Literary Analysis Essay Examples: Complete Annotated Guide

How to Use These Examples

These examples serve three purposes. First, they demonstrate what complete literary analysis looks like at different education levels so you understand expectations. Second, they show specific techniques—how to introduce quotations, how much analysis each piece of evidence needs, how to structure topic sentences—that you can apply immediately to your own writing. Third, they provide models for different analysis types (character development, symbolism, theme) so you can see how approach changes based on what you're analyzing.

Don't copy these examples. Instead, study how they work. Notice the thesis statements—what makes them specific and debatable rather than vague and obvious? Examine how quotations are introduced with context and followed by analysis. Count the sentences: how many lines of evidence versus how many lines of explanation? Observe the transitions between paragraphs and how each paragraph advances the overall argument.

For complete guidance on the writing process behind these examples, including step-by-step instructions and templates, see our comprehensive literary analysis essay guide. To start organizing your own analysis, use a template to know how to exactly structure each section.

High School Literary Analysis Examples (Grades 9-11)

Example 1: Romeo and Juliet — Theme Analysis (Light and Dark Imagery)

Complete Body Paragraph:

Shakespeare establishes the connection between light imagery and doomed love from Romeo's first sight of Juliet at the Capulet ball. When Romeo sees her, he exclaims, "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" (1.5.43-45). This metaphor does more than describe Juliet's physical beauty—it establishes her as a source of brilliant light against encompassing darkness while simultaneously foreshadowing the tragic outcome. Torches burn with intense brightness but exhaust themselves quickly, mirroring the lovers' relationship that flames brilliantly before extinguishing in death. By comparing Juliet to a jewel displayed against dark skin, Shakespeare emphasizes both contrast and rarity, suggesting that such pure, brilliant light cannot exist sustainably in the dark, violent world of the family feud. This light imagery pattern continues throughout the play, appearing when Romeo calls Juliet "the sun" during the balcony scene, when the lovers share their wedding night, and even in the tomb where Romeo describes how Juliet's beauty makes the vault seem "full of light" despite being filled with death. Each appearance reinforces Shakespeare's central argument: their love, though brilliant and pure, is fundamentally incompatible with the surrounding darkness of inherited hatred and violence.

Annotations:

• Clear topic sentence stating the paragraph's focus
• Properly introduced quotation with citation
• Analysis explaines the significance (4 sentences analyzing 3 lines of quotation)
• Connection back to thesis and broader theme

What Makes This Effective:

This paragraph demonstrates the ideal evidence-to-analysis ratio. Three lines of quotation receive six sentences of explanation, showing thorough analysis rather than quotation dumping. The writer explains what the metaphor means, what it foreshadows, and how it connects to the play's larger patterns. Notice how the analysis traces the imagery throughout the play rather than treating it as an isolated moment, demonstrating comprehensive understanding. The paragraph ends by connecting back to the thesis about incompatibility between pure love and violent environment, keeping the argument focused.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Shakespeare uses light/dark imagery throughout the play to emphasize how the lovers' relationship exists in opposition to the violent feud, ultimately foreshadowing their tragic deaths.

Example 2: To Kill a Mockingbird — Character Development (Scout's Growth)

Complete Body Paragraph:

Scout's transformation from naïve child to empathetic observer crystallizes in her final encounter with Boo Radley, demonstrating how experience replaces inherited prejudice with genuine understanding. After Boo saves her life, Scout walks him home and stands on his porch, literally adopting his perspective as she looks out at her neighborhood: "Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough" (Lee 374). This moment represents Scout's complete character transformation. Early in the novel, she viewed Boo as the monster of childhood legend, accepting town gossip without question because she lacked the maturity to challenge adult authority or examine her own assumptions. Her experiences during Tom Robinson's trial fundamentally changed this passive acceptance. Watching her father defend an innocent man against community prejudice taught Scout that popular opinion often reflects bias rather than truth, that respectability doesn't guarantee morality, and that justice requires individuals to stand against crowd mentality. By physically standing where Boo has stood for years—isolated, watching the neighborhood from a position of exclusion—Scout gains the empathetic understanding Atticus had been teaching throughout her childhood. Lee's choice to have the adult Scout narrate retrospectively makes this moment even more powerful, as the mature narrator recognizes this childhood lesson's lasting significance, showing readers that the empathy learned at eight years old remained with her into adulthood.

Annotations:

• Topic sentence: Identifies specific moment and its significance for character development
• Context for quote: Explains situation before providing evidence
• Evidence: Single powerful quotation with proper citation
• Development tracking: Shows Scout's evolution from beginning to end
• Thematic connection: Links character growth to novel's broader themes.

What Makes This Effective:

This analysis tracks character development across the entire novel rather than examining an isolated scene. The writer establishes Scout's starting point (naïve prejudice), shows the transformative experience (trial), and demonstrates the result (empathy). Notice how one quotation receives extensive analysis exploring what it reveals about character change. The paragraph connects Scout's individual growth to the novel's larger themes about prejudice and moral education, showing how character analysis supports thematic interpretation. The observation about retrospective narration demonstrates sophisticated understanding of narrative technique as a deliberate choice.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Lee develops Scout's character from naïve innocence to moral awareness through her changing understanding of Boo Radley, using Scout's perception shift to illustrate how experience and empathy combat prejudice.

Example 3: The Great Gatsby — Symbolism Analysis (The Green Light)

Complete Body Paragraph:

The green light's symbolic meaning evolves from seemingly hopeful yearning to bitter recognition of futility, mirroring Gatsby's dream's corruption and collapse. When Nick first describes Gatsby reaching toward the light, the gesture appears romantic: Gatsby "stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way" and "trembled" (Fitzgerald 20-21). At this point in the novel, readers share Nick's initial interpretation—this seems like hopeful longing, almost touching in its intensity. But Nick's later reflection, coming after Gatsby's death when the dream's hollowness is fully revealed, recontextualizes everything: "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us" (180). The word "orgastic" suggests climax and ultimate fulfillment, but the phrase "recedes before us" exposes the cruel irony—the dream moves backward as fast as Gatsby moves forward, making achievement impossible by definition. Fitzgerald deliberately chooses green for this light, connecting it to both money (green as currency) and jealousy (green with envy), revealing how Gatsby's romantic dream is inseparably tangled with material corruption. Gatsby doesn't actually want Daisy herself; he wants what she represented five years earlier, an impossibility because the past cannot be recovered or repeated. By placing the light across water—a physical barrier Gatsby gazes across but can never truly cross—Fitzgerald shows the dream was unreachable from the beginning, making Gatsby's obsessive pursuit tragically futile rather than admirably persistent.

Annotations:

• Symbolic evolution: Shows how symbol's meaning changes through the text
• Initial evidence: Quote from novel's beginning
• Later evidence: Quote from novel's end showing shift
• Word analysis: Examines specific word choices ("orgastic," "recedes")
• Color symbolism: Explains significance of green specifically
• Physical barrier: Analyzes water as symbolic obstacle

What Makes This Effective:

This analysis demonstrates how effective symbolism analysis traces symbol development rather than treating symbols as having static meaning. By providing evidence from both early and late in the novel, the writer shows how Fitzgerald deliberately complicates and darkens the light's significance as Gatsby's dream collapses. The close reading of specific words—particularly "orgastic" and "recedes"—shows how careful attention to language reveals meaning. The analysis connects personal symbol (Gatsby's dream) to universal symbol (American Dream), showing multiple interpretive layers. Notice how the paragraph explains why Fitzgerald made specific choices (green color, water barrier) rather than simply identifying these elements exist.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Fitzgerald uses the green light as a multifaceted symbol representing Gatsby's dream, the American Dream's corruption, and human tendency to romanticize the past, ultimately revealing how unattainable dreams destroy those who pursue them obsessively.

College Literary Analysis Examples (Grades 12-16+)

Example 4: Beloved — Narrative Structure and Trauma

Complete Body Paragraph:

Morrison's fragmented, non-linear narrative structure doesn't represent authorial confusion or experimental technique for its own sake but rather mirrors the psychological reality of how trauma survivors process memory, forcing readers to experience the same disorientation and reconstructive work that Sethe must perform. The novel begins in 1873, then jumps to 1855, forward to 1874, back to 1849, creating what initially seems like narrative chaos without clear organizational principle. But this structure precisely replicates how trauma survivors experience memory—not as orderly chronological narrative but as intrusive flashbacks triggered by present stimuli, disconnected fragments that refuse linear organization. When Sethe encounters Beloved, memories she had successfully suppressed for eighteen years flood back uncontrollably: "the click had clicked; things were where they ought to be or poised and ready to glide in" (Morrison 203). The mechanical metaphor ("click") suggests Sethe's traumatic memories are stored separately, compartmentalized and disconnected, waiting for a trigger to release them into conscious awareness. Morrison could have told this story chronologically, beginning with Sethe's enslavement and moving forward through her escape, infanticide, and eventual confrontation with the past. That traditional structure would be significantly easier for readers to follow and would demonstrate greater respect for conventional narrative expectations. But Morrison deliberately frustrates chronological reading because her point is precisely that slavery's trauma cannot be organized into comfortable, comprehensible narrative. Readers experience confusion and disorientation—the same emotions that mirror Sethe's psychological state as she pieces together shattered memory fragments. By the time the full horror of Sethe's story becomes clear, readers have assembled it from fragments scattered throughout the text, performing the same difficult reconstructive work that trauma survivors must do with their own shattered memories.

Annotations:

• Structural analysis: Examines form as meaning-making device
• Psychological connection: Links technique to trauma psychology
• Specific evidence: Quotes Morrison's mechanical metaphor
• Alternative consideration: Explains why Morrison rejected chronological structure
• Reader experience: Analyzes how structure affects reading process
• Thematic connection: Shows structure reinforces content

What Makes This Effective:

This college-level analysis examines form rather than just content, showing sophisticated understanding of how authors use narrative structure itself as a meaning-making device. The writer explains Morrison's choice by considering the alternative (chronological structure) and demonstrating why that approach would undermine the novel's purpose. Notice how the analysis connects literary technique to psychological reality, showing interdisciplinary thinking. The observation about reader experience demonstrates advanced critical thinking—recognizing that Morrison deliberately makes readers uncomfortable to create empathy for the protagonist's psychological state. This level of analysis moves beyond what the text says to how and why it's structured specifically this way.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Morrison employs fragmented, non-linear narrative structure to mirror trauma's psychological effects, demonstrating how slavery survivors cannot process experiences in orderly sequence because trauma disrupts memory's linear organization. 

Example 5: "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath — Sound, Rhythm, and Form

Complete Body Paragraph:

Plath's sound choices create aggressive, violent sonic effects that enact the speaker's rage, with harsh consonance and rhythmic manipulation reflecting psychological attempts to master trauma through language itself. The poem opens with sharp, repetitive sounds that assault the ear: "You do not do, you do not do / Any more, black shoe" (Plath 1-2). The repetition of hard "d" sounds combined with short, clipped vowels creates harsh, bitten-off rhythm—this is angry speech cut short, not flowing freely or melodiously. Plath intensifies this effect through deliberately simple, childlike language combined with heavy stresses, making the poem sound like a nursery rhyme transformed into something vicious and disturbing. This juxtaposition of childish simplicity with adult rage is crucial to understanding the speaker's psychological state. She's attempting to reclaim language from paternal domination, reducing the overwhelming father figure to simple terms a child could control and comprehend. Later, Plath writes: "Every woman adores a Fascist, / The boot in the face" (48-49). Here the alliteration of "f" sounds and the internal rhyme between "adores" and "Fascist" create almost musical, pleasing effects—yet the content describes horrifying violence and domination. This contradiction between attractive sound and disturbing content mirrors the speaker's psychological confusion, reflecting how she was conditioned to love the figure who controlled and oppressed her. By the poem's end, after 39 complex stanzas working through this psychological tangle, the speaker reaches brutal simplicity: "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through" (80). The stark finality of this short, heavily stressed sentence provides sonic relief after so much complexity. The speaker has worked through intricate psychological and sonic patterns to reach this clear, definitive rejection.

Annotations:

• Sound analysis: Examines consonance, alliteration, internal rhyme
• Rhythm analysis: Discusses stressed syllables and line breaks
• Contradiction identification: Notes pleasing sound vs. disturbing content
• Psychological interpretation: Explains what sonic choices reveal about mental state
• Development tracking: Shows progression from complexity to simplicity
• Form and content: Demonstrates how sound reinforces meaning

What Makes This Effective:

This advanced poetry analysis examines sound, rhythm, and form—elements often neglected in favor of discussing only content and imagery. The writer analyzes specific sonic effects (hard consonants, internal rhyme) and explains their psychological significance, showing how form creates meaning. Notice the observation about contradiction between pleasing sound and horrifying content, demonstrating sophisticated critical thinking about how poets can use form against itself. The analysis tracks sonic development across the poem, showing how the journey from complex to simple mirrors psychological working-through of trauma. This level of technical analysis combined with psychological interpretation demonstrates college-level critical thinking.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Plath uses harsh consonance, violent imagery, and rhythmic variations to create controlled rage, with the speaker's deliberate manipulation of form reflecting attempts to master traumatic experiences through language itself.

Example 6: Wuthering Heights vs. House of the Seven Gables — Comparative Gothic Analysis

Complete Body Paragraph:

The fundamental difference between British and American Gothic literature emerges in how each tradition locates the source of horror, with British Gothic drawing on centuries of accumulated history while American Gothic must create atmosphere from relatively recent moral transgression. In Wuthering Heights, Brontë situates horror in the moors themselves—ancient, unchanging landscape that predates human occupation and will outlast human drama. The estate has existed for generations; Heathcliff and Catherine's tortured love develops within a context of family histories stretching back centuries and social class systems so old their origins are forgotten. The Gothic atmosphere emerges from sheer age itself, from the crushing weight of accumulated history and tradition. When Brontë wants to create Gothic effect, she can draw on stone manors, generations of family cruelty, and landscape that has witnessed centuries of human suffering. Contrast this with Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables, where Gothic horror must be constructed from very recent American history. The novel is set in the 1850s, but the originating curse dates only to the 1690s—barely 150 years prior. For European audiences, 150 years represents recent memory; for Americans writing in 1851, it encompassed the entire colonial period. Hawthorne cannot utilize ancient castles, aristocratic oppression spanning centuries, or landscape soaked in medieval blood because America simply lacks these Gothic foundations. Instead, he must locate horror in moral guilt—specifically the guilt of Salem witch trials and the foundational sin of stealing Native American land. American Gothic thus becomes psychological and moral rather than architectural and historical. Both traditions employ decay and darkness, but British Gothic shows physical decay of centuries-old estates while American Gothic exposes moral decay of a new nation built on violence and injustice. This distinction reveals how Gothic literature adapts to cultural context, with Americans inventing new ways to be haunted without Europe's extensive history providing traditional Gothic atmosphere.

Annotations:

• Comparative structure: Establishes British approach, then American contrast
• Cultural context: Explains why each tradition developed differently
• Specific evidence: References both texts to support claims
• Historical analysis: Discusses role of age and history in Gothic effect
• Thematic distinction: Shows psychological vs. architectural horror
• Literary tradition: Analyzes how genre conventions adapt across cultures

What Makes This Effective:

This comparative analysis demonstrates college-level ability to discuss not just individual texts but broader literary patterns and traditions. The writer moves beyond plot or character to examine how national context shapes genre conventions, showing sophisticated understanding of literature as cultural product. Notice how the comparison is balanced—equal attention to each text—and purposeful, using comparison to reveal something about both works and about Gothic literature generally. The analysis shows why differences matter rather than just listing them, explaining how each tradition's approach reflects its culture's relationship with history. This level of analysis demonstrates understanding of literary history and cultural studies, typical of upper-level college literature courses.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that British Gothic locates horror in ancient estates and family curses while American Gothic situates horror in recent history and moral guilt, reflecting America's need to create Gothic atmosphere without Europe's centuries of history to draw upon.

AP Literature & Advanced Examples

Example 7: Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 — Form Analysis

Complete Body Paragraph:

Shakespeare's three-quatrain structure creates accumulating urgency through systematic temporal contraction, moving from seasons to hours to moments, building pressure that makes the final couplet's turn toward love feel both inevitable and earned. The first quatrain establishes the broadest temporal scope, comparing the speaker to autumn: "That time of year thou mayst in me behold / When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang" (Shakespeare 1-2). Autumn represents one season among four—a quarter of the year—suggesting the speaker has approximately one quarter of life remaining. The imagery of leaves falling (or already fallen) creates melancholy but not yet urgency. The second quatrain contracts dramatically to a single day: "In me thou see'st the twilight of such day / As after sunset fadeth in the west" (5-6). Now we're measuring in hours rather than months. Twilight lasts perhaps an hour between sunset and complete darkness, and the word "fadeth" emphasizes gradual but irreversible loss. The temporal scope has contracted from seasons to hours. The third quatrain shrinks further to mere moments: "In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire / That on the ashes of his youth doth lie" (9-10). Fire dies in minutes; embers persist even less time before extinguishing completely. By systematically moving from seasons to hours to minutes, Shakespeare creates intensifying urgency with each quatrain. The structure is crucial here—each quatrain uses identical opening ("In me thou see'st") with different temporal metaphor, demonstrating how repetition with variation can emphasize meaning through form. The final couplet must respond to this accumulating pressure: "This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well which thou must leave ere long" (13-14). The turn from death contemplation to love affirmation feels necessary and powerful because the three quatrains have built such overwhelming pressure toward mortality recognition. The structure doesn't just contain the meaning—it creates the meaning by forcing readers to experience the temporal contraction the speaker describes.

Annotations:

• Structural focus: Examines three-quatrain form as meaning-maker
• Temporal tracking: Notes systematic contraction (seasons?hours?moments)
• Repetition analysis: Identifies "In me thou see'st" pattern
• Pressure building: Shows how structure creates urgency
• Couplet turn: Explains how resolution responds to built pressure
• Form-content relationship: Demonstrates structure creating, not just containing, meaning

What Makes This Effective:

This sonnet analysis examines form as a meaning-making device, demonstrating advanced understanding that structure is not arbitrary but chosen specifically to enhance content. The writer tracks systematic patterns (temporal contraction, repeated opening phrase) and explains what these patterns create—accumulating urgency that makes the final turn necessary. Notice how the analysis considers reader experience: the structure forces us to feel the temporal compression rather than just intellectually understand it. The observation that form creates rather than merely contains meaning shows sophisticated critical thinking about how poetry works. This is AP Literature-level analysis that would score highly on timed essays by demonstrating both close reading skills and understanding of poetic craft.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 uses three-quatrain structure to develop extended aging metaphor, with each quatrain intensifying temporal scope to create increasing urgency before the final couplet's turn toward love as response to mortality.

Example 8: The Glass Menagerie — Stage Directions as Commentary

Complete Body Paragraph:

Williams uses exceptionally detailed stage directions as a form of authorial commentary that reveals inner emotional states beyond what dialogue and action can convey, making the written text function almost like a novel despite being a play designed for performance. When Tom delivers his opening monologue as narrator, Williams directs: "He takes off a glove and looks at it" before beginning to speak (Williams 5). This small gesture—the pause to gaze at a glove—suggests hesitation and possibly regret. Tom is about to reveal his family's painful story, but the moment of glove-examination shows him gathering courage, demonstrating vulnerability that dialogue alone couldn't establish. Williams could simply have Tom start speaking, but the direction adds psychological depth. Throughout arguments between Tom and Amanda, Williams frequently directs Tom to move toward the door or window while speaking, physically manifesting his desire to escape even when his words engage with his mother's concerns. These contradictory directions—speaking to her while moving away from her—reveal Tom's conflicted emotions more powerfully than dialogue could. He wants to leave but feels obligated to stay, and Williams shows this conflict through blocking. Most significantly, Williams writes stage directions more detailed than most playwrights, almost novelistic in psychological specificity. When Laura blows out candles at the play's end, Williams directs: "Laura bends over the candles... a look of almost infinite desolation comes over her face" (97). The phrase "almost infinite desolation" describes an emotion for readers, not a direction actors could precisely execute. Williams is communicating directly with readers through these directions, acknowledging that the full emotional complexity he imagines might not translate perfectly to stage performance. This makes The Glass Menagerie function as both play and literary text—it can be performed or read, with each mode offering different insights into character psychology.

Annotations:

• Non-dialogue analysis: Examines stage directions as literary element
• Specific examples: Provides three different types of direction
• Psychological interpretation: Explains what physical actions reveal
• Comparison to convention: Notes Williams' unusual detail level
• Reader vs. audience: Distinguishes between reading and watching
• Form consideration: Discusses play as both performance and literature

What Makes This Effective:

This advanced dramatic analysis examines stage directions—elements students often ignore—as crucial literary components rather than just practical performance instructions. The writer demonstrates understanding that plays exist both as performance texts and literary texts, with different possibilities in each mode. Notice how the analysis explains Williams' unusual approach by comparing his detail level to typical playwriting conventions. The observation that some directions address readers rather than performers shows sophisticated understanding of how dramatic texts work. This level of analysis demonstrates ability to examine form (how drama functions as literature) rather than treating plays merely as stories that happen to use dialogue format.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Williams uses detailed stage directions in The Glass Menagerie as authorial commentary revealing inner emotional states and creating symbolic meaning beyond dialogue, making the written text function almost like a novel despite being a play.

Example 9: Gone Girl — Unreliable Narration and Reader Manipulation

Complete Body Paragraph:

Flynn deliberately withholds Amy's diary fabrication revelation until the novel's midpoint, making readers complicit in deception and forcing recognition that all first-person narration is inherently unreliable because all narrators shape their stories according to motive. For the first 200 pages, Amy's diary entries seem like honest documentation of her marriage's deterioration, describing Nick's increasing coldness and threatening behavior with convincing, specific details. Because these entries are explicitly marked "diary" and written in intimate first person, readers accept them as truthful—we assume diaries are private spaces where people are honest with themselves, not performing for audiences. Flynn exploits this generic convention ruthlessly. When Amy reveals halfway through that she fabricated the entire diary to frame Nick for murder, readers must reconsider everything previously accepted as fact. Details that seemed like genuine emotional suffering were actually calculated manipulation designed to create false evidence. But here's Flynn's more sophisticated point: how is Amy's deliberately calculated narrative fundamentally different from Nick's narrative? Nick also presents carefully constructed version of events designed to position himself as innocent victim, using selective omission and self-justification to control reader perception. Both narrators are unreliable, but in different ways—Amy through conscious fabrication, Nick through unconscious self-deception and convenient memory gaps. Flynn's structure forces readers to acknowledge uncomfortable truth: all first-person narration is inherently unreliable because all narrators have motives for shaping their stories in particular ways. By making this unreliability extreme and then explicit at the midpoint twist, Flynn reveals what's true in all fiction—we're always reading someone's constructed version of events, never accessing unmediated reality. The novel's power emerges from making readers uncomfortably aware of how easily narrative conventions we normally trust can manipulate our perceptions and judgments.

Annotations:

• Narrative technique focus: Examines unreliable narration as literary device
• Reader response analysis: Discusses how structure manipulates audience
• Generic convention: Identifies diary form's truth-claiming function
• Comparative analysis: Shows both narrators are unreliable differently
• Metafictional awareness: Discusses how novel reveals fiction's constructed nature
• Thematic connection: Links technique to theme about truth and manipulation

What Makes This Effective:

This contemporary fiction analysis demonstrates advanced understanding of narrative technique and metafiction. The writer examines how Flynn manipulates readers deliberately, making audience complicity part of the novel's meaning. Notice the sophisticated observation that both narrators are unreliable in different ways—this moves beyond simplistic "Amy is the liar" reading to recognize Nick's unreliability too. The metafictional observation—that the novel reveals how all fiction works—shows graduate-level critical thinking about literature's constructed nature. The analysis of reader response as meaningful element demonstrates understanding that how readers experience text is part of what text means, not separate from it.

Thesis Context: This paragraph supports a thesis arguing that Flynn uses alternating first-person narration to create competing truth versions, forcing readers to actively construct meaning and ultimately suggesting that all narratives are constructed, unreliable versions of reality.

Analysis Types: Different Approaches Demonstrated

The examples above show different analytical focuses. Here's how to recognize and develop each type.
Specifically, each approach examines the text in a specific way, such as focusing on characters, themes, symbols, or structure. Knowing which type you are using helps you choose the right evidence and write clear, focused analysis instead of summary.

Character Analysis focuses on development, motivations, relationships, and symbolic significance. Examples 2 and 8 demonstrate this approach. Key questions: How does the character change? What drives their actions? How do relationships reveal character? For specialized guidance, see our complete character analysis essay guide.

Theme Analysis examines recurring ideas and what the text says about them. Examples 1 and 4 use this approach. Key questions are 10) what ideas appear repeatedly?, 2) what does the author argue about these concepts?, and 3) how do various elements support the theme?

Symbolism Analysis traces symbols through the text and explains their significance. Example 3 demonstrates this. Key questions are 1) what does the symbol represent?, 2) how does its meaning change?, and 3) why did the author choose this specific symbol?

Form and Structure Analysis examines how organization creates meaning. Examples 7 and 9 show this approach. Key questions are 1) why is the text structured this way?, ) how does form reinforce content?, and 3) What effect does structure create?

Sound and Language Analysis studies how word choice and sound create effects, especially in poetry. Example 5 demonstrates this. Key questions are 1) what sonic patterns exist?, 2) how do sound choices create mood?, and 3) why these specific words?

Comparative Analysis examines multiple texts to reveal patterns. Example 6 shows this approach. Key questions are 1) what similarities exist?, 2) what do differences reveal?, and 3) why compare these specific texts?

Choose your analytical approach based on assignment requirements and what aspects of the text seem most significant or interesting. Most strong essays combine approaches—analyzing character through symbol, connecting theme to structure. 

How to Apply These Examples to Your Own Writing

Don't copy these examples. Instead, use them as models for developing your own analysis skills. 

Step 1: Read the example that matches your assignment type. If you're analyzing character, focus on the character examples. If you're writing about poetry, study the Plath analysis.

Step 2: Identify the structural patterns. Notice thesis specificity, topic sentence clarity, evidence-to-analysis ratio, and transition techniques. These patterns transfer across texts.

Step 3: Study the annotations. The margin notes explain why techniques work. Understanding the "why" helps you apply strategies to different texts.

Step 4: Count elements. How many quotations per paragraph? How many analysis sentences per quotation? What length are paragraphs? These concrete numbers provide benchmarks.

Step 5: Adapt, don't copy. Use the structural patterns and techniques but apply them to your own text with your own insights. Your analysis should sound like you, informed by these models.

For step-by-step guidance on the complete writing process from thesis development through revision, review our comprehensive literary analysis essay guide. To organise your analysis before drafting, you can consider using a specific outline or template.

From Examples to Your Own Excellence

These 15 examples demonstrate literary analysis across texts, levels, and approaches. You've seen how to quote effectively, analyze thoroughly, organize clearly, and avoid plot summary. Most importantly, you've studied annotations explaining why specific techniques work, giving you frameworks to apply to your own writing.

Remember that these examples represent completed work—the final product of drafting, revision, and refinement. Your first drafts won't look like these examples, and that's expected. Strong writing develops through revision. Use these examples during your revision process to check whether you've analyzed deeply enough, provided sufficient evidence, and organized clearly.

As you write your own literary analysis essays, return to these examples. When unsure how to introduce quotations, check how these examples do it. When questioning whether your analysis is deep enough, compare your evidence-to-analysis ratio to these models. When organizing body paragraphs, notice the consistent structure: topic sentence, evidence, analysis, connection to thesis.

Ready to start your own literary analysis essay? Begin with our literary analysis essay outline that shows how to perfectly structure each section from introduction through conclusion. For a complete understanding on thesis development, evidence selection, and revision strategies, review detailed literary analysis essay guidance.

Literary analysis is a skill that improves with practice and study. These examples provide the models. Your analysis—informed by these techniques but expressing your own insights—will demonstrate your growth as a critical reader and analytical writer.