There are many paths to take when approaching a literary analysis paper. Novels, poems and plays provide numerous themes, characters and plots for you to examine if you’re ready to commit to the research. By engaging the text of your chosen story, you may even reconsider your own perspectives on life, society and your sense of self.

Author’s Influence

Discuss the ways in which the author’s life may have influenced the work of literature. For example, you can examine how Lewis Carrol’s religious affiliation and background as a logician and photographer influenced his famous works “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.” These kinds of topics will require some extensive research into autobiographical and biographical works concerning the author.

Historical and Social Influence

Examine how historical events or social context influenced the book. For example, research how Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” examines the World War I from a German perspective. You can also compare the initial reception of the book to its current treatment by critics. You will find that certain works, including “All Quiet on the Western Front,” stirred controversy upon their original publication.

Imagery Analysis

If the work features reoccurring phrases, images or scenes, you can focus on how these elements add to the overall work. For example, explore how the frequent descriptions of the characters’ eyes add to the text of William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying.” Imagery analysis can become especially useful when you are examining a work of poetry.

Character-Driven Analysis

The characters are the heart of literary works, so choose an interesting character and examine his motives and maturation throughout the text. For example, you can write about how you believe the protagonists of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” develop as the episodic plot moves along. When dealing with allegorical works, such as Nathanial Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” you can explore the symbolism behind the characters.

Compare with Other Works

If you’ve read other works by the same author, you can draw various comparisons between the works. For example, examine the similarities between the characters, plots and literary devices of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” and “Twelfth Night.” You can also compare works that explore similar themes, even if they don’t share the same author.

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The close, or conclusion, is one of the most important parts of a research paper. It brings together all key pieces of information presented earlier in the paper and gives the reader a final perspective. The conclusion provides an ending to the paper, leaving the reader satisfied that he was given all necessary information on the topic.

Examine the key points you made throughout your research paper. The number of key points depends on how extensive the topic is and the paper’s length. An extensive topic probably has many key points.

Write each key point while constructing the first draft of your conclusion. This will give you a list of each point that you made.

Summarize all of the key points from your list into one or two paragraphs in the conclusion. Tie them together so that they give the reader a sense that the paper is complete and that she has all information necessary on the topic.

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As stated by “REA’s Handbook of English Grammar, Style, and Writing,” proceeding without an outline is like navigating a new city without a map. Unfortunately, most students new to essay writing are unfamiliar with how to outline an English paper. Students who neglect to use an outline often produce rambling, Faulkner-esque essays. Taking an hour to gather your thoughts and write an outline can save time writing the essay and lead to a better grade.

Acquaint yourself with an outline template. The Owl at Purdue states that most outlines use Roman numerals for essay sections (introduction, main points and conclusion) and, in descending order of specificity with indentations, capitalized letters, Arabic numerals and lowercase letters.

Start with the introduction. Include a fact or statistic to introduce the essay, or include background information on the issue or author discussed. At this stage in the writing process, listing the specific quote or tidbit of information is not necessary. Simply note its inclusion in the outline. State your thesis and list the three main points of the essay.

Outline the first theme of the essay in two or three words. For example, write “capitalism” if the topic of your paper is discussing themes of Ayn Rand’s book, “Atlas Shrugged.” List (as Arabic numerals within the template) three or more ways the book supports this theme, like “Dagney Taggart’s refusal of government assistance.” Because you will elaborate on these points upon writing the essay, keep the outline’s description of these points to one sentence. Repeat this process for the other two themes.

Gather supporting information. Go to the library, search the Internet or use your textbook to find credible sources that support your points. Color-code your themes to make the process easier: delegate one theme, “capitalism” in yellow, “individualism” in green and “objectivism” in blue. For all supporting quotes or page numbers, highlight it in a color that matches the theme to which it corresponds for easier reference.

On the outline, determine which point should be bolstered with the sources found. For example, the book’s metaphor for socialism found in the passage describing moldy government-subsidized soybeans would be placed in the theme, “capitalism” under the point, “Government failures.” Under this point (as a lower-case letter within the template), write the page number of the passage or write a short description of the source.

Write points for the conclusion. Dirk Siepmann, author of the book “Writing in English,” recommends using the conclusion to express outcomes of the issues discussed in the essay and give statements regarding open ends and unanswered questions.

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