A Detailed Body Paragraph Outline for a Critical Analytical Response to Literature Essay

"A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out." ~ Virginia Woolf

"In effect I am not a novelist, but rather a failed essayist who started to write novels because he didn't know how to write essays." ~ Jose Saramago

"The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything" ~ Aldous Huxley

"An essay is a work of literary art which has a minimum of one anecdote and one universal idea." ~ Carol Bly

Many high school English teachers struggle to help students write a critical analytical response to literature body paragraph of an essay.

Many English teachers give this incomplete outline for a body paragraph:

1. Topic Sentence
2. Point
3. Proof
4. Explain

By giving students this type of incomplete and incorrect body paragraph outline, students will not write a proper body paragraph, in fact students will be hampered in their essay writing process.

Here is a detailed Body Paragraph Outline for a Critical Analytical Response to Literature

Topic Sentence:

• This sentence should clearly state the main point of your paragraph and connect it back to your thesis statement

Context:

• Provide brief context for the evidence you will discuss, such as the relevant part of the story or the author’s argument.

Evidence:

• Introduce a specific example from the text (quote, paraphrase, or summary) that supports your topic sentence.
• Briefly explain how this evidence relates back to your topic sentence.

Analysis:

• Go beyond simply summarizing the evidence.
• Analyze the evidence in detail, considering:
  • Literary devices used (e.g., symbolism, imagery, metaphor)
  • Character development or motivations
  • Thematic connections
  • Author's purpose or style
• Explain how the analysis of this evidence strengthens your overall argument.

Connection:

• Briefly connect your analysis back to your thesis statement, reiterating how this specific point supports your larger claim about the text.

Optional:

• You can also consider including a counter-argument or opposing viewpoint in this section. Briefly acknowledge it and explain why your main argument remains stronger.

Transition Sentence:

• This sentence should smoothly transition you to the next point in your essay, which could be another body paragraph or your conclusion.

Remember, each body paragraph should focus on a single point or piece of evidence and thoroughly analyze it in relation to your thesis.

Keep your analysis focused and directly related to the literature you’re discussing.