LWR - Using Literary Evidence Lesson

English_Lesson_TopBanner.png Using Literary Evidence

Literary evidence is typically open to multiple interpretations. As a result, finding interesting textual evidence is only the first step in producing a compelling literary analysis. Even more important is how you persuasively analyze that evidence.

Literary evidence can be interpreted in many different ways. That means that when you provide a quotation from a text as evidence, you need to be sure to explain clearly how that evidence supports your interpretation. Although there are many ways to explain literary evidence, most people writing about literature make the following moves:

Introduce a quotation in a way that helps readers recognize what you want them to see in it.
After you quote a text, take the time to explain exactly how the language of that quotation and the form of the passage supports the point you're making.
Read the following paragraph from a paper on Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

Using Literary Evidence Robert Frost traditionally writes poems about an individual isolated in nature. Yet this is not always the case. For instance, in his most famous poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, he writes: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. (1-4) Therefore, this poem is not just about the "Snowy Woods" of the title.

 

English_LessonBottomBanner.png IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS