Literature Analysis Essays

Make sure that your thesis statement fits the three “P’s”: Prompt, Provable, Purpose.

Your thesis should relate to the prompt, be an argument that is provable, and actually be specific enough so that it has purpose. To add purpose, make sure that you stay away from broad statements and instead show some specifics. Also ask ho or why this may be important:

Bad example: Throughout Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is a power struggle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched.

-If this was your thesis statement, then there is really nothing to prove. It is already pretty obvious that there is a power struggle. Instead, ask how this power struggle influences the novel or why this power struggle plays out the way it does. Always make sure your thesis (and thus your essay) has a purpose. You can do this by stating why the author does what he/she does.

Good example: Throughout Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a power struggle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched takes place that demonstrates how authoritative figures can only be brought down through the process of instilling leadership in the hearts and minds of those who are being oppressed.

Do not refer to yourself when writing literature analysis essays.

Remember, you represent your thesis and your argument, not yourself when writing literature analysis. Make your essay sound formal and not like a journal entry.

Your arguments will also sound more confident and reassuring when you state them as facts rather than as your own opinions.

Bad example: I believe that McMurphy instills a sense of individualism in the patients through his own ability to transfer the gift of laughter from himself to those under the nurse’s power.

Good example: McMurphy instills a sense of individualism in the patients through his own ability to transfer the gift of laughter from himself to those under the nurse’s power.

Move away from plot summary and towards analysis.

Make sure that your body paragraphs contain a topic sentence and no more than one sentence of plot summary (this of course can be tweaked a bit depending on the length of the paragraph). The rest of the body paragraph should focus on the quote/ text that supports your original topic sentence along with the analysis that shows why this quote is important to your argument.

Bad example: McMurphy’s arrival is one of the instances when the power struggle begins to affect the patients’ sense of individualism. After McMurphy shows up at the ward, he is immediately seen by the nurse as someone who will question the source of power in the hospital: “You’re committed, you realize. You are under the jurisdiction of me” (144). McMurphy continues to push the nurse’s buttons by watching the World Series game even when the nurse does not want him to. He even gets the patients to join him in voting to watch the game despite the nurse’s objections. McMurphy goes so far as to break down the window that separates the nurse from the patients. This all eventually leads to McMurphy finally taking the patients out on a fishing trip where they get to leave the hospital for an entire day. These instances all show how McMurphy pushes back on the nurse’s power as he gives the other patients a stronger sense of freedom and individualism.

-These are all great parts of the novel, and the arguments the writer brings up are all valid, but instead of simply listing off these different incidents in the novel, the writer should focus on one and how that example supports his or her claim. The writer also needs to make sure that the quote he/she chooses actually can be analyzed in the paragraph, and not simply forgotten.

Analyzing Quotes: Connect the dots for the reader.

Don’t just state “this quote shows…,” actually explain what it shows. Remember, the quote won’t do the “showing” alone- you need to help! Discuss how it shows this concept and why this may be important to your essay. When in doubt, always ask how and why!

Bad Example: McMurphy is the reason for why the nurse breaks down and loses her power as she reveals her true self. This is shown when the patients watch the world series: “And we were all sitting there, lined up in front of that blanked out TV set, watching the gray screen […] and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (144). This quote shows who nurse Ratched really is and it shows how McMurphy is winning the battle for power. Without power, the nurse can only pointlessly scream at the patients without any real control.

-While this is a good quote and is an integral part of the story, the problem here is that the writer does not actually discuss how this quote supports his claim that the nurse is losing her power and McMurphy is revealing her true self. The writer needs to really drive the point home and show how this quote’s depiction of the nurse is unique and represents a turning point in the novel. The analysis after the quote should be the longest part of your body paragraph and should almost always be longer than just one or two sentences. Really drive the point home.

Good Example: One of the most troubling aspects of the novel is how Nurse Ratched can only be stripped of her power through McMurphy’s actions that reduce her to simply a sexual object for the men to laugh at. This is especially seen at the end of the novel when McMurphy breaks down the glass (symbolizing her power) for the final time and attacks her in an overtly sexual manner: “Screaming when he grabbed her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out, bigger than anybody had ever even imagined, warm and pink in the light” (319). Kesey makes it clear in this quote that the nurse could be stripped of her power when her breasts are exposed, letting the patients realize that she is a woman and therefore, in Kesey’s mind, less threatening than the men. Even her breasts are described in the least threatening language as Kesey describes them using the word “warm” which helps to portray Nurse Ratched as just another female who simply serves a sexual purpose for the male patients. This objective view of females can be dismissed as a side-effect of the early sixties, but it still is quite revealing of Kesey’s own opinions about women. Instead of portraying the nurse as a harsh manager of a hospital who happens to be a woman, Kesey can only view feminine characters as sexualized figures inferior to men.