What is a literary analysis? You can write about theme,

characters, plot, point of view, symbolism, foreshadowing, and more.

It is not a book report. It requires a minimum of 4 quotes

from the novel and 1 citation from an outside source.

How to analyze a text

1st step – Read novel!2nd step – figure out what you will analyze

3rd step – Reread passages of your novel

What can I analyze?

One thing you can look at is theme!

Looking at theme

The idea or point of a story. You can write your essay explaining what the theme of the novel is.

Some common themes are…

themes in Fahrenheit 451 Censorship Ignorance vs. knowledge Life vs. death Technology conflict with nature Society vs. individual Plus more…

What if theme is not your thing?

Characters – what to look at?

Protagonist – major character at the center of the story

Antagonist – a character or force that opposes the protagonist

Characters

Minor– often provide support and illuminate the protagonist

Sometimes a minor character has a major impact on the plot

Characters

Characterization – the means by which writers reveal character

There are many ways an author reveal character’s personalities or traits.

Characters

Explicit – narrator gives facts and comments in a very clear manner. For example, “Jimmy was very angry at his father.”

Characters

Implied– narrator gives description, reader judges

For example – “Jimmy threw open the door and stormed into the room, glaring at his father.”

Characters – what to look for

Connections between characters

What function does each character serve?

Foils

What if you’re not into characters?

Plot

Causality – one event occurs because of another event

What are the triggers? What leads to major events

occurring?

Plot

Conflict – struggle between opposing forces – may be internal or external

Plot

Foreshadowing – a suggestion of what is going to happen

Think about all the examples from Of Mice and Men

Plot

Suspense – a sense of worry established by the author

Scary movies create suspense because you know something bad will happen at any moment, just not when.

Fahrenheit keeps mentioning the fighter planes flying overhead.

Point of view

Narrator – the person telling the story

1st person? 3rd person?How different is our story since it was told in 1st

person? What if Mildred told the story?

Not characters?

What do you do if you don’t want to analyze characters???????

Irony

Verbal – we understand the opposite of what the speaker says

Example – “war is kind” from Stephen Crane poem

Irony Situational – when a character

or reader expects one thing to happen, but the opposite occurs

Example – In Chekhov’s “The Bear” – a woman is happy when her husband dies

Irony

Dramatic – the reader knows more than the characters

Example – Romeo & Juliet or Titanic – we know the characters fate, but they don’t

Symbolism

Many stories have elements that are symbolic

“Raven” – represents death “Mockingbird” – a wonderful

creature that should not be harmed

Allusions I think you should be able to find a

few. You can focus your essay on one type.

Ex – look at just literary or biblical or historic allusions

Language use You could analyze use of simile,

metaphor or imagery.

There are lots of these to choose from in Fahrenheit 451

All of these and more could be analyzed in your essay.