Literary Analysis
For my TGC Essay Parts, I had to write all the literary elements for an essay on The Golden Compass: a thesis, a theme statement, topic sentences, background information, and analysis. I had to think of themes that occur in the book and how they related to the character’s development. Then I quoted several important phrases that could help my essay move along. I then set up a background for these quotes, and I explained some analysis in detail. Stylistically, my essay did not possess any strength, but I learned that in this essay, I strayed off of the topic many times. For example, I wrote, “…Lee Scoresby symbolizes selfishness, and he helps contribute to the theme of the book…” I went from speaking of his not caring for anyone but himself to leadership without any smooth transition.
Finding the right quotes took me a long time because they could not be more than fifteen words long or less and twelve words. For example, I was trying to decide between “Sure. I guess we’re both hired hands, Iorek…” (Pullman 202) or “’Oh, I like choice though,’ he said. ‘I like choosing the jobs I take and…” (Pullman 308). I felt that my second choice was a stronger quote, but it seemed incomplete. And, the first one did not give enough context clues. I decided to go with the second choice even though I did not know if it stood as the better choice. I consider this essay to be poorly written, and this essay does not possess any genuine strength. However, this left me a lot of room for improvement.
From this experience, I learned about many of my weaknesses that I had never thought about before. It made me much more aware of my feeble areas of writing, and now, I feel a lot more confident writing analysis essays. I have also learned to trust my own instinct when looking for quotes instead of doubting myself. This essay has broadened my insight of literary analysis essays, and it has helped me figure out many of my weaknesses.
