Literary Analysis
What is Literary Analysis?
Literary Analysis is thinking deeply about a text and writing about your thoughts and ideas.
What is a text-based narrative?
A text-based narrative is a story you write based on a text you have read.
What is imagery and when do you use it?
When you finish writing, what do you need to do?
Reread and check your work for mistakes!
How many writing responses will you have to do on MCAS?
4! You will write at least 1 essay and 1 text-based narrative.
1 introduction, 2-3 body paragraphs, 1 conclusion
There are 3 types of text-based narratives. Name or explain at least 1 type.
Continuation - write what happens next in the story
Point of View/Perspective - Write the same story from a different character's perspective
New Ending - change the ending of the story with a new purpose
What is evidence? How much should you include?
Evidence is a quote from the text that illustrates your claim. You need evidence in every body paragraph. Each piece should be 1-3 sentences long.
What common mistakes should you check your work for when you finish?
Spelling
Capitalization
Organization
Punctuation
Errors
What should you do when you get to a writing response question on MCAS?
RAFT the prompt and figure out what you need to write about!
What do you include in a body paragraph?
Claim, evidence, and explanation
What do you need to include in your story to make it interesting?
You need to include a conflict! Problems make the story fun to read!
What is the difference between a thesis statement and a claim? (Hint: think where it goes and what it says)
Thesis Statement - last sentence of your intro, previews all ideas of your essay
Claim - first sentence of a body paragraph, states one idea of your essay
How do you give the author credit for their words?
Citations! Write the author's last name and the paragraph/line number in parenthesis after the quote.
What should you do if the prompt says "Be sure to include information from both passages to develop your essay."
You should include a piece of evidence from both passages.
How do you hook a reader in your introduction?
Write a question connected to the topic of the essay.
How long should your text-based narrative be?
Your text-based narrative should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The length depends on what you are writing about.
What is the purpose of your explanation?
An explanation shares your thinking with the reader. It is the longest and most important part of a body paragraph.
Rewrite the following correctly: at night i waited for the bus stars shined in the sky above me
At night I waited for the bus. Stars shined in the sky above me.
How do you know if you need to write an essay or a narrative?
READ THE PROMPT! It will say "write an essay" or "write a narrative"!!
What will you have to write essays about?
Anything! Read the prompt carefully because essays can be written about characters/people, themes, explaining big ideas from the text, etc.
How do you know who should narrate your text-based narrative?
Read the prompt! It will either tell you to switch narrators or it will tell you to "use what you know about the characters, setting, and events in the passage to write your narrative" (stay the same as the passage).
What is the difference between a text-based narrative and an essay?
Text-based narrative - a story you write based on what you read
Essay - a 4-5 paragraph analysis of what you read
Rewrite the following evidence from paragraph 27 of Runt by Marion Dane Bauer correctly: Runt hardly knew the meaning of the words.
"Runt hardly knew the meaning of the words" (Bauer 27).
What do you do if you panic and don't know what to do?
STOP! Take a breath! Reread and RAFT the prompt and figure out which type of writing you're doing. Reread the passages to help you think about what you're going to write. Plan on your scrap paper to help organize your ideas.