive than a short story or novel, which provides an open window for you to interpret. Don’t be discouraged if a poem is not what your deciphering for a paper, however. Poems just have a stronger spotlight on them in terms of new criticism writing.

Whatever you’re analyzing, try this technique whenever you have a critical essay in some shape or form and if the professor requests that you put information about the author in your work as well, just do it. Approaching your essay with a new criticism view will make you fill out pages in no time with three simple steps. The important thing to remember when beginning it is this; however simple it is, there is something more ingrained in the writing that can be defined. You are defining an experience so make it an experience while you write.

View the discussion thread.

About the Author

Articles you may like

Dues Assistance Program
Scholarships Directory
Scholarship Recipients
All Scholarships
Job Listings
Resources Center
Upload Resume
Class Rings
Certificates
Career Edge™ Guides
Restaurant Discounts
Health Plan Discounts
Honor Society Rewards Mastercard

JUSTICE CENTER

Phi Theta Kappa Lawsuit Center
PTK Lawsuit Claim
PTK News Release
Honor Society Cares™
Society Leadership
Elevate Magazine
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Help Center
Member Satisfaction Guarantee
Call / Text Us

Honor Society® Membership Club offers exclusive benefits to foster your professional and personal development. We recognize your potential and support your future success with member-only discounts on products and services, including learning, dining, health, and travel. Access special items like graduation honor cords and essential career resources. As a distinct and pioneering honors organization, we're relentlessly committed to providing the tools and community to help you go further.

Call or Text us 1-866-313-6311 (9AM - 7PM EST Monday-Friday) 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW • Suite 1000 • Washington, DC 20036 9275 W. Russell Rd • Suite 235 • Las Vegas, NV 89145 Proudly Accredited by the Better Business Bureau © 2024 HonorSociety.org, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy • Terms of Use • Contact Us

Poem Guides
Poem of the Day
Collections
Harriet Books
Featured Blogger
Articles Home
All Articles
Podcasts Home
All Podcasts
Glossary of Poetic Terms
Poetry Out Loud
Upcoming Events
All Past Events
Exhibitions
Poetry Magazine Home
Current Issue
Poetry Magazine Archive
Subscriptions
About the Magazine
How to Submit
Advertise with Us
About Us Home
Foundation News
Awards & Grants
Media Partnerships
Press Releases
Newsletters

Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Print this page
Email this page

New Criticism

Name given to a style of criticism advocated by a group of academics writing in the first half of the 20th century. New Criticism, like Formalism , tended to consider texts as autonomous and “closed,” meaning that everything that is needed to understand a work is present within it. The reader does not need outside sources, such as the author’s biography, to fully understand a text; while New Critics did not completely discount the relevance of the author, background, or possible sources of the work, they did insist that those types of knowledge had very little bearing on the work’s merit as literature. Like Formalist critics, New Critics focused their attention on the variety and degree of certain literary devices, specifically metaphor , irony, tension, and paradox. The New Critics emphasized “close reading” as a way to engage with a text, and paid close attention to the interactions between form and meaning. Important New Critics included Allen Tate , Robert Penn Warren , John Crowe Ransom , Cleanth Brooks, William Empson, and F.R. Leavis. William K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley coined the term “intentional fallacy”; other terms associated with New Criticism include “affective fallacy,” “heresy of paraphrase,” and “ ambiguity .”

Check out our Learn area , where we have separate offerings for children, teens, adults, and educators.

Audio Poems
Audio Poem of the Day
Twitter Find us on Twitter
Facebook Find us on Facebook
Instagram Find us on Instagram
Facebook Find us on Facebook Poetry Foundation Children
Twitter Find us on Twitter Poetry Magazine
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Poetry Mobile App
61 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654
© 2024 Poetry Foundation

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Writing Critiques

Writing a critique involves more than pointing out mistakes. It involves conducting a systematic analysis of a scholarly article or book and then writing a fair and reasonable description of its strengths and weaknesses. Several scholarly journals have published guides for critiquing other people’s work in their academic area. Search for a “manuscript reviewer guide” in your own discipline to guide your analysis of the content. Use this handout as an orientation to the audience and purpose of different types of critiques and to the linguistic strategies appropriate to all of them.

Types of critique

Article or book review assignment in an academic class.

Text: Article or book that has already been published Audience: Professors Purpose:

to demonstrate your skills for close reading and analysis
to show that you understand key concepts in your field
to learn how to review a manuscript for your future professional work

Published book review

Text: Book that has already been published Audience: Disciplinary colleagues Purpose:

to describe the book’s contents
to summarize the book’s strengths and weaknesses
to provide a reliable recommendation to read (or not read) the book

Manuscript review

Text: Manuscript that has been submitted but has not been published yet Audience: Journal editor and manuscript authors Purpose:

to provide the editor with an evaluation of the manuscript
to recommend to the editor that the article be published, revised, or rejected
to provide the authors with constructive feedback and reasonable suggestions for revision

Language strategies for critiquing

For each type of critique, it’s important to state your praise, criticism, and suggestions politely, but with the appropriate level of strength. The following language structures should help you achieve this challenging task.

Offering Praise and Criticism

A strategy called “hedging” will help you express praise or criticism with varying levels of strength. It will also help you express varying levels of certainty in your own assertions. Grammatical structures used for hedging include:

Modal verbs Using modal verbs (could, can, may, might, etc.) allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This text is inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field. This text may be inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field.

Qualifying adjectives and adverbs Using qualifying adjectives and adverbs (possible, likely, possibly, somewhat, etc.) allows you to introduce a level of probability into your comments. Compare:

Readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will probably find the theoretical model somewhat difficult to understand completely.

Note: You can see from the last example that too many qualifiers makes the idea sound undesirably weak.

Tentative verbs Using tentative verbs (seems, indicates, suggests, etc.) also allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This omission shows that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission indicates that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission seems to suggest that the authors are not aware of the current literature.

Offering suggestions

Whether you are critiquing a published or unpublished text, you are expected to point out problems and suggest solutions. If you are critiquing an unpublished manuscript, the author can use your suggestions to revise. Your suggestions have the potential to become real actions. If you are critiquing a published text, the author cannot revise, so your suggestions are purely hypothetical. These two situations require slightly different grammar.

Unpublished manuscripts: “would be X if they did Y” Reviewers commonly point out weakness by pointing toward improvement. For instance, if the problem is “unclear methodology,” reviewers may write that “the methodology would be more clear if …” plus a suggestion. If the author can use the suggestions to revise, the grammar is “X would be better if the authors did Y” (would be + simple past suggestion).

The tables would be clearer if the authors highlighted the key results. The discussion would be more persuasive if the authors accounted for the discrepancies in the data.

Published manuscripts: “would have been X if they had done Y” If the authors cannot revise based on your suggestions, use the past unreal conditional form “X would have been better if the authors had done Y” (would have been + past perfect suggestion).

The tables would have been clearer if the authors had highlighted key results. The discussion would have been more persuasive if the authors had accounted for discrepancies in the data.

Note: For more information on conditional structures, see our Conditionals handout .

Make a Gift

Writing a Critique

About this Guide
What Is a Critique?
Getting Started
Components of a Critique Essay

Parts of a Critique Essay

There are 4 distinct components to a critique, and those are the:

Introduction

Each of these components is described in further detail in the boxes on this page of the guide.

An effective introduction:

Provides a quick snapshot of background information readers may need in order to follow along with the argument
Defines key terminology as needed
Ends with a strong argument (thesis)

For additional guidance on writing introduction paragraphs, librarians recommend:

Need some extra help on thesis statements? Check out our Writing Effective Thesis Statements guide .

A summary is a broad overview of what is discussed in a source. In a critique essay, writers should always assume that those reading the essay may be unfamiliar with the work being examined. For that reason, the following should be included early in the paper:

The name of the author(s) of the work
The title of the work
Main ideas presented in the work
Arguments presented in the work
Any conclusions presented in the work

Depending on the requirements of your particular assignment, the summary may appear as part of the introduction, or it may be a separate paragraph. The summary should always be included before the analysis, as readers need a base-level familiarity of the resource before you can effectively present an argument about what the source does well and where improvements are needed.

More information about summaries can be found on our Writing an Effective Summary guide .

The critique is your evaluation of the resource. A strong critique:

Discusses the strengths of the resource
Discusses the weaknesses of the resource
Provides specific examples (direct quotes, with proper citation) as needed to support your evaluation
The accuracy of the resource
Any bias found within the resource
The relevance of the resource
The clarity of the resource

A critique is your opinion of the text, supported by evidence from the text.

If you need further guidance on how to evaluate your source, you can also consult our Evaluating Your Sources guide .

Need help with citation?

Compose papers in pre-formatted APA templates. Manage references in forms that help craft APA citations. Learn the rules of APA style through tutorials and practice quizzes.

Academic Writer will continue to use the 6th edition guidelines until August 2020. A preview of the 7th edition is available in the footer of the resource's site. Previously known as APA Style Central.

APA Style Help Learn more about APA style through our research guide.

A conclusion has three main functions in an essay. A conclusion will:

Summarize the main ideas presented in the essay
Remind readers of the thesis (argument)
Draw the paper to a close

For additional guidance, the library recommends:

<< Previous: Getting Started
Next: Examples >>
Last Updated: May 22, 2023 10:46 AM
URL: https://library.tiffin.edu/critique

How to Write a Critical Essay

Hill Street Studios / Getty Images

An Introduction to Punctuation

Olivia Valdes was the Associate Editorial Director for ThoughtCo. She worked with Dotdash Meredith from 2017 to 2021.

B.A., American Studies, Yale University

A critical essay is a form of academic writing that analyzes, interprets, and/or evaluates a text. In a critical essay, an author makes a claim about how particular ideas or themes are conveyed in a text, then supports that claim with evidence from primary and/or secondary sources.

In casual conversation, we often associate the word "critical" with a negative perspective. However, in the context of a critical essay, the word "critical" simply means discerning and analytical. Critical essays analyze and evaluate the meaning and significance of a text, rather than making a judgment about its content or quality.

What Makes an Essay "Critical"?

Imagine you've just watched the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." If you were chatting with friends in the movie theater lobby, you might say something like, "Charlie was so lucky to find a Golden Ticket. That ticket changed his life." A friend might reply, "Yeah, but Willy Wonka shouldn't have let those raucous kids into his chocolate factory in the first place. They caused a big mess."

These comments make for an enjoyable conversation, but they do not belong in a critical essay. Why? Because they respond to (and pass judgment on) the raw content of the movie, rather than analyzing its themes or how the director conveyed those themes.

On the other hand, a critical essay about "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" might take the following topic as its thesis: "In 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' director Mel Stuart intertwines money and morality through his depiction of children: the angelic appearance of Charlie Bucket, a good-hearted boy of modest means, is sharply contrasted against the physically grotesque portrayal of the wealthy, and thus immoral, children."

This thesis includes a claim about the themes of the film, what the director seems to be saying about those themes, and what techniques the director employs in order to communicate his message. In addition, this thesis is both supportable and disputable using evidence from the film itself, which means it's a strong central argument for a critical essay .

Characteristics of a Critical Essay

Critical essays are written across many academic disciplines and can have wide-ranging textual subjects: films, novels, poetry, video games, visual art, and more. However, despite their diverse subject matter, all critical essays share the following characteristics.

Central claim . All critical essays contain a central claim about the text. This argument is typically expressed at the beginning of the essay in a thesis statement , then supported with evidence in each body paragraph. Some critical essays bolster their argument even further by including potential counterarguments, then using evidence to dispute them.
Evidence . The central claim of a critical essay must be supported by evidence. In many critical essays, most of the evidence comes in the form of textual support: particular details from the text (dialogue, descriptions, word choice, structure, imagery, et cetera) that bolster the argument. Critical essays may also include evidence from secondary sources, often scholarly works that support or strengthen the main argument.
Conclusion . After making a claim and supporting it with evidence, critical essays offer a succinct conclusion. The conclusion summarizes the trajectory of the essay's argument and emphasizes the essays' most important insights.

Tips for Writing a Critical Essay

Writing a critical essay requires rigorous analysis and a meticulous argument-building process. If you're struggling with a critical essay assignment, these tips will help you get started.

Practice active reading strategies . These strategies for staying focused and retaining information will help you identify specific details in the text that will serve as evidence for your main argument. Active reading is an essential skill, especially if you're writing a critical essay for a literature class.
Read example essays . If you're unfamiliar with critical essays as a form, writing one is going to be extremely challenging. Before you dive into the writing process, read a variety of published critical essays, paying careful attention to their structure and writing style. (As always, remember that paraphrasing an author's ideas without proper attribution is a form of plagiarism .)
Resist the urge to summarize . Critical essays should consist of your own analysis and interpretation of a text, not a summary of the text in general. If you find yourself writing lengthy plot or character descriptions, pause and consider whether these summaries are in the service of your main argument or whether they are simply taking up space.
100 Persuasive Essay Topics
Null Hypothesis Examples
An Introduction to Academic Writing
Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay
How To Write an Essay
Critical Analysis in Composition
Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
What an Essay Is and How to Write One
How to Write and Format an MBA Essay
Higher Level Thinking: Synthesis in Bloom's Taxonomy
How To Write a Top-Scoring ACT Essay for the Enhanced Writing Test
What Is a Critique in Composition?
How to Structure an Essay
How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement

PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
EDIT Edit this Article
EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
Browse Articles
Learn Something New
Quizzes Hot
This Or That Game
Train Your Brain
Explore More
Support wikiHow
About wikiHow
Log in / Sign up
Education and Communications
College University and Postgraduate
Academic Writing

How to Write a Critical Essay

Last Updated: April 8, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Megan Morgan, PhD . Megan Morgan is a Graduate Program Academic Advisor in the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She earned her PhD in English from the University of Georgia in 2015. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,163,912 times.

The goal of a critical essay is to analyze a book, film, article, painting, or event and support your argument with relevant details. When writing a paper like this, you will have to come up with an interpretation of your own and then use facts or evidence from the work or other sources to prove that your interpretation is acceptable. A critical essay on a book, for example, might focus on the tone and how that influences the meaning of the book overall and would use quotations from the book to support the thesis. This type of paper requires careful planning and writing, but is often a creative way to engage with a subject that you are interested in and can be very rewarding!

Preparing to Write a Critical Essay

Step 1 Make sure that you understand the assignment.

Get to know the text inside and out by reading and rereading it. If you have been asked to write about a visual text like a film or piece of art, watch the film multiple times or view the painting from various angles and distances.

Step 3 Take notes as you read your text.

What is the text about?
What are the main ideas?
What is puzzling about the text?
What is the purpose of this text?
Does the text accomplish its purpose? If not, why not? Is so, how so? [3] X Research source Don't: summarize the plot — you should already be familiar with it. Do: jot down thoughts that may guide your paper: Does he mean __? Does this connect to __?

Step 4 Review your notes to identify patterns and problems.

Your solution to the problem should help you to develop a focus for your essay, but keep in mind that you do not need to have a solid argument about your text at this point. As you continue to think about the text, you will move closer to a focus and a thesis for your critical analysis essay. Don't: read the author's mind: Mary Shelley intended Frankenstein's monster to be more likable because... Do: phrase it as your own interpretation: Frankenstein's monster is more sympathetic than his creator, leading the reader to question who the true monster really is.

Conducting Research

Step 1 Find appropriate secondary sources if required.

Books, articles from scholarly journals, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and trustworthy websites are some sources that you might consider using.
Use your library’s databases rather than a general internet search. University libraries subscribe to many databases. These databases provide you with free access to articles and other resources that you cannot usually gain access to by using a search engine.

Step 2 Evaluate your sources to determine their credibility.

The author and his or her credentials. Choose sources that include an author’s name and that provide credentials for that author. The credentials should indicate something about why this person is qualified to speak as an authority on the subject. For example, an article about a medical condition will be more trustworthy if the author is a medical doctor. If you find a source where no author is listed or the author does not have any credentials, then this source may not be trustworthy. [5] X Research source
Citations. Think about whether or not this author has adequately researched the topic. Check the author’s bibliography or works cited page. If the author has provided few or no sources, then this source may not be trustworthy. [6] X Research source
Bias. Think about whether or not this author has presented an objective, well-reasoned account of the topic. How often does the tone indicate a strong preference for one side of the argument? How often does the argument dismiss or disregard the opposition’s concerns or valid arguments? If these are regular occurrences in the source, then it may not be a good choice. [7] X Research source (Note, however, that literary criticism often presents a very strong preference for one reading; this is not usually considered "bias" because the field of literary study is inherently subjective.) Don't: dismiss an author for favoring one point of view. Do: engage critically with their argument and make use of well-supported claims.
Publication date. Think about whether or not this source presents the most up to date information on the subject. Noting the publication date is especially important for scientific subjects, since new technologies and techniques have made some earlier findings irrelevant. [8] X Research source
Information provided in the source. If you are still questioning the trustworthiness of this source, cross check some of the information provided against a trustworthy source. If the information that this author presents contradicts one of your trustworthy sources, then it might not be a good source to use in your paper. [9] X Research source

Clearly indicate when you have quoted a source word for word by putting it into quotation marks and including information about the source such as the author’s name, article or book title, and page number. Don't: highlight a phrase just because it sounds significant or meaningful. Do: highlight phrases that support or undermine your arguments.

Writing Your Essay

Make sure your thesis provides enough detail. In other words, avoid simply saying that something is "good" or "effective" and say what specifically makes it "good" or "effective." [12] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source
Place your thesis statement at the end of your first paragraph unless your instructor tells you to place it elsewhere. The end of the first paragraph is the traditional place to provide your thesis in an academic essay.
For example, here is a multi-sentence thesis statement about the effectiveness and purpose of the movie Mad Max: Fury Road : "Many action films follow the same traditional pattern: a male action hero (usually white and attractive) follows his gut and barks orders at others, who must follow him or die. Mad Max: Fury Road is effective because it turns this pattern on its head. Instead of following the expected progression, the movie offers an action movie with multiple heroes, many of whom are women, thereby effectively challenging patriarchal standards in the Hollywood summer blockbuster." Don't: include obvious facts ( Mad Max was directed by George Miller ) or subjective opinions ( Mad Max is the greatest movie of 2015 ). [13] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source Do: present an argument that you can back up with evidence.

You may want to use a formal outline structure that uses Roman numerals, Arabic numerals, and letters. Or, you may want to use an informal "mind-map" type of outline, which allows you to gather your ideas before you have a complete idea of how they progress.

Step 3 Begin your essay with an engaging sentence that gets right into your topic.

Other good techniques to open an essay include using a specific, evocative detail that links to your larger idea, asking a question that your essay will answer, or providing a compelling statistic.

Step 4 Provide background information to help guide your readers.

If you are writing about a book, provide the name of the work, the author, and a brief summary of the plot.
If you are writing about a film, provide a brief synopsis.
If you are writing about a painting or other still image, provide a brief description for your readers.
Keep in mind that your background information in the first paragraph should lead up to your thesis statement. Explain everything the reader needs to know to understand what your topic is about, then narrow it down until you reach the topic itself.

Step 5 Use your body paragraphs to discuss specific components of your text.

Provide a claim at the beginning of the paragraph.
Support your claim with at least one example from your primary source(s).
Support your claim with at least one example from your secondary sources.

Step 6 Develop a conclusion for your essay.

Summarize and review your main ideas about the text.
Explain how the topic affects the reader.
Explain how your narrow topic applies to a broader theme or observation.
Call the reader to action or further exploration on the topic.
Present new questions that your essay introduced. Don't: repeat the same points you made earlier in the essay. Do: refer back to earlier points and connect them into a single argument.

Revising Your Essay

Step 1 Set aside your paper for a few days before revising your draft.

It is important to begin writing a paper far enough ahead of time to allow yourself a few days or even a week to revise before it is due. If you do not allow yourself this extra time, you will be more prone to making simple mistakes and your grade may suffer as a result. [16] X Research source

Step 2 Give yourself sufficient time to do a substantive revision that clarifies any confusing logic or arguments.

What is your main point? How might you clarify your main point?
Who is your audience? Have you considered their needs and expectations?
What is your purpose? Have you accomplished your purpose with this paper?
How effective is your evidence? How might your strengthen your evidence?
Does every part of your paper relate back to your thesis? How might you enhance these connections?
Is anything confusing about your language or organization? How might your clarify your language or organization?
Have you made any errors with grammar, punctuation, or spelling? How can you correct these errors?
What might someone who disagrees with you say about your paper? How can you address these opposing arguments in your paper? [17] X Research source

Step 3 Complete your paper by carefully proofreading a printed version of your final draft.

If you are submitting your paper online or through email, check with your teacher or professor to find out what format s/he prefers. If you have used any textual formatting in your paper, you may wish to save it as a PDF file to preserve your formatting.

Sample Essays

Community Q&A

Ask a friend, family member or other acquaintance to proofread and make constructive comments on your paper. Professional writers go through several drafts of their work and you should expect to do the same. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 0
It is often easier to write a rough introduction and proceed with the rest of the paper before returning to revise the introduction. If you're feeling lost on how to introduce your paper, write a placeholder introduction. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 1
Write in your own voice. It is better to correctly use the words you know than to misuse the words you do not know in an attempt to sound scholarly. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 1

Make sure to cite all of your research including quotations, statistics and theoretical concepts as accurately as possible. When in doubt, err on the side of citing more rather than less, since failing to cite your research can result in a charge of plagiarism. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2
Papers written at the last minute suffer from logic gaps and poor grammar. Remember that your teacher has read hundreds, if not thousands of student papers, and as such, can tell when you've written a paper at the last minute. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2

↑ https://uwc.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/UWC_handouts_readingessayprompts.pdf
↑ http://www.sussex.ac.uk/s3/?id=122
↑ http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/critique.htm
↑ https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/faq/reliable
↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/03/
↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/673/1/
↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/
↑ https://www.irsc.edu/students/academicsupportcenter/researchpaper/researchpaper.aspx?id=4294967433
↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/58/
↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/05/

About This Article

To write a critical essay, develop a thesis that expresses your essay's main focus and states an arguable claim. Next, write an introduction that gives a basic overview of your paper and introduces your thesis. Then, create paragraphs that discuss your specific ideas, focusing on one main idea per paragraph. Be sure to start each paragraph with a claim and use examples from primary and secondary sources to support that claim. Finally, create a conclusion that summarizes your main points. For tips on outlining and revising your paper, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Jul 28, 2016

Did this article help you?

Nov 6, 2016

Jun 19, 2019

Sydni Nasada

Sep 16, 2016

Beth Strong

Dec 10, 2016

Featured Articles

Watch Articles

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell or Share My Info
Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

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.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

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.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

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:

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

Academic style
Vague sentences
Style consistency

See an example

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!

Ad hominem fallacy
Post hoc fallacy
Appeal to authority fallacy
False cause fallacy
Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

Choosing Essay Topic
Write a College Essay
Write a Diversity Essay
College Essay Format & Structure
Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

(AI) Tools

Grammar Checker
Paraphrasing Tool
Text Summarizer
AI Detector
Plagiarism Checker
Citation Generator

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.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, August 14). How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved June 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/literary-analysis/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to write a thesis statement | 4 steps & examples, academic paragraph structure | step-by-step guide & examples, how to write a narrative essay | example & tips, what is your plagiarism score.

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay in 8 Quick Steps

A good literary analysis involves more than just summarizing a story or poem. It's about digging deep into the text to understand its themes, characters, and writing techniques. In this article, we'll explore how to do just that. Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the game, these tips will help you learn how to write a literary analysis essay that'll impress your readers. Let's dive in!

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay?

Writing a good literary analysis is like taking a closer look at a painting to understand what makes it beautiful. In this section, we'll break down the steps to help you write a literary analysis essay on a book or poem. We'll explore things like characters, themes, and writing style so you can really understand what the author is trying to say. If you’re in a hurry, our experts can write paper for you overnight according to your particular instructions.

Choose Your Original

Select a source that intrigues you or one assigned by your instructor. Opt for a work that resonates with you emotionally or intellectually, as this connection will fuel your evaluation and keep you engaged throughout the process. Whether it's a classic novel, a contemporary poem, or a play, ensure that the content is rich in themes, characters, and stylistic devices to provide ample material for scrutinizing.

Read Carefully and Analyze

Once you've chosen your source, read it attentively, making notes on significant passages, character developments, and recurring themes. Pay close attention to the author's writing style, language choices, and penmanship devices such as imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing. Analyze how these elements contribute to the overall meaning and impact of the original, and consider how they evoke emotions or convey the author's message to the reader. If you need critical analysis essay examples , here are some compelling samples for your inspiration and motivation.

Formulate a Thesis Statement

After thoroughly analyzing the text, formulate a clear and concise thesis statement that encapsulates your interpretation or claim about the work. Your thesis should assert a specific claim or perspective regarding the work's meaning, theme, or literature elements, providing a roadmap for your composition and guiding your reader's understanding of your assignment's purpose.

Develop Your Argument

With your thesis statement in mind, develop a coherent argument supporting your text interpretation. Draw on evidence from the original, including quotations, plot details, and character interactions, to substantiate your claims and illustrate your examination. Consider how each piece of evidence contributes to your overall argument and use it to build a persuasive case for your interpretation of the material. By the way, you can ask our experts, ‘ do my PowerPoint presentation ,’ and our specialists will address such an assignment, too.

Need a Quality Literary Analysis Fast?

Our literature writers are the best experts for the job!

Outline Your Document

Create a detailed outline that organizes your ideas and evidence logically and sequentially. Divide your paper into an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, each addressing a specific aspect of your exploration. Outline the main points you'll discuss in each paragraph and the evidence you'll use to support them, ensuring a clear and structured progression of ideas throughout your document.

Write Your Introduction

Begin with an engaging introduction that provides context for your brainstorming and introduces your thesis statement to the reader. Hook your audience with an intriguing opening line or a thought-provoking question, then provide background information about the document and its author to orient your reader. Finally, present your thesis, outlining the main points you'll address in your speculation and setting the stage for the rest of your work.

Craft Your Body Paragraphs

In the main body, develop each point of your argument in separate paragraphs, providing evidence from the work to support your claims. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea or statement of the paragraph, then follow it with evidence from the original, such as quotations or textual survey, to illustrate and substantiate your point. Analyze each piece of evidence in relation to your thesis, explaining how it supports your interpretation of the source and contributes to your overall argument.

Conclude Thoughtfully

Finally, conclude your assignment with a thoughtful conclusion summarizing your arguments and reinforcing your thesis. Review the main points you've discussed in your paper, highlighting your key insights or discoveries about the text. Avoid introducing new information or arguments in your conclusion; reiterate the significance of your research and its broader implications for understanding the manuscript. End your work with a compelling closing statement that leaves a lasting impression on your reader and encourages further reflection on the work's meaning and significance. Shop for an essay for sale if both your schedule and budget are tight.

Is Your Literary Analysis Deadline Too Short?

Keep calm and use a professional service!

What Is a Literary Analysis Essay?

It is a type of academic writing that examines and interprets a work, such as a novel, poem, or play. It aims to delve into the deeper layers of the text to uncover its themes, characters, symbolism, and stylistic devices.

What Is the Purpose of a Literary Analysis Essay?

The purpose of this essay is to critically analyze a piece of literature, providing insights into its meaning, significance, and artistic techniques employed by the author. By dissecting the elements of the text, the paper seeks to understand how they contribute to the overall message or purpose of the work.

How to Start off a Literary Analysis Essay?

To start off such an essay, begin by introducing the work and its author, providing context for the research. Then, craft a thesis statement that presents your interpretation or claim about the source's meaning or significance. Finally, outline the main points you'll address in your document to guide the reader through your composition.

the how-to section was made more specific;
added FAQs.
https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/pdf/HOWTOWRITEALITERARYANALYSISESSAY_10.15.07_001.pdf
https://germanna.edu/sites/default/files/2022-03/Literary%20Analysis.pdf

Nokia’s latest mega deals aim to reinvent a company associated with mobile phones it no longer sells

Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark addresses Finland's President Sauli Niinisto at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 7, 2023.

Good morning. How will Apple reinvent itself? That day is coming. While deep discounts in China led to a 40% increase in iPhone shipments in May, iPhone sales and market share have been trending down . My Gen Z kids—Apple’s most loyal generation—would rather upgrade their battery right now than buy a new phone.

Will we even need smartphones by 2030? Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark likes to talk about digital-physical fusion , predicting we’ll implant a lot of technology in our bodies.

Lundmark knows about disruption. He first worked for Nokia between 1990 and 2000, helping the Finnish company become the world’s biggest mobile phone maker with a market cap of $250 billion the year he left. In 2020, he returned to be president and CEO of a company that had one-tenth the value and no phone business, having sold it in 2014 to Microsoft , which shut it down at a loss about a year later.

Nokia didn’t die. Like many brands faced with decline, the Finnish company followed a path of reduction, resistance, reflection, and reinvention to reemerge in a different—if somewhat diminished—form. (Former smartphone rival BlackBerry is now a niche player in cybersecurity and software solutions.) Nokia is today a network infrastructure and services company, making products like 5G cellular antennas.

I caught up with Lundmark last week after Nokia announced two major deals: the $375 million sale of its undersea internet cable unit, and its $2.3 billion acquisition of Infinera, which will boost Nokia’s U.S. presence and product offerings for data centers.

“What we want to do is to accelerate our exposure to AI-driven markets,” Lundmark said. “In many aspects, the future of this industry will be decided in the North American market. You have the most sophisticated carriers, all the web scalars. Big tech is very much driven by North America.”

Does it matter that most people still associate the Nokia name with products that his company no longer makes? “The carriers know us,” he said. “But we really need to take the brand equity from the mobile phone area and reposition for different types of enterprise networks … We’re working with ports, mines, manufacturing companies and expanding to the defense sector as well.”

After all, name recognition doesn’t guarantee success. Apple started 2024 as the world’s most valuable brand , according to Brand Finance. It still shelved its EV ambitions and launched its Vision Pro headset to mixed reviews . Apple Intelligence could boost iPhone’s market share or become table stakes in a world pivoting to AI. And the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit could further impact Apple’s business model.

Every major technology shift brings new names to the fore. For Nokia’s Lundmark, what matters now isn’t size but profitability. “It’s equally important to stop doing things as it is to start new things,” he said. “We want to focus on segments where we believe that we have global leadership.”

More news below.

Diane Brady [email protected] Follow on LinkedIn

Le Pen falls short

French markets have rebounded after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally failed to record a decisive win in the first round of France’s snap parliamentary elections. The CAC 40 stock index surged almost 3% in early trading. Meanwhile, the euro edged up 0.6% to $1.0776 but remains 0.5% weaker than before President Emmanuel Macron called the vote in early June. Fortune

The U.S. deficit

The U.S. deficit is almost as big as Russia’s economy. The CBO’s new estimate for the fiscal 2024 deficit is $1.9 trillion. While the 2024 figure falls short of the pandemic-era high of $3 trillion, it nearly matches Russia’s entire GDP, which the World Bank put at $2 trillion in 2023—and there’s a ‘vicious’ feedback loop that could make it worse. Fortune

S tartup strategy

In Japan and Korea, policymakers are encouraging startups and conglomerates to adopt a “David and Goliath” relationship. The benefits for startups is clear: Access to expertise, mentoring, and sales channels that they’d find difficult to develop on their own. But what do larger companies get out of this? Find out in Fortune

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Zoom—the company that blew up thanks to video calls in the pandemic—doesn’t want to be known as a video meetings company anymore by Orianna Rosa Royle

Can Hinge help solve the Gen Z loneliness epidemic? The company’s CMO says a new initiative could help by Alexa Mikhail

Workers prioritize financial well-being—these are the benefits they really want by Emma Burleigh

Execs should urge workers to return to the office to help San Francisco, Fed president says by Jason Ma

Whole Foods is cutting prices and ditching its ‘Whole Paycheck’ aura to appeal to inflation-weary shoppers by Phil Wahba

Many are calling for 81-year-old President Joe Biden to step down. Among this group of Fortune 500 CEOs, he’s still a young man by Lila Maclellan

T his edition of CEO Daily was curated by Orianna Rosa Royle.

Latest in Newsletters

Europe’s privacy laws put Meta in a tight spot. Now its antitrust laws are going in for the kill

Kitsch’s CEO started out selling handmade hair ties. Now she runs a viral haircare brand known for plastic-free shampoo bars

Mary Alice Vuicic, Thomson Reuters’ Chief People Officer

How Thomson Reuters’ chief people officer sold employees on AI

IVP’s Tom Loverro on why startups need to seize this moment

Carvana reached a new 52-week high of $136.92 on Friday.

How Carvana’s CFO helped power a stock turnaround that is ‘nothing short of remarkable’

Whole Foods CEO on getting employees to support your vision and what to know before entering the corner office

Patagonia became famous for letting staff cut out early to chase waves—now it’s asking dozens of employees to relocate or leave because it’s 300% overstaffed

Lumber prices are plunging. Blame the record drop in U.S. housing affordability and a post-pandemic double bubble ‘hangover’

Gen Zers are so disillusioned with the economy that many think it’s okay to commit fraud

This decades-long trend in home prices has been ‘flipped on its head’ amid a big shift in the housing market

YouTube star and philanthropist MrBeast says ‘ideally’ governments, not content creators, should build homes and cure blindness—but he won’t ‘stand by and do nothing’

Nvidia will produce such a massive ‘cash gusher’ that it will have to buy back more stock because all that money has nowhere else to go, analyst says

2024 Theses Doctoral

Futurity after the End of History: Chronotopes of Contemporary German Literature, Film, and Music

Wagner, Nathaniel Ross

This dissertation deploys theories of spatiotemporal experience and organization, most prominently Mikhail Bakhtin’s “chronotope,” to set contemporary literature, film, and music into dialogue with theories of post-Wende social and political experiences and possibility that speak, with Francis Fukuyama, as the contemporary as the “End of History.” Where these interlocutors of Fukuyama generally affirm or intensify his view of the contemporary as a time where historical progress slows to a halt, historical memory recedes from view, and the conditions of subjecthood are rephrased from participation in a struggle for progress to mindless consumption and technocratic tinkering, I engage contemporary artwork to flesh out and ultimately peer beyond the boundaries of the real and the possible these social theories articulate. Through a series of close readings of German films, music albums, and novels published between 1995 and 2021, I examine how German authors, filmmakers, and musicians pursue depictions of the malaises of the End of History while also resolutely pointing to the fissures in liberal capitalist hegemony where history—its past and its future—again becomes visible. Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope, a text’s unified expression of space and time, is central to my method of analysis. In tracing the chronotopic contours of contemporary works of music, film, and literature, I argue, we—as readers, viewers, and listeners—are engaged to think and act alongside the forms and figures that populate the worlds their authors create. In doing so, we ultimately uncover forceful accusations, resolute alternatives, and even hopeful antidotes to the deficiencies of our present that help us both to soberly contemplate the implications the pessimistic formulations of contemporary theory have on our lives, communities, and futures but also to formulate possibilities for them that lie beyond their analytical purview.In a series of close readings of my literary, filmic, and musical primary texts, I engage theorists of the post-Cold War, post-Wende contemporary who write about the political order and social conditions emerging out of the triumph of neoliberalism and market capitalism over socialist, communist, and fascist alternatives. The dissertation begins by establishing a wide view of the contemporary, tracing in its first chapter chronotopic resonances of Hartmut Rosa’s “social acceleration” thesis—which locates the aimlessness and alienation of contemporary society within the accelerationist logic of market capitalist modes of production—across the full temporal arc of the contemporary. Pairing Christian Kracht’s Faserland (1995) with Fatma Aydemir's Ellbogen (2017), I argue that the futilities and frustrations of the modern subject, as foretold in Fukuyama’s “End of History” essay and fleshed out in Rosa’s writings on social acceleration, find resonance not only in the wealthy, educated, white protagonist of Faserland’s 1990s, but also in the impoverished, undereducated, Turkish-Kurdish protagonist of Ellbogen some twenty years later. What connects these two accounts across decades and differences in identities, I demonstrate, is not merely a shared sense of alienation and despair, but a shared, underlying chronotopic characterization of the contemporary. These commonalities appear, I demonstrate, when we connect Rosa’s “social acceleration” thesis to diegetic chronotopes of perpetual motion that depict modern subjects’ inability to avail themselves of the ostensibly liberatory potential of liberal capitalism’s accelerated lifeworld. Chapter 2 then considers Byung-Chul Han’s theory of auto-exploitation and the dilemma of the music novel at a time where the rebellion of punk against social integration has been thoroughly incorporated into capitalism. Reading Marc Degens’ Fuckin Sushi (2015), I examine the novel’s concept of “Abrentnern” as a model for personal and communal fulfillment for those who turn to art as a means self-determination in the age of auto-exploitation. Unlike Kracht and Aydemir, however, Degens sees the closing off of historical possibilities for the good life enjoyed by his punk forbears—here, self-determination through transgressive artistic praxis—not as the contemporary subject’s damnation to cyclical patterns of despair but as a challenge to conceive of the good life anew. Working humorously through its hapless protagonist Niels’ repeated attempts to escape the seemingly inevitable for-profit co-option of his sincere artistic efforts, the novel serves to unveil the persistence of blind spots in this regime of totalizing exploitation. What results is an account of the double-edged logic of capitalist productivity’s ostensible totalization of labor-time. Capitalism, Niels unwittingly discovers, is a logic of production so overwhelming that it continuously drives subjects towards the discovery of new alterities that, for a brief time at least, allow subjects once again to slip between the cracks. The third chapter explores a similar phenomenon of halting resistance to the conditions of the capitalist present through the lens of futurity. Here, I push back against Mark Fisher’s theory of the dominance of “Capitalist Realism” in the contemporary aesthetic imagination, identifying and developing the notion of “subtle futurity”—the modest, yet resolute rephrasing of future possibility beyond the “way things are” of the present—in Leif Randt’s Schimmernder Dunst über CobyCounty (2011) In this light, I argue, Randt’s gestures towards a different future, however halting, mark a significant effort to imagine a benevolent form of future possibility within the context of an era often suspected to have been exhausted of its utopian sentiment. The final two chapters turn to past-minded works that more forcefully repudiate notions of the present as static or closed off from the movement of history. Chapter Four considers W.G. Sebald’s 1995 novel, Die Ringe des Saturn, and The Caretaker’s 2012 album, Patience (After Sebald), developing an account of the chronotopic means by which these works revisit materials of the past within the present. Chronotopic motifs of paraphrase—techniques of sampling in The Caretaker and narrative polyphony in Sebald—come together within macro-level chronotopic frameworks of peripatetic movement—looping repetition in The Caretaker and the retracing of bygone journeys in Sebald—to testify to the unanswered questions and unfinished work of history over and against notions of the present as a time where the past has been relegated to mere museum content or nostalgia for bygone ways of living. Where Chapter Four speaks primarily to the formal mechanisms by which the present rediscovers the past, Chapter Five examines two specific chronotopic innovations for thematically engaging constellations of past-present inter-temporality. Both Sharon Dodua Otoo’s 2021 novel, Adas Raum, and Christian Petzold’s 2018 film, Transit, develop chronotopes wherein past and present are intermingled in increasingly inseparable ways. Adas Raum, I demonstrate, is organized spatiotemporally as a nexus of coiled loops—pasts and presents intertwine, heaven and earth are tangled together, and the fates of human beings and even non-human objects follow spatial and temporal trajectories that weave in and out of conventional linear understandings of space and time. In similar fashion, past and present become inseparable in Petzold’s film, an adaptation of the Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel of the same name, through thematic and formal approaches of blurring that blend the plight of refugees of Seghers’ era with those of Petzold’s present day. History, then, appears remarkably robust in these texts, unfolding accounts of how human beings living through their present might take guidance from the generations that preceded them in the struggle for a better world.

Motion pictures, German
Germans--Music
Capitalism in literature
Social integration
Neoliberalism
Twenty-first century
Future, The, in literature
Sebald, W. G. (Winfried Georg), 1944-2001
Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich), 1895-1975
Petzold, Christian, 1960-
Fukuyama, Francis
Kracht, Christian, 1966-
Rosa, Hartmut, 1965-
Ringe des Saturn (Sebald, W. G.)
End of history and the last man (Fukuyama, Francis)

This item is currently under embargo. It will be available starting 2029-06-14.

More About This Work

DOI Copy DOI to clipboard

COMMENTS

Practicing New Criticism
Instructions. Step One: At the end of each section in Critical Worlds, you will find a chapter called "Practicing [Theoretical Approach]." (For example, "Practicing New Criticism") Read all the works in this section and be prepared to discuss them on our class discussion board or in class. Step Two: Choose one of the works to write ...
What Is New Criticism?
These are all critical terms that became important for literary analysis with the advent of New Criticism. New Criticism is a literary theory that emerged in the United States in the early 20th century, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, as part of an attempt to help readers understand the "right" way to interpret a literary text.
New Criticism Lecture Notes and Presentation
New Criticism is a formalist approach to literary analysis that looks at literature for the sake of literature, similar to a phrase you may have heard, ars gratis artis, or art for the sake of art. The name New Criticism comes from John Crowe Ransom's 1941 book, The New Criticism. We will read a short excerpt from an essay Ransom wrote called ...
New Criticism
New Criticism is a movement in 20th-century literary criticism that arose in reaction to those traditional "extrinsic" approaches that saw a text as making a moral or philosophical statement or as an outcome of social, economic, political, historical, or biographical phenomena. New Criticism holds that a text must be evaluated apart from its context; failure…
New Criticism Theory, Limitations & Examples
New Criticism arose in the beginning of the 20th century in America and Great Britain. This theory utilizes taking a close reading of a text, which is dismantling a text and looking at the ...
New Criticism: The Basics
A Basic introduction for my AP Lit & Comp Students on New Criticism Literary Theory
New Criticism: An Essay
New Critics attempted to systematize the study of literature, and develop an approach that was centred on the rigorous study of the text itself. Thus it was distinctively formalist in character, focusing on the textual aspects of the text such as rhythm, metre, imagery and metaphor, by the method of close reading, as against reading….
Critical Essay Advice: New Criticism
New criticism bypasses the author and the reader, and instead focuses solely on the perception, theory, and precise approach to the work itself. Though we thank the author for the work they've done, the new criticism technique requires that in order to study the work itself, it must be its own spotlight. It is common and alright to go back to ...
2.2: The Foundations of New Criticism: An Overview
A central concern of the New Critics is to understand how meaning and form interweave into a total artistic effect, the well-wrought urn. A New Critical reading assumes that the literary work has an organic structure that leads to unity or harmony in the work. An important concern for New Critics, consequently, is to show how meaning is ...
How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay
The critical analysis process has two key components, each of which is equally important. The first is the reading process. The purpose of a critical analysis assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of your subject matter. This means you carefully read, watch, or otherwise study your source text. The second part is the writing process itself.
New Criticism
New Criticism. Name given to a style of criticism advocated by a group of academics writing in the first half of the 20th century. New Criticism, like Formalism, tended to consider texts as autonomous and "closed," meaning that everything that is needed to understand a work is present within it. The reader does not need outside sources ...
PDF The Critical Essay
Examines how a director has put together a movie about a particular subject. Analyzes what works and what doesn't. Offers an opinion as to whether or not the movie is successful/valuable/worth seeing. Critiques not the topic of the movie, but how the director treats that topic.
Writing Critiques
Writing Critiques. Writing a critique involves more than pointing out mistakes. It involves conducting a systematic analysis of a scholarly article or book and then writing a fair and reasonable description of its strengths and weaknesses. Several scholarly journals have published guides for critiquing other people's work in their academic area.
Components of a Critique Essay
The critique is your evaluation of the resource. A strong critique: Discusses the strengths of the resource. Discusses the weaknesses of the resource. Provides specific examples (direct quotes, with proper citation) as needed to support your evaluation. Discusses anything else pertinent to your evaluation, including.
New Criticism
New Criticism, incorporating Formalism, examines the relationships between a text's ideas and its form, between what a text says and the way it says it. New Critics "may find tension, irony, or paradox in this relation, but they usually resolve it into unity and coherence of meaning" (Biddle 100). New Criticism attempts to be a science of ...
How to Write a Critical Essay
A critical essay is a form of academic writing that analyzes, interprets, and/or evaluates a text. In a critical essay, an author makes a claim about how particular ideas or themes are conveyed in a text, then supports that claim with evidence from primary and/or secondary sources. In casual conversation, we often associate the word "critical ...
How to Write a Critical Essay (with Pictures)
3. Take notes as you read your text. Taking notes as you read will help your to remember important aspects of the text, and it will also help you to think critically about the text. Keep some key questions in mind as you read and attempt to answer those questions through your notes.
How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay
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.
How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay
The content each part conveys is as follows. 1. Introduction. The essay begins with an introduction to the piece of work it is going to critically analyze. Information pertinent to the analysis is provided. This can include a summary of the work, its context, themes, message, and/or details about the author/artist.
How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay
Learning how to write a critical analysis essay is an important skill for college students. You'll need to learn how to critique what you read and how to wri...
How To Write a Critique (With Types and an Example)
1. Determine the criteria. Before you write your critique, it's helpful to first determine the criteria for the critique. If it's an assignment, your professor may include a rubric for you to follow. Examine the assignment and ask questions to verify your understanding of the guidelines.
How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay in 8 Quick Steps
In this section, we'll break down the steps to help you write a literary analysis essay on a book or poem. We'll explore things like characters, themes, and writing style so you can really understand what the author is trying to say. ... Avoid introducing new information or arguments in your conclusion; reiterate the significance of your ...
Analysis and commentary on CNN's presidential debate
Read CNN's analysis and commentary of the first 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in Atlanta.
Nokia's latest mega deals aim to reinvent the company
The CBO's new estimate for the fiscal 2024 deficit is $1.9 trillion. While the 2024 figure falls short of the pandemic-era high of $3 trillion, it nearly matches Russia's entire GDP, which the ...
Futurity after the End of History: Chronotopes of Contemporary German
This dissertation deploys theories of spatiotemporal experience and organization, most prominently Mikhail Bakhtin's "chronotope," to set contemporary literature, film, and music into dialogue with theories of post-Wende social and political experiences and possibility that speak, with Francis Fukuyama, as the contemporary as the "End of History." Where these interlocutors of ...

10 New Criticism Lecture Notes and Presentation

Slide One: New Criticism: The Business of Literature

Slide Two: Close Reading: “Ars Poetica”

Slide Three: Why and How?

Slide Four: Limitations of New Criticism

Slide Five: Terms to Use

Slide Six: New Criticism Checklist

Slide Seven: Essay One Close Reading Activity

Share This Book

Literary Theory and Criticism

New Criticism: An Essay

Share this:

Related Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Critical Essay Advice: New Criticism

About the Author

Articles you may like

New Criticism

Writing Critiques

Types of critique

Published book review

Manuscript review

Language strategies for critiquing

Offering Praise and Criticism

Offering suggestions

Writing a Critique

Further Reading

Parts of a Critique Essay

Introduction

How to Write a Critical Essay

What Makes an Essay "Critical"?

Characteristics of a Critical Essay

Tips for Writing a Critical Essay

How to Write a Critical Essay

Preparing to Write a Critical Essay

Conducting Research

Writing Your Essay

Revising Your Essay

Sample Essays

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

About This Article

Reader Success Stories

Did this article help you?

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

Have a language expert improve your writing

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

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Table of contents

Language choices

Narrative voice

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Essay question example

Thesis statement example

Finding textual evidence

The introduction

Paragraph structure

Topic sentences

Using textual evidence

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Cite this Scribbr article

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay in 8 Quick Steps

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay?

Choose Your Original

Read Carefully and Analyze

Formulate a Thesis Statement

Develop Your Argument

Need a Quality Literary Analysis Fast?

Outline Your Document

Write Your Introduction

Craft Your Body Paragraphs

Conclude Thoughtfully

Is Your Literary Analysis Deadline Too Short?

What Is a Literary Analysis Essay?

What Is the Purpose of a Literary Analysis Essay?

How to Start off a Literary Analysis Essay?