When writing an essay analyzing literary work, you will need to stick to a particular structure that shows the development of your thesis—from thesis statement, main points, supporting evidence, analysis to conclusion. To make sure you do not miss any of these components, you should use a template. A template comes with a premade layout that simply requires you to input information in the different sections to have a suitable outline for analyzing your article, report, or book. In recognition of this need, we have made this downloadable template to guide you in designing a perfect outline for your next literary analysis essay.
Components Included in this Literary Analysis Essay Template
Through extensive research, we have identified the different components that must appear in a literary analysis essay. Each component serves a unique purpose. Here is why you need to include each component in the template.
Introduction
A good introduction highlights the main points, background information, and thesis statement to help the reader get an idea of what to expect. In this introduction section, this outline template has sections to provide an attention-grabbing hook to get the reader interested in your essay. Make sure to provide sufficient background information to contextualize your essay and indicate its significance. Use the ‘thesis statement’ to present your main argument or interpretation so the reader knows which argument you will defend in your analysis.
Body paragraphs
The essay body dives deep into the argument using information from the literary work. Here you should include insights, quotes, statistics, etc. Your essay can review the text’s literary elements, such as methodologies, plot, character, theme, and subject, or the author’s choice of figurative language and literary techniques. Make sure that each paragraph focuses on a single point or topic and ends with a transition sentence. This transition is needed to maintain the flow and coherence of the essay from one point to the next. You can use bullet points or brief notes as this is simply an outline and not the final essay.
The simple structure of this template allows you to start each paragraph with a topic sentence followed by supporting evidence from the literary work and your analysis. Then, it ends with a transition sentence that connects with the next point. If you are discussing more than one point, modify this section and add a new paragraph arrangement.
Conclusion
Use the conclusion to go over what you have discussed in the body paragraphs and tie everything together. Simply restate the thesis statement, briefly outline your main points, and in a few bullet points state the importance of the analysis in understanding the text and the author’s choices before sharing a concluding thought. The concluding thought can be a call to action on what the reader should do after reading your analysis, a thought-provoking statement, or a reflection on the implications of your analysis. When filling this template, make sure you provide all this information concisely in the appropriate sections.
Works Cited
This final section allows you to enlist all the literary works you have referenced to get insights into the overall topic or subject matter. It is not pre-formatted to allow you to use the citation style required in your essay. So, feel free to format the citations as APA, MLA, Harvard, etc.
FAQs
Can I personalize this template?
Absolutely. You can modify different elements of the essay outline template to make it align with your preferences or specific writing requirements. For example, in the body section, you can add more paragraphs for additional points if you want to discuss your argument more broadly. You can also adjust elements like font and color. However, avoid modifying the general structure of the template as it is standard for literary analysis essays.
How is this template helpful?
The template provides a starting point for creating your literary essay outline. Therefore, it saves you time when designing the outline, allowing you to focus on your research efforts instead. Also, it is free of charge and reusable, offering you an affordable professional alternative for professional, academic, or personal essay writing.
