WRITING A LITERARY CRITICISM

Getting ready to write

UNDERSTAND WHAT CRITICSM IS ALL ABOUT

A. AnalyzingB. ComplainingC. Summarizing

The answer is…. A. Analyzing

Critics look for meaning in a piece of literature by looking at the author’s choices as a writer, the author’s beliefs, and the author’s experiences as they relate to the content of the novel, short story, poem, or play.

to the author to narrative elements

to human nature

to other works

Author’s personal observations about life

Conflicts like “man vs. man” or “man vs. nature”

Themes like “envy” or “love”

Compare and contrast works by the same author

Author’s biographical experiences and cultural background expressed through story

SettingPlot CharacterSymbolismMetaphorTonePoint of View

Character strengths and flaws

Character motives

Compare and contrast works by different authors

Author’s unique voice, writing style or genre

Storytelling style or genre

Ethical, moral, or spiritual messages in the story

Influence of other authors or works

Analyze how the story relates

Instead of trying to talk about all these elements critics usually focus on one or two aspects of the work such as:

Redemption and justice in Flannery O’Connor’s Short Stories

or The Role of Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird

What sort of questions do you need to ask in order to write about your topic?

SAMPLE Topic: Theme of death in Poe’s short fiction.

UNDERSTAND YOUR TOPIC

What is a theme anyway? What is the tone or mood of the stories? Are there characters or items in the stories

that might symbolize death? Does anything die or seem to be dying in

the story? What do the stories say about Poe’s attitude

toward death? How does the plot or characters in each

story compare with Poe’s other works?

ASK QUESTIONS

FOLLET LIBRARY CATALOG

GALE LITERATURE RESOURCE CENTER

SCHOLARLY WEBSITES & ONLINE BOOKS

LOOK FOR CRITICSMS

WHAT DO THE CRITICS SAY?•Are there literary criticisms that answer your questions?

•After reading what other critics think were you able to see what they were talking about as you read the story?

•Did what the critics said give you ideas about how to organize a paper around your theme?

•Do you have other thoughts about the story that are different from the ideas you read?

The theme of death is reflected through the characters, the setting, and the plot of four of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.

COME UP WITH A THESIS

WHY THIS THESIS?You found several criticisms about the theme of death

in Poe’s work.

You found criticisms about how characters and items in the story are symbols of death.

You found criticisms about how death shows up in the plot.

What the critics said made sense to you and you feel that you understand it well enough to write about it.

You have read the primary source and can identify passages in the text that support what the critics are saying.

FIND SOURCES

Primary Source

Secondary Sources

Poe

Link from IPL.org

CREDIT YOUR SOURCES

Author’s last, first name. Title of source.

City: Publisher, Date. Type of source.

***Don’t forget to double space and use a hanging indent for every line after the first.

MLA CITATION HELPS

• Use Easybib.com to make a citation.• Gale puts the citation at the bottom of the

article for you. Cut and paste.• Refer to examples of MLA citation.

Examples Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allan. Fall of the House of Usher and other Tales. New York:

Signet Classics, 1998. Print.

Wilbur, Richard. "The House of Poe." The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe:

Selected Criticism Since 1829. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan,

1966. 255-77. Print. Modern Critical Views: Edgar Allan Poe.

Comp. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. 187-204.

Womack, Martha. "Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher"" The

Poe Decoder. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

I. IntroductionII. Characters

A. The Fall of the House of UsherB. The Mesmeric RevelationC. LigeiaD. The Premature Burial

III. SettingA. The HousesB. The Crypts

IV. PlotA. Symbols of deathB. Allusions to death

V. Conclusion

MAKE AN OUTLINE FOR WRITING AND TAKING NOTES

Each individual subtopic in an outline is called a “slug.” EX: III.B. is the slug to use for notes about The Crypts.

II. B. 2

Roderick’s obsession with the Launcelot book predict his death.

TAKE NOTES

Outline slug Source

II. B. 1

"Not hear it?--yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long--long--long--many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it--yet I dared not --oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!--I dared not--I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb! Said I not that my senses were acute? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them--many, many days ago--yet I dared not--I dared not speak!" 87

CREDIT QUOTES IN YOUR NOTES

Include page number for direct quotes

ARE YOU READY TO WRITE?

• Make sure you have a note for every slug in your outline.

• Make sure you know where you got your secondary source information.

• Make sure you have read your primary source and have identified appropriate quotes to support your thesis.

DID YOU CREDIT ALL QUOTATIONS?• Make sure every direct quote is in quotation

marks around it.• Make sure longer quotes follow indention

conventions • AND • Make that all quoted material has a footnote

crediting the source.• Make sure everything else is your original

work.

DID YOU INCLUDE A WORKS CITED PAGE AT THE END? Make sure the works cited page at the end

includes all the necessary information formatted according to MLA citation standards.