7th Justice Served: Extended Writing Project: Literary Analysis

Extended Writing Project Prompt and Directions:

Imagine what it would be like to work long hours under dangerous conditions for little pay. Think about how your life would be different if you had to work in a factory or on a farm as a migrant farm worker, instead of going to school. The world is full of injustice, but fortunately, there are people who believe in speaking up for the powerless and defending human rights.
In this unit, you have been reading nonfiction texts about real people who stood up for the rights of others and brought about social change. From Mother Jones, a fierce fighter for child labor laws, to Cesar Chavez, who fought for the rights of ill-treated farm workers, these great people had something in common: They fought for fairness and inspired social change.
Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela also fought for change. Both Gandhi and Mandela are inspiring, but the texts that you have read about them are very different. Write a literary analysis in which you compare and contrast the text about Gandhi with the text about Mandela to determine which is more convincing in presenting and supporting the claim that this individual was a great defender of justice and human rights. Analyze the reasons and evidence presented in the text as well as the language that is used to describe the individual’s words, actions, and accomplishments. Then decide which writer was more persuasive in defending his claim about the impact this person had on human rights.
Your literary analysis should include

• a comparison-contrast of two nonfiction texts you have read in this unit.

• an explicitly stated claim about the topic.

• a logically organized presentation of sound reasons and textual evidence.

• a conclusion that sums up your literary analysis of which text was more persuasive and leaves your readers with an original thought about the topic.

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Introduction to a literary analysis:

A literary analysis considers the themes or central ideas of one or more pieces of literature. It may explain connections between (or among) different texts, between the writer and the text, or between literature and its effect on the reader or a larger audience.
 Literary analysis can be a form of argumentative writing: The writer makes a claim about the literature and then provides relevant textual evidence—details, descriptions, examples, observations, and quotations—to support the argument and claims. After first introducing a claim, the writer develops his or her ideas in the body of the literary analysis, using transitions to show connections and create a smooth flow of ideas. Often, the author’s purpose for writing a literary analysis is to convince readers that that the claims the writer is making are valid.
 
Therefore, the features of a literary analysis may include the following:

• a comparison-contrast of two literary texts

• an introduction with a thesis statement (or claim), a central idea, and support built on sound reasons and textual evidence

• a text structure that organizes the analysis in a logical way, using clear transitions to create a smooth flow of ideas

• embedded quotations that are cited from the texts or from outside sources

• precise word choice

• a concluding statement that restates the thesis statement (or claim) and that summarizes the central idea (or ideas) 

 
As you work on this Extended Writing Project, you will learn more about crafting each of the elements of a literary analysis.

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Multiple Choice

Which sentence in the first paragraph most clearly states what the entire essay will be about?

• the last sentence as it tells how the texts will be compared and contrasted and that in the end, the authors of About Cesar does a better job of making their claim

• the first sentence as it tells how the texts will be will be about important facts