the prompt is: Compare and contrast “darkness” in Beowulf and in Paradise Lost.

The English major’s essay belongs to a subcategory of essay writing; it is different from the essay written for other disciplines, yet related to expository prose in general. We call “the English major’s essay” literary analysis. On the professional level, it’s called literary criticism. This kind of essay writing is different from other kinds for the following reasons: The English major generally writes focused essays that analyze other writing, most often, the three genres of literature – poetry, fiction, and drama. The mindset of the writer and the strategies and skills used to reflect this purpose.

Please keep in mind the following when writing:

• a plot summary is not a literary analysis
• a literary analysis is not a demonstration of a general understanding of a text, but
• rather, centers on a specific thesis in order to dig deeply into a very specific
• problem or insight concerning the text
• a literary analysis is not an informal discussion about a text (it is not the same as srcq or apcq, which are important for other reasons)
• any assertion in a literary analysis essay must have its grounding in the text, not in general observations about life or personal experience

Here are some useful options for writing an original and insightful essay:

• show how your thesis runs counter to the prevailing ideas about the text (“most
• people think x about this text, but y is true instead”) or
• show the relationship between the text and an outside source or
• show how a critical approach applies to the text

The writer of a strong literary analysis manipulates the reader’s memory of the text chosen for the purposes of building an argument (the thesis) to support or prove the answer to a specific question that is worth answering. The writer uses well conceived arguments and very specific, brief, and limited paraphrasing, as well as carefully chosen and limited direct citations to support assertions related to this argument or thesis.