Writing · Writing: Planning, Drafting, Revising and Publishing

The Literary Essay I: Analytical Thesis and Close-Reading Paragraphs

2.1 1.4About 75 minutes

Learning goals

I can write an arguable analytical thesis that answers what, how and why.
I can name and analyze techniques such as motif, symbol, personification, structure, diction and irony.
I can write a body paragraph with several embedded pieces of evidence that show development.
I can zoom in on specific words and explain their effect, so my analysis outweighs my evidence.

Words to know

analytical thesis
A one-sentence, arguable claim about how a text creates meaning and why it matters.

insight
The idea about people or life that a text suggests; a full statement, not a single word.

motif
An image, object or idea that repeats and develops through a text.

personification
Giving human qualities or actions to something that is not human.

paradox
A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a truth (the shortest note says the most).

embed
To blend a short quotation into your own sentence.

close reading
Careful analysis of small details, such as single words, images and patterns.

From "what happens" to "how and why"

You have written literary analysis before. In Grade 10 the bar goes up: your teacher expects an analytical thesis that a thoughtful reader could disagree with, and body paragraphs that zoom in on specific words and techniques instead of walking through the plot.

This lesson and the next one build a complete literary essay on a very short story. Read it twice: once for what happens, and once with a pencil, marking anything that repeats, changes or surprises you.

"Notes on the Fridge" (a very short story written for this site)

Mom works nights at the hospital, so our kitchen does the talking. The fridge hums all evening, like it is waiting for something.

In September her notes are short: Lasagna in freezer. Love you. Mine are shorter: Ok.

By November, the dark comes early. I eat at the counter with the radio on so the house sounds full. Her notes start to change: How was the math test? Wear your boots. First snow is supposed to come Thursday.

I write back one line, then two. I tell her about the test (a B-plus), about Ms. Achari's terrible jokes, about the raccoon that knocked over our green bin.

On the first snowy morning, I come downstairs and the whole fridge door is covered: her yellow sticky notes and my lined paper, held up by every magnet we own, a paper quilt from September to now.

In the middle, in her slanted handwriting, is a new one: Saturday I'm off. Pancakes? Let's talk the old-fashioned way.

I write one word under it, the shortest note I have ever left her, and the one that says the most: Yes.

Remember from Grade 9

In Grade 9 you wrote literary analysis essays with an analytical thesis, PEEL paragraphs (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link), integrated quotations, the literary present tense and a formal voice. In Grade 10 you will write theses that answer what, how and why, use several pieces of evidence in a paragraph, and analyze individual words and techniques in more depth.

What makes a thesis analytical?

A thesis is the one-sentence claim your whole essay proves. An analytical thesis about literature answers three questions:

What text and subject are you discussing?
How does the writer create meaning (which technique or techniques)?
Why does it matter? What insight about people or life does the text suggest?

It should be arguable: a reader could see the text differently, so you need evidence to convince them. The story is about a parent and a teen is a fact, not a thesis.

A strong thesis names the text, the technique and the insight. Notice that the insight is a full idea about life, not a single word like family.

Thesis attempt	Problem
"Notes on the Fridge" is about a parent and a teen.	A topic, not a claim. Nothing to prove.
The notes on the fridge are a symbol.	Names a technique but says nothing about meaning.
The notes show that the narrator and Mom love each other.	Too obvious and vague: how? why does it matter?
In "Notes on the Fridge," the growing notes trace the narrator's shift from distance to connection, suggesting that small, steady acts of communication can hold a family together.	Strong: what + how + why, and arguable.

Climbing from a topic to an analytical thesis.

Techniques worth analyzing

You cannot analyze a technique you cannot name. Here are some that appear in the story:

Motif: an image or idea that repeats and develops through a text (the notes).
Symbol: an object that stands for a bigger idea (the "paper quilt" of notes: a quilt is made of many small pieces stitched together over time, and it keeps people warm).
Personification and simile: The fridge hums all evening, like it is waiting for something. The fridge is given a human feeling (waiting), which suggests the narrator's own loneliness.
Structure: the story moves through time (September, November, the first snow, Saturday), so the reader watches the change happen.
Diction: specific word choices, such as quilt, slanted handwriting or old-fashioned.
Irony and paradox: the shortest note is the one that says the most.

The writing on the fridge grows as the relationship grows closer, then the final note is as short as the first. The difference is meaning: Ok. closes a conversation, while Yes. opens one.

The Grade 10 body paragraph

A strong analytical paragraph does more than PEEL once. It usually follows this rhythm:

Topic sentence: a claim about a technique and its meaning, linked to your thesis.
Context: one short phrase locating the evidence (At the start of the story...). Not a plot summary.
Evidence 1, embedded in your sentence.
Analysis: zoom in on a word or detail. What does it suggest? What is its effect on the reader?
Evidence 2 (often from a different part of the text, to show development) and more analysis.
Concluding sentence: what the evidence adds up to, linked to the thesis.

Aim for more analysis than evidence. If a reader removed your quotations, there should still be a paragraph of your thinking left.

Words that analyze

Replace This quote shows... with verbs that do more precise work: suggests, implies, emphasizes, reveals, mirrors, contrasts with, foreshadows, reinforces, undercuts, evokes. Name the technique and its effect: The one-word reply "Ok." implies a teen who reads the notes as instructions, not conversation.

Worked example

Let's write a Grade 10 body paragraph

Write the first body paragraph, about the notes as a motif, for the thesis above.

Topic sentence: The notes on the fridge form a motif that traces the narrator's change from distance to connection.
Context + Evidence 1: At first, the exchange is almost empty: Mom's notes are practical ("Lasagna in freezer"), and the narrator answers with a single word, "Ok."
Analysis: The flat, one-word reply implies a teen who reads the notes as instructions rather than as conversation.
Evidence 2 (development): By November, however, Mom's notes "start to change" into questions about the "math test" and the "first snow," which invite answers instead of giving directions. The narrator replies with "one line, then two."
Analysis (zoom in): The slow counting in "one line, then two" mirrors how gradually trust grows. The details the narrator shares, from a "B-plus" to "Ms. Achari's terrible jokes," are ordinary, but their ordinariness is the point: the two are now sharing everyday life, not just managing it.
Concluding sentence: Through the changing notes, the story shows that connection is built through small, repeated acts rather than one dramatic moment.

Two pieces of evidence from different points in the story show development; the analysis zooms in on specific words (Ok., one line, then two, ordinary); and every sentence is in the literary present tense with the narrator's gender never assumed.

Hands-on activity

Track a motif at home

You need: a picture book, a song with school-appropriate lyrics, or one episode of a show your family watches; paper and a pencil.

Find something that repeats: an object, a phrase, a colour, a sound, an action.
Make a 3-point motif timeline like the bar diagram above: where it appears at the beginning, middle and end, and how it changes.
Write a thesis that answers what, how and why.
Write one body paragraph with two pieces of evidence from different points in the text.
Highlight your analysis in one colour and your evidence in another. Is there more analysis than evidence?

What to look for: a motif that truly develops (not just repeats), a thesis with an insight about life, and analysis that zooms in on specific words, sounds or images.

Just for fun

The narrator's last note is one word long. Most English teachers would write Please develop this idea further in the margin, which is a good reminder: the rules for essays and the rules for short stories are not the same.

Your turn

Which of the three questions (what, how, why) does this thesis leave out? In "Notes on the Fridge," the writer uses a motif of notes.

Name the technique: The fridge hums all evening, like it is waiting for something.

Why does the story's structure (September, November, the first snow, Saturday) matter?

Rewrite in the literary present tense: The narrator wrote back one line, then two.

What does the image of a paper quilt suggest? Give two ideas.

Replace This quote shows in: This quote shows the narrator is lonely.

More practice: warm-up

What is a motif?

Should a literary essay retell the plot?

What tense do we use to write about events in a story?

Name three analysis verbs other than shows.

How should a short story title be punctuated?

More practice: on your own

Write an analytical thesis about the setting (the dark November evenings and the first snow).

Analyze the word old-fashioned in Mom's note: Let's talk the old-fashioned way.

Explain the paradox in the ending: the shortest note says the most.

A student's paragraph has four long quotations and two sentences of explanation. Give two specific fixes.

Why is The story shows that family is important a weak insight?

Challenge

Write a complete body paragraph (6 to 8 sentences) about the ending of the story, using at least two pieces of evidence from different parts of the text.

Propose a different thesis about the story that a reader could argue (for example, about Mom rather than the narrator) and identify two pieces of evidence you would use.

Explain why a thesis must be arguable, and show how to make this statement arguable: The story has a happy ending.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is an analytical thesis?

A motif is:

The fridge hums all evening, like it is waiting for something contains:

In a Grade 10 body paragraph, analysis should be:

Why use evidence from different parts of a text in one paragraph?

Which sentence is in the literary present tense?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The literary essay is the main form of writing in Grade 10 academic English (expectation 2.1: writing in literary and informational forms). The Grade 10 step up is a thesis that answers what, how and why, and paragraphs with deeper analysis of specific words.

How to help: read the short story in this lesson together. Ask What changes? What repeats? Why might the writer do that? When your teen drafts, ask them to point to the sentence in each paragraph where their own thinking appears, not the story's words.

Common difficulties: plot summary instead of analysis; vague insights (family is important); quotations dropped in without explanation; mixing past and present tense; assuming a narrator's gender when the text does not give it.