11 Sexy Ways to Introduce a Literary Analysis

Background:
- Need a thesis statement (TS)
- Phrase the TS in terms of literary elements
- A TS is an interesting interpretation
- Use "quotations" to support the interpretation
- Don't use "I think"

1. Biographical information (author)
In Occurence at Owl Creek, A. Bierce was a northen soldier, yet he takes a southern point of view to express the horrors or war.

2. Quotation
"I am not mad. No, not me." Why did the narrator say this? Was he really sane? E.A. Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart explores the fine line between madness and sanity from the perspective of the narrator.

3. Definition
According to the dictionary, a lottery is a random draw with money as the prize. In S. Jackson's The Lottery, the prize is very macabre indeed: it's death by stoning.

4. Literary element
Imagery is a powerful way to express feelings and emotions. In Ode on a Grecian Urn, J. Keats personifies an ancient object to show the contrast between eternal beauty and ephemeral beauty.

5. Life experience of an author
E. Hemingway had a lot of problems communicating with women throughout his life. This is reflected in Hills Like White Elephants, where Jig and the American never really communicate.

6. Plot
At the beginning of Oscar Wilde's Nightingale and the Rose, the nightingale's heart is broken by the student's sadness. By the end, her heart is literally broken by a thorn of a rose tree.

7. Philosophical or sociological concept
Tries involving life and death should be based on reason and justice. In F.S.'s The Lady or the Tiger, justice is based on the whims of the king.

8. Historical background
Gothicism was in vogue in the early nineteenth century, delving into metaphysical issues and the meaning of death. In E.A. Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, there are many gothic elements.

9. Claim to fame and notoriety
J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye was written in the 1950's and is still read in almost every literature course.

10. Interesting imagery
A painting is for the painter what the novel is for the writer.

11. Allusion
Many literary works are related to trials: Karfka's The Trial, Lee's Tokilla, T. Capote's In Cold Blood. These express universal themes. In Lawrence and Lee's Inherit the Wind, the trial explores free thinking US fundamentalism.