Literary essay

Literary essay

introduction & thesis statement

A literary essay is really an analysis of a literary work, in this case: our book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

It is not merely a summary. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer's (that's you guys) personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the book.

A literary essay is really an analysis of a literary work, in this case: our book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

It is not merely a summary. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer's (that's you guys) personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the book.

It should have these 3 elements:

1. An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.

2. A main body, divided into paragraphs, that builds an argument using evidence from the text.

3. A conclusion that clearly states the main point that you have shown with your analysis.

The introduction

> Start with a compelling opening statement

> End with your thesis statement (your main argument)

Which of the following would be a good compelling opening sentence of a literary essay?

This essay is about the book Extremely Loud & Incredibly close written by Jonathan Foer.

If you lose something valuable to you, you tend to go look for that thing, don't you?

No man is an island, but some people do choose to live their lives alone.

Jonathan Safran Foer's novel es about a 9 year old boy who loses his father during 9/11.

Which one is the best THESIS STATEMENT? (poll is coming)

A) The novel Extremely loud and incredibly close shows us that trauma cannot be solved and that humans are globally united in our misery.

B) Like in life, emotions play an important role in the novel Extremely loud and incredibly close.

C) The novel EL&IC shows that the death of a loved one affects people to such an extent that only closure can lead to a peaceful acceptance of the loss.

Which of the following would you say is a high quality literary thesis statement?

A (globally united trauma)

B (emotions)

C (death needs closure)

Does your introduction have a good opening line and a strong thesis statement?

working/feedback time

If you hadn't yet: follow the link on the next slide and read the example essay (it was also in Magister - huiswerk for today)

pressbooks.pub