Thesis statement examples for literary analysis provide a template to follow.

A literary analysis sample paper provides guidance on writing effective literary analyses.

Literary devices enhance the intended effect of a literary piece.

Leda and the Swan is a poem that recounts the story of the rape of Leda by Zeus. In the Greek tale, Zeus who was famous for being a God...

A simile compares one thing to another using the word “as” or “like.” Smilies are unlike metaphors , where implicit comparisons are made....

A metaphor compares two unrelated things by claiming that one thing is another.

The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay is a poem expressing the poet's own deep loneliness and alienation as reflected in the dancer it features. At first glance, the poem appears to be McKay writing about the plight of some poor girl alienated from her work as a dancer in a club, even as she wows and entertains the crowd. Portrait of Claude McKay from 1920. However, a more careful reading shows that the poet is seeing in the dancer’s plight his own predicament as a deracinated pe

In "The Wild Swans at Coole,” Yeats contemplates his loneliness compared to the ageless beauty of swans.

Sonnet 23 by John Milton is the poet mourning the death of his second wife after childbirth.

A literary analysis essay is a critical form of academic writing that seeks to analyze the literary merits of a work.

Sonnet 1 by Milton was written in the form of a then-current literary genre popular in the poet’s time.

Subverting expectations refers to a misdirection in literature or cinema that is withheld from the viewer or reader till the last minute...

Who Fears Death is a Black sci-fi novel by Nnedi Okorafor, which some have placed within the rising sci-fi sub-genre called...

Gwendolyn Brooks' "the mother" is a poem about a woman contemplating the babies that she has aborted over the years. The poem can be read as a woman mourning the loss of children she never had. People who are pro-choice will read it and see it as the emotional turmoil women face in making these difficult personal decisions. People who are pro-life may see it as a passionate plea against abortions. The ability of the poem to garner sympathy from both sides of this issue is bas

A Far Cry from Africa highlights Walcott's divided loyalty between Africa and Europe.

Critical literary approaches are various perspectives from which to conduct literary analysis.