Introductions: Structure and Content

Purpose of Literary Analysis Introductions

1. Identify and explain the subject and what you are topically analyzing
2. Introduce the guiding analysis examples in your subject text
3. Introduce your ideas==>your argument and reasons
• thesis and subtopic claims
4. By doing #3, organize the body paragraphs by giving the order of your thesis statement claims

General Introduction Structure: 

1. Hook: opening sentence(s) of essay that sets up your topic==>something thematically connected 

2. Put the hook in context for thesis topic: transition from topic to specific subject matter

• Provide  background information on thesis subject

• Name the author and subject matter and/text that you are analyzing
• Contextualize the subject matter (the book, in this case) based on essay prompt's purpose
• Thematic summary==> how does the subject text fit the topic? What's its individual view/place on the larger topic?

• Introduce and define main characters (analysis examples) used in analysis -- what are you going to break down with regard to these characters? 

3. Then transition to the Thesis Statement and subtopics that body paragraph explores

• The most effective writing can combine #2's behaviors 

General Hooks (p.26 in RR)

The purpose of a hook is to draw your reader in to what you have to say. You don't want the hook to sound too broad and anonymous. You want to one of the general hooks below in a creative, but thesis-connected way: 

1. Relevant quote  (something that not only relates to the topic, but your point of view of the subject matter)

2. Personal anecdote (in 3rd person analysis, the only time "I" is 'allowable')

3. Provocative and relevant question

4. Specific Example that fit your subject ==> In 2014, what is a relevant example that relates to your subject text and the themes you will analyze in your essay? 

5. Relevant fact: particularly one that sets the tone and allows you to explore the fact specifically as it relates to your thesis.

HW for Monday, 10/13

1. Work on Thesis Statement and Introduction for Essay 2

2. Read We, the Drowned, through part III, “The Sailor” (up to page 547)    

Literary Analysis using Argument Strategies

Two rhetorical strategies that are relevant to making an argument (whether in a speech debate or in a argument essay or in a tete a tete with your parents or your friends or complete strangers...) are also really great when doing literary analysis.

In a literary analysis, you can frame these strategies as how to discuss characters:

• Point Out Common Ground: if there is something within the larger argument that characters agree with, it is effective to make explain views they all share (and cite those views to support the claim).  

• Start with the largest thematic connection. What do the characters agree on, idea wise? What does that tell you about what they value as a whole, then?

• Acknowledge Differing Viewpoints:  use a change in direction transitional word/phrase (however, while, although, in contrast, …) to identify where characters don't agree.

• In your claims (topic sentences and reasoning sentences), start off with the larger thematic view--not the specific passage.

• For instance, if two characters are arguing over religion. Start of your analysis by laying out their contrasting views of religion, and then support with textual evidence.

HW for 10/8

1. What are two cultural topics that you find discussed within the setting of Marstal? Which characters are involved, and what are the strongest passages that support your understanding of Marstal?

• Define the general Marstal worldview on each topic. 

• Also, define individual mindsets of Marstallers who discuss these topics. 

2. Read 5c-d (76-78) and 6 (84-95) in Rules for Writers for a further understanding of how to focus on your ideas in writing an analytical/argumentative essay. 

Knowing Other Worldviews: Gender Construction

There is a very interesting map on the Washington Post website that gives a brief historical, worldly perspective of Gender. 

How can such a map help your critical thinking about gender, and thus, about understanding more about various world views? 

• What are gender roles? 

• A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. Socially accepted gender roles differ widely between different cultures. Proponents of gender role theory assert that observed gender differences in behavior and personality characteristics are, at least in part, socially constructed, and therefore, the product of socialization experiences; this contrasts with other models of gender that assert that gender differences are "essential" to biological sex. Gender differences exist in almost all societies. With differences in the norms adopted, this suggests that gender differences are, at least partly, influenced by culture.^[1]

Cultural Analysis of Marstal: gender roles as a subtopic of "way of life"

• What are different general roles in Marstal, and where are those roles constructed--based on the textual evidence? (Such a question is multilayered, of course)

Cultural Analysis of Marstal: other subtopics of "way of life"

• What are other cultural topics that are discussed within the novel? (We have started to discuss culture, already, in a more probative light.) 

Active Reading: Setting Up Support for Essay 2

Essay 2, which will be handed out next week since we are behind in having a thorough discussion of the text, will focus on analysis of the setting and how Marstal, Denmark, evolves over the years. 

The main question, though, is the following: What is a larger portrait of "what life means" represented through one or two main characters' lives--in reflection of life at sea, of technological advances,  and/or of war?


Relevant Topical Questions and Points to Make in Such a Case:

1. What happens to characters based on their way of life? (This is such an umbrella question that you can come up with many more once you isolate a few answers.)

2. How do the main characters feel about Marstal and what commentary do they make about life there? How does it evolve over time, for the character?  (Understanding and exploring characterization leads to insight into themes about the larger world.)

3. What physical changes in Marstal happen in the 100 years or so? What mindset/worldview changes happen in that time?

4. What doesn't change, physically, about Marstal? What other things don't change--mindsets, norms and beliefs? Specify.

A Certain Type of Person With A Certain Mindset In a Certain Kind of World

Authors craft worlds, similar to ours, in in the physical setting there is a chance for us to interpret a set of norms and beliefs held by characters. In each place, larger cultural points of view can be looked at as a common "worldview."  Within that worldview, each character has their own mindset--just as we do in our real world.  To find thematic understanding of what is being said about a place, you have to analyze the connections between people and place. Here are a following ways to start:

• How does an author portray the place? Does the narrator seem to like/dislike the place? 

• Who are the main characters; how are they characterized; what happens to them? How do they view the setting?

Characterization: the intended view an author wants the reader to get about a character...

• Appearance – how you physically describe them; what you emphasize about their looks

• Language – how they talk and what they talk about; accent, dialect, references they make, length of sentences …

• Behavior – define by actions, how they interact with other characters; how they treat themselves 

• Internal & External Thoughts – providing a character’s rationale for actions help shape the reader’s view