- Writing about American Literature
- When You Write about Literature
- How to Read a Short Story Critically
- How to Write an Analytical Essay about Short Fiction
- Hawthorne's Goodman Brown: Fool or Hero? (A Sample Critical Analysis)
- How to Explicate Poetry
- How to Analyze a Play
- How to Read and Understand an Expository Essay
Writing About American Literature In general, writing about American literature is no different from writing about the literatures of the world. The various approaches to American letters engage the same critical skills as they do for the study of all literary works. What is specific to the study of the American canon, of course, is the unique contexts and settings that stirred the imaginations of a number of gifted thinkers and writers, prompting them, sometimes, to break dramatically with the past and with their European roots. Some, like Thomas Paine and Harriet Beecher Stowe, turned to writing as a means of addressing a range of social issues, like Paine's clamor for independence and Stowe's denunciation of slavery. Some writers—James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, and Bret Harte—were captivated by the expansive wilderness that seemed to stretch endlessly before the western horizon, giving rise to regional literature and the local color movement. Others, such as the Concord writers Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, staked their literary claims in the territories of the mind and spirit, establishing at their own feet the nexus for all the great streams of philosophy, drafting new chapters for generations yet to come. Still others, like Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Ezra Pound, explored the nature of creativity itself and the functions of literature in the service of art. The literature that emerges is as varied and as disparate as is the culture from which it sprang. Writing about any literature begins with active rather than passive reading, motivated, in part, by some assumptions that justify the concentration and effort that active reading requires. The first assumption is that you value learning and intellectual growth. Another assumption is that reading and the reflection it stimulates is a positive experience out of which that understanding and growth will occur. A third assumption is that, as the reader, you have the confidence that you can do it—that you can analyze a text, comprehend it, and relate it to yourself, your cultural community, and to your evolving sense of history and your place within it. Finally, you trust that you can translate your analysis, interpretation, or judgment into several coherent paragraphs or longer written compositions. This unit contains "from 'Three Dirges,'" a short story by an American novelist, and support materials for study and writing about the story. The materials include tips and suggestions for writing about literature, guides for analyses, commentaries, outlines, examples of exercises, sample essays, and a short guide to writing research papers about literature. "Tips for Active Reading" will guide you through a series of simple steps for approaching any reading actively, rather than passively. These proven steps lead to both short-term and long-term memory. Find a bonus tip at the end of the study guide. The analytical guides include "How to Read a Short Story Critically," "How to Explicate a Poem," "How to Analyze a Play," and "How to Read and Understand an Expository Essay." For composing an essay on a short story, see "How to Write an Analytical Essay about Short Fiction." For additional support, read the checklist entitled, "When you write about literature . . . Some Tips for Academic Writers." Commentaries include "Literary Criticism," "Some Critical Approaches to Literature," and "An Introduction to Argument: An Analysis of 'The Declaration of Independence.'" Read the first for an introduction to the three broad types of literary analyses and the second for some examples of typical literary assignments. "An Introduction to Argument: An Analysis of 'The Declaration of Independence'" explores the classical structure of an argument and provides tips for identifying argument in expository writing. "'Tragedy and the Ethic of Responsibility': A Sample Critical Analysis" addresses theme in Marshall Bennett Connelly's "from 'Three Dirges.'" "Hawthorne's Goodman Brown: Fool or Hero?" analyzes the element of ambiguity in the meaning of Nathaniel Hawthorne's enigmatic nineteenth-century short story, "Young Goodman Brown." Both essays reflect the structure and development of a typical "thesis-support" essay and follow guidelines listed above for organizing and developing a single-source literary analysis. Research guides and tools include "A Short Guide for Conducting Literary
Research in American Literature," "Some Online Resources for Writing
About American Literature," and "Evaluating Internet Resource." [Back to Top] When you write about literature . . .
Some Tips for Academic Writers Sentence Style - Use simple sentences as rubrics (pointers).
- Use compound sentences to suggest balance and to present pairs of ideas
of equal value.
- Use complex sentence to emphasize the most important ideas and to subordinate
less important ideas.
- Avoid "empty" sentence frames that say little or restate the obvious.
- Use present tense when referencing details in a literary work except for
passages written in the past tense.
- Incorporate short, key quoted phrases into analytical sentences.
- Avoid the use of such words and phrases as "you" and "the
reader" that often lead to wordiness.
- Avoid the phrase, "In conclusion," when opening the concluding
paragraph.
- Avoid gratuitous complements and superlatives.
Paragraph Development - Use Pattern 1 paragraph frames for most paragraphs in the body of academic
essays.
- Begin body paragraphs with claims as topic sentences that repeat key concepts
from the thesis sentence.
- Always introduce the speaker, context, and/or significance of block quotations.
- Always follow block quotations with a response that clarifies the significance
of the quoted passage.
- Avoid lengthy quotations.
- Use a balanced reference to the readings of a text, including combinations
of allusions, paraphrases, summaries, and quotations.
- Enhance the discussion of the topic sentence with both primary development
(explanation of the main idea in the topic sentence) and secondary development
(explanation of the explanation) when to do so reveals new insight.
- Never begin a body paragraph with a quotation or synopsis of an action in
the story.
Essay Development - Always assume your intended audience has already read the selection; unless
otherwise instructed, summarizing the narrative line of fiction is unnecessary.
- For out-of-class essays of several pages, use the "thesis-support"
outline. For short essays, begin with a brief context statement and narrow
quickly to the thesis.
- Seek opportunities to discuss "why?"
- Use a title that introduces both the topic and the perspective you plan
to develop.
- Use a specific rather than a general claim as the thesis for the paper.
- Maintain coherency in the paper through the use of topic sentence, sub-thesis
sentences, and echoes.
[Back to Top] How to Read a Short Story Critically Analyze the Essential Elements of the Story - Read the text carefully, noting each character and chain of events.
- Identify the major character(s)--those who seem to control the action or
from whose perspective the story is told.
- Reconstruct the narrative line--"what happens."
- Identify elements of the plot--"factors which influence the action."
- Discuss the essential conflict.
Analyze the Structure of the Story - Identify the point(s) of view through which the story is told.
- Explain how the author uses time.
- Explain how the author uses setting.
- Explain how the author uses perspectives (angles).
Analyze Rhetorical Elements - Identify the author's use of irony (dramatic, situational, verbal).
- Identify recurring image patterns.
- Explain the author's use of symbols.
- Identify special uses of language like figures of speech, unusual diction
and syntax.
Analyze the Meaning of the Story (Interpretation) - Identify what seems to be the theme (dominant message or claim) and how
the author announces it.
- Explain how elements above contribute to the theme.
- Identify contextual elements (allusions, symbols, other devices) that point
beyond the story to the author's experience/life, history, or to other writings.
[Back to Top] How to Write an Analytical Essay about Short Fiction - Read the story carefully. You should be able to recreate the narrative
line, identify the essential conflict, and distinguish between major elements
of plot that influence the movement of the story.
- Select an element in the story to explore (examples: theme, point of view,
time, foreshadowing, image/symbol patterns). Perhaps you may want to examine
the story from a particular critical perspective or approach.
- Read the story again, identifying and marking passages that relate to that
element.
- Write a "working thesis," making a claim about the element you have chosen
to analyze. The purpose of your essay will be to support, explore, demonstrate,
or illustrate the validity of the claim you have made about that element.
- Compose topic sentences (four or five, perhaps) that support, explore,
demonstrate, or illustrate your thesis. Always begin with the topic sentence
(a claim); never begin a paragraph in the body of your paper with a quotation
or summary sentence.
- Select specific passages in the text of the story that help you to develop
each topic sentence. These passages offer the reader evidence of your claim.
Avoid quoting passages longer than a single paragraph, but rather, try to
incorporate the most important phrases or brief sets of sentences into each
paragraph.
- Build your paper to a climax; save your most engaging or important topic
sentence for discussion last.
- Begin your paper with an introduction that identifies the purpose of the
paper and the text you are addressing. Open the paragraph with an interest
device like a quotation, startling statement, or rhetorical question that
will engage the reader's reflection and interest. The title (which you may
want to develop at the end of the writing process) should be provocative without
being juvenile, should reflect the perspective of the paper and perhaps your
point of view or attitude toward the topic.
- Conclude your paper with a paragraph that does more than summarize your
thesis and major points. You may wish to echo your opening interest device,
evaluate the author's development of the motif, or identify points for further
reflection.
- Print out your paper for careful editing. Reread it for smooth transition
in and out of quotations and check for adequate support of each claim or topic
sentence.
- After revising the paper, print out your essay again, proofreading it this
time for elements of style and correctness. Revise it once more and print
out your final copy for submission.
[Back to Top] The title suggests the topic and the perspective of the analysis. | Hawthorne's Goodman Brown: Fool or Hero?
(A Sample Critical Analysis) | The introductory paragraph begins with a series of questionsthat address some of the ambiguities of "Young Goodman Brown." The questions narrow to a focus on the ambiguity of the nature and value of Goodman Brown's character. The thesis establishes comparison/contrast as
the mode of development. | What are we supposed to make of those pink ribbons,
anyway? And who is the old man dressed in "grave and decent attire"?
How can a church deacon and the town's minister be evil and a Sunday school
teacher be so hypocritical? Even a thoughtful initial reading seems to provide
some clues, but Hawthorne doesn't let us off so easily. His disturbing question
toward the end of the tale complicates a rather gloomy but otherwise familiar
little story line. Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, asks Hawthorne,
and only "dreamed a wild dram of a witch-meeting?" To this problem
of ambiguity, we must respond: What is the meaning of the story if he did? What
is the meaning of the story if he didn't?Both
questions force us to reinterpret every element of the story. Among the various
perplexing dilemmas is the problem of Hawthorne's central character, Young Goodman
Brown. How should we interpret his actions and decisions? On
the one hand, Brown seems to fulfill the requirements of the moral hero; on
the other hand, he seems to have played the fool. | The opening paragraph of the body interprets the character as a familiar character
type, the "moral hero" and identifies the essential features of the
pattern. "A first reading" implies an
additional "reading" or "readings" still to come. | A first reading introduces us to a rather familiar
figure, the moral hero, a stock character we have
encountered since childhood; you know, the character who, good at heart, fights
off threats to himself and others and, in the end, saves the day (and the kingdom).
Young Goodman Brown offers us such a figure. A seemingly innocent young man
leaves his bride and goes on an adventure in the wilderness, confronts evil,
rejects evil, and returns home the moral victor: clearly, the story is a triumph
of good over evil, a tale of righteousness rewarded. So goes the outline, and
details from the story flesh out the pattern. | Repetition of key phrases from the thesis sentence
in the topic sentences create coherency and keep the paragraphs focused. Allusions to and short quotations from the story, introduced in the body paragraphs, support the claims made in the thesis and topic sentences. Without such support, the paragraphs could lapse into a simplistic outline of the narrative or paragraphs of nothing beyond generalities. Page documentation is placed within quotation marks and placed inside periods. | A stock character is a stereotype; as such, the figure is fabricated along
rather simple lines, is predictable in actions, and relates consistently to
other elements of the story as expected. As a moral hero,
Goodman Brown is quite confident that after one requisite journey into the wilderness,
he will cling to [his faith] and follow her skirts to heaven (296). Did not
the Christ himself survive such temptation in the wilderness? Predictably, our
moral hero confronts evil forthwith in the forms of his guide and the shocking
revelations of his Sunday school teacher, his minister and deacon, and even
Faith herself. The appearance of Faith's pink ribbons, a suggestion of her flight
to evil in the depth of the forest, drives Goodman Brown to distraction, and
it appears that evil has claimed him as victim. "My Faith is gone!"
cried he, after one stupefied moment. "There is no good on earth and sin
is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given" (301). "Maddened
with despair," as Hawthorne reveals him, Goodman Brown "flew among
the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent
to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter
as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him" (301).
Goodman Brown experiences the depths of evil in himself and all that he encounters.
Yet, we should not despair, for what is faith if not to sustain us as moral
heroes! | "Saint" is a synonym for "moral hero," hence, a repetition of the key concept introduced in the thesis. The discussion in the paragraph continues to interpret Goodman Brown as a "moral hero." | As saint, then, Brown survives, even at the moment
of final decision. Just when he is about to be baptized before the congregation
of evil, Brown cries out, "Faith! Faith! . . . Look to heaven and resist
the Wicked One!" (303) Of course, he is saved, predictably so, for moral
heroes who choose good over evil are surely saved. As moral
hero, he becomes the standard for goodness against which all shortcomings
of his neighbors must be measured. As he approaches the "good old minister,"
Brown shrinks from the "venerable saint as if to avoid an anathema"
(304) He questions the prayers of the old deacon, querying, "What God doth
the wizard pray to?" (304) He snatch[es] away the child, as from the grasp
of the fiend himself," as Good Cloyse "catechiz[es] a little girl"
(304) and can complement his wife's "joy at sight of him" with only
a stern stare, passing "without a greeting" (305). | This paragraph is a transitional unit that challenges the interpretation of Goodman Brown as a "moral hero." The last sentence acts as a sub-thesis that controls the development of the remainder of the essay and its interpretation of Brown as a "fool," a "second reading." | Yet somehow, Brown-as-moral-hero seems disturbingly
out of focus and unsatisfactory. For what is he saved? Reaffirmation of the
conventional of stereotypical Christian saint means
transportation to paradise, but Brown returns to Salem Village and apparent
corruption. But is it really corruption to which Brown returns? Is it possible
that only one saint survives among the convocation of sinners? Might Brown's
interpretation of his community be off the mark? Perhaps so. In
fact, sharpening our focus on the text once more reveals conflicting details
that suggest Hawthorne's protagonist must be understood, not so much as saint,
but sinner; not so much as hero, but as fool. | The topic sentence establishes the criterion (psychology)
for interpreting Goodman Brown as a fool. | From a psychological interpretation, Goodman
Brown plays the fool, not the saintly
hero. The story is a study in the nature of man;
the devil professes as much: "Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must
be your only happiness. Welcome . . . my children to the communion of your race!"
(302) The wily devil would seem to tell the truth; witness almost the entire
community of Salem convened at the witches' Sabboth (302) and the history of
his own lineage and its consorts with the devil (297). But devil as he is, the
young man's mentor confesses only a half truth, a factor lost to "young"
Goodman Brown in his naiveté and stupid innocence. For as the nature
of man is evil, so is it also good, a vision that Brown, in his simplicity and
dualistic vision of the world and his family of humanity, can't abide. Good
or bad, Brown's reality must be one or the other. | The paragraphs cite specific references to the text in support of the interpretation of Goodman Brown as a fool. | As simplistic fool, Brown misreads all the clues.
If Faith is desperate about her husband's departure "on this night [. .
.] of all nights of the year!" (295) it isn't because, as hypocrite, she
knows that her husband will find her at the altar of evil. Rather, it is because
she, better than he, understands that "wherever thou goest, I will go."
She is his very Faith; she will have no choice. Note that as Hawthorne stages
the scene, her voice is fixed exactly overhead as Brown works his way through
the forest. How else would Faith's pink ribbons have deposited themselves within
his very reach? (301) She is neither running ahead nor following behind; she
keeps pace with her soul mate whose fate she shares. Faith of the pink ribbons
understands these things; Brown is a young fool and understands nothing. | An exploratory paragraph, this discussion ends with the conclusion--and topic sentence--that judges Goodman Brown to be a "fool," rather than a "moral hero." | Unable to accept the disclosure of his own nature, Brown rejects the truth
that all mankind, symbolized by the microcosm of Salem Village, has come to
know through experience, that in the human heart abides both good and evil.
Because he has rejected half of his humanity, he faints from the community of
mankind, and at the end he gets what in his simplicity he deserves: "And
when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed
by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession,
besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone;
for his dying hour was gloom" (305). Husband, father, and even grandfather,
Goodman Brown dies the fool. | The last paragraph closes with an "echo" of the opening paragraph--that
is, with a series of questions. The paragraph argues on behalf of the more complex interpretation of Brown's character as a reflection of the same dilemmas in all human experience. | What, then, seems to have been Hawthorne's intention
for his readers? Have we ourselves "fallen asleep in the forest and only
dreamed wild dreams?" Is not the dilemma of Young Goodman Brown something
of our own? In the decisions of its earnest, young protagonist, Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" addresses the ambiguities of both
meaning and value in human relationships. At the same time, the tale attacks
the banality of our trite and easy stereotypes and forces us as more sophisticated,
interpretive readers to appreciate the nuances and fine shadings so critical
to healthy living in human communities. |
[Back to Top] How to Explicate Poetry I. Read the Poem - Read the poem silently to yourself to develop a sense of the poem as a
whole.
- Read the poem aloud or listen to someone reading it aloud to reinforce
your experience of the poem as a whole.
II. Analyze the Text of the Poem - Develop a paraphrase of the poem, framing each complete thought in your
own words.
- Identify the units of thought in the poem (in stanzas or shorter units).
- Identify the main ideas conveyed in each unit of thought and the shifts
or breaks between each unit.
- Write a preliminary summary--perhaps only a single sentence--of each thought
unit
III. Analyze the Elements of the Poem - Complete a scansion of the poem, identifying the metrical patterns and
the rhyme scheme (if there is one).
- Identify any recurring image patterns.
- Identify any symbols emerging through the image patterns and identify their
meaning or references.
- Identify any unique uses of language.
- Identify any breaks in the scansion and explain what seems to be the reason
or purpose of the changes.
IV. Introduce External Support - Identify any features of the author's life or commentary that seem relevant
to the creation, the purpose, the theme, or motivation for creating the poem.
- Identify any historical, social, political, or philosophical elements that
may seem relevant to an interpretation of the work.
V. Interpret the Poem - Explain what the central "message" of the poem means to you and
identify the elements that have prompted your interpretation.
- Explain alternative interpretations that other readers might draw from the
poem and identify those features responsible.
VI. Evaluate the Poem - Identify criteria (standards) on which the poem should be judged.
- Identify those elements of the poem that relate to those criteria.
- Describe what an effective example of the standard would be like.
- Explain why you feel the poem meets or fails to meet the standard illustrated
in your description.
[Back to Top] How to Analyze a Play Analyze the Essential Elements of the Play - Read the play actively, noting the relationship of the characters and the
source of conflict.
- Identify the protagonist and antagonist, or those factors that conflict
and the characters that serve that conflict.
- Summarize each scene in a brief paragraph, including in your text the key
actions and characters.
- Identify subplots as they develop. Anticipate their role in the evolution
of the conflict and its resolution.
- Explain the rising action, the climax to the conflict, the falling action
(the denouement), and the resolution of the conflict.
Analyze the Staging - Explain the relationship between the set design and its service to the emergence
of characters and the primary conflict of the play. To what extent is the
staging a passive or active element? Is the staging realistic or stylized?
In either case, for what purpose? If notes are provided, how strictly has
the director followed the notes?
- Characterize the lighting of the scenes. Is it realistic? functional? emotive?
Explain how the playwright employs the lighting. Find any directions within
the script that provide cues to the director for the staging of the lighting.
If notes are provided, how strictly has the director followed the notes?
- Describe the director's use of sound. Does the play have a musical accompaniment?
What purposes does the music serve? What notes has the playwright included
in the script for the direction of the music? Is it an integral element in
the staging, or is it decorative and transitional? If notes are provided,
how strictly has the director followed the notes?
Interpret the Play - Identify the type, or genre, of the play. Is a comedy, tragedy,
or tragicomedy? Identify the distinguishing features of each of the three
broad types. Check a handbook of literature for additional types of plays.
Define the type that the play you are reading best seems to reflect. Types
of comedies include romantic comedy, slapstick, farce, burlesque, and mock
heroic. Types of tragedies include the Shakespearean, Greek, and modern tragedy.
See also miracle plays, morality plays, and the Theater of the Absurd.
- Identify the distinguishing style of the play. Is it realistic or surrealistic?
Look up the terms "expressionistic," "naturalistic," "impressionistic,"
"symbolic," "allegorical."
- Theme emerges from conflict in other types of imaginative literature, and
it is no different in drama. Identify any theme the play's conflict elicits.
Who or what gives it voice? Define the theme in a single word, a phrase, and
a complete sentence.
Identify External Factors Related to the Work - Search for and read any notes, comments, interviews, letters, or other
correspondence of the playwright that provide useful information about the
play.
- Identify key factors in the life and period in which the playwright composed
the work that might provide insight into the play.
- Read critical reviews of the play from the period in which it was first
produced and during subsequent productions. What insight have the critics
provided students of the playwright and the work?
- From your additional research and readings, place the work (if relevant)
in its appropriate literary period or movement in American literature.
Some Major American Playwrights and Selected Works Eugene O'Neil, The Hairy Ape, Mourning Becomes Electra, Long Day's Journey
Into Night
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible
Edward Albee, The Sandbox, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Zoo Story [Back to Top] How to Read and Understand an Expository Essay The Initial Reading - Read the first paragraph (or section for a longer essay). Then, read the
conclusion. Identify what seem to be key concepts introduced in the opening
of the essay and those concepts that have been emphasized or that have emerged
in the conclusion.
- Scan any headings or subheadings for a sense of progression of the development
of key points.
- With a pen in hand, begin reading the essay from the beginning, following
the steps for annotating the text as explained in "Tips for Active Reading."
- From your list of main ideas, annotated in the margins of each paragraph
and copied to a separate page or note card, try to reconstruct mentally the
main ideas of each paragraph.
- Select two active readers like yourself as study partners for periodic
reviews of your readings (see the cautions in "Tips for Active Reading").
- Identify key passages that you may wish to use as direct quotations, paraphrases,
summaries, or allusions in the drafts of an essay.
Subsequent Readings/Reviews - Always begin by reviewing first your notes and note cards on which you have
copied the annotations of main ideas from each paragraph.
- Turn to the text of the essay only when you fail to remember the exact reference
made in the annotations of main ideas.
Identify the Mode of Development - Is the purpose of the essay to inform, persuade, entertain, or to explore?
- What is the conclusion of any argument the author may be developing?
- As an informational work, is the author's voice prominent or muted?
- As a piece of entertainment, what specific literary humorous devices does
the author employ? (See burlesque, hyperbole, understatement, other figures
of speech.)
- As an exploratory work, what is the focus of the inquiry? What is the author's
relationship to that focus? Is s/he supportive, hostile, indifferent? What?
Analysis of the Author - Explain the author's attitude toward the subject of the essay. Is s/he
sympathetic to the thesis, issue, or key concepts?
- Explore on the Internet and/or other electronic or print media any information
you can find about the author and the essay. Explain how this external information
better helps to understand the essay.
- Explain what seems to be the author's motivation in writing the essay and
what s/he hopes to accomplish with the composition.
- Identify any other factors in the author's biography or notes that seem
relevant to the purpose of the composition.
Some Major Essayists - Frederick Douglass
- Thomas Paine
- Thomas Jefferson
- St. John de Crevecœur
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Henry David Thoreau
- Abraham Lincoln
- Mark Twain
- H. L. Menken
[Back to Top] |
2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education