Writing the Body of Your Literary Analysis Essay

What's the Point? 

A literary analysis essay must make an argument about a text and support that claim with evidence.  Since we have been focused on Transcendentalism in class, some of this work has already been done.  Your job is to figure out if Walt Whitman can be considered to be a Transcendentalist based upon the passage you read, analyzed, and annotated.  You must decide whether or not you think he could be considered a Transcendentalist and then begin gathering evidence from the text to prove your claim.    

Thesis Statement

Go back and re-read the introduction that you wrote a few days ago.  The last sentence of your introduction should be your THESIS STATEMENT.  The thesis statement tells the reader what to expect:  it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative sentence that states the purpose of your essay or the point you are trying to make.  Without a thesis statement, your literary analysis essay has no chance for success.  

Here is an example thesis statement: 

Matthew McConaughey's performance in Dallas Buyers Club proves once and for all that he is a serious actor and worthy of winning an Academy Award.  








Obviously, you SHOULD NOT write a thesis statement about Mr. McConaughey!  Your thesis statement should be about Walt Whitman and whether or not you consider him to be a Transcendentalist based upon what you read from his work, Leaves of Grass.

YOU MUST GET APPROVAL FOR YOUR THESIS STATEMENT FROM HARRICIONES BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO WRITE THE BODY OF YOUR ESSAY! 

** Make sure also that your introduction has mentioned Walt Whitman and the title of his work, Leaves of Grass. **

Leveled Criteria

Level 1: TWO body paragraphs with a minimum of TWO pieces of evidence quoted from the Whitman text.  Total word count for whole essay: 500-750

Level 2: TWO body paragraphs with a minimum of TWO pieces of evidence quoted from the Whitman text and one section of paraphrasing.  Total word count for whole essay: 600-900

Level 3: THREE body paragraphs with a minimum of THREE pieces of evidence quoted from the Whitman text and two sections of paraphrasing.  Total word count for whole essay: 750-1000

Level 4: FOUR body paragraphs with a minimum of FOUR pieces of evidence quoted from the Whitman text and two sections of paraphrasing.  Total word count for whole essay: 900-1100

Writing the Body

The body to your essay should PROVE that Whitman was or was not a Transcendentalist.  You do this by citing evidence from the text and explaining its meaning to the reader.  (Think of each body paragraph as a short answer response.  Organize your thoughts using RACE.)  

Citing Evidence from Poetry

According to the criteria above, you will need to directly quote from the poem as well as paraphrase.  Use the following resource to learn more about how to paraphrase: Purdue OWL.

You may quote one to three lines of poetry by placing the lines in quotation marks within the text of your paper.  Separate lines of poetry using a slash mark (/).  Leave a space on each side of the slash.  In parentheses place the line numbers of verse you've quoted:

Whitman begins this section of the poem by stating, "Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty and / clean, / Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile" (1-3).

When citing more than three lines of poetry, begin the verse on a new line and indent.  Do not use quotation marks and make sure to include the line numbers in parentheses after the punctuation.  Make sure to copy the poem EXACTLY as it appears in the text:

Whitman begins this section of the poem by stating:
   
     Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty and
     clean,
     Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile, and none shall be less
     familiar than the rest.  (1-4)