#inteqrals

Hello! Here is a little breathing exercise (square breathing) I like to do when I’m feeling overwhelmed: breath in for 4 counts, hold for 4, breath out for 4, and repeat. 

currently listening to: 1950 - king princess

Pre-Essay Time Allocation: You should spend 30% thinking (~2 hrs), 30% writing (~2 hrs), 30% revising (~2 hrs), and 10% urination/eating cookies

What is literary analysis? The question you should be asking is: what are the author's choices and what is the effect? The goal of literary analysis is to figure out what the author is saying and how the author conveys this message. How would be the literary devices the author use like: metaphors, symbols, motifs, foils, conflict, setting, imagery, dialogue, point of view, etc.

Thinking-30% Theme Words: List out several theme words, then find synonyms to these themes. For example: - grief: sadness, mourning, pain, despaire, agony, suffering, loneliness - strength: grit, perseverance, courage, might, power

Thematic Statement: Create a thematic statement of the author's message. THe format is: "When [insert character rule here], then [insert the effect]. This should be a true statement. For example: when an inexperienced, naive person faces extreme grief, then they often develop their own unique strategy of coping that changes their identity, passion, or interaction with others."

Organization: Before you start, choose a theme that you want to write about. There are a four ways to organize your body paragraphs. These are 1) characters 2) scenes 3) chronological order 4) parts of a theme/idea (i.e. different types of freedom). Figure out what method will work best for your readers.

Thesis Draft: Start off with a basic thesis. The basic format is: when looking at ABC, you can see XYZ. ABC should be your body paragraphs (i.e. three different characters0, and your XYZ should be the author's message/your "claim."

Outline: Create an outline. There should be 5 parts: 1) your thematic statement 2) organization method 3) general examples 4) ltierary terms (the "how") 5) thesis draft, aka the "therefore" that the author conveys Examples of steps 2-4: CHARACTER 1: - Muddled cheerfulness, p. 81: dialogue, motif of choice, conflict with self - [a phrase that gives context], [pg #]: literary terms - example #3 - example #4 And then, you repeat for the other characters (I would have 3 characters, one character per body paragraph)

Writing - 30%

Introduction: the role of the intro is to make your thesis clear. You want your Title (in italics), author, and translator if applicable. You need to explain and create nuance, which means clarifying the TRUTH that the author claims. Try not to use any speicfic names, otherwise you'll fall into plot. Basic format: 1) Truth/Theme 2) [TItle] by [Author] shows this because [explaination]. 3) Explain what the truth/theme means 4) Therefore, [ABC shows XYZ]

Body paragraphs: Topic sentence - like the thesis, you should have "when looking at ABC, you see XYZ." This time, ABC should be the "how" the author conveys (literary devices), and your XYZ hsould be a section of the thesis. For example: "[Author]'s symbol of the pineapple and the juxtaposition of warmth and cold highlights the hidden beauty in death." Remember to use TRANSITIONS in all topic sentences except the first one. Quotes - you should always flow quotes into your writing. Try to avoid the CD, CM, CM format--that's for middle schoolers. Instead, weave text in such as: The author juxtaposes "inching [along] a steep cliff in the dark," or seemingly endless grief... Notice how the "or" is a way to connect the analysis and the text in the same sentence. Another word you can use is "which." Analysis - always connect the text back to the thesis. The format for this should be along the lines of: [Author] [insert verb here i.e. highlights, reveals, portrays] [effect of choice]. For example: [Author] compares ABC to XYZ to illustrate the emotional conneection between [character]'s hobby and her childhood memories. Last sentence - Your last sentence of the paragraph will be your best sentence because you had time to think more about the author's choices. This should be the big "therefore" theauthor conveys. However, you should always have the best sentence as your topic sentence. If possible, put your last sentence as your topic sentence, and then rewrite your last sentence.

Conclusion: There are multiple potential ways to write a conclusion. 1) evaluating the truth of the book/author 2) suggestion for a change/addition to the book 3) if you agree with the book or not 4) using a best "nugget" of the text (i.e. a simple statement) and create a point using the author's own symbolism Whatever you do, only the first sentence should be a restatement of your thesis. THe rest should add something NEW i.e. if my thesis is related to "grief brings strength," my conclusion could be related to "grief heightens living experience."

Revising - 30%

Quick revisions: 1. Read your essay out loud. Fix grammatical errors 2. Meet up with a friend IN PERSON and tell them to read your essay out loud. Look for changes in facial expression, and ask them for sincere feed back. 3. Change all "shows" to a different verb. Get rid of the word "uses"/"use of" (in the context of "[author] uses symbols XYZ." change instead to "the author's symbols XYZ") 4. Get rid of the term "will" to create more nuance 5. ADD MORE TRANSITIONS TO CONNECT DIFFERENT IDEAS

Common mistakes: - eliminate all contractions in your writing - have the correct heading and format - do not start sentences with "-ing" verbs - Do not use "this is" "this shows" "an example of this would be". What is "this?" Instead use: "This symbol XYZ..." - Correct usage of that, who, which, etc - DO NOT use fancy words in the wrong way. Only have maximum 1-2 new words - Remember to have a therefore. This means you have an A (quote), that connects to B (analysis of literary device), but also a C (author's meaning). People often forget the "C".

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