Analysis essays will make an argument supported with evidence from the text being analyzed.
Review handouts in the Literary Analysis Essays and Writing About Literature pages in the Course Resources module.
Choose from the list of topics below to write your essay. Include examples from the literary work to support and
validate your arguments.
Genre Analysis Select a reading/text that falls into any one of the following genres: poetry and verse, picture books, or fairy tales. Analyze how and why the text is a good example of the genre. This requires analyzing specific elements of the text as evidence to support your argument.
What are some ways in which picture books rely on design and production elements for their artistic effects and to make meaning? Select 1-3 works and analyze both visual and verbal elements.
What is a concept book? What is a concept book’s significance to the development and origins of children’s literature? Select 1-3 works to identify and analyze how and why they are examples of a concept book.
What are the differences between a picture book and an illustrated book? Select 1-3 works to 1) identify them as a picture book or illustrated book and 2) establish why they are either a picture book or illustrated book. Review “What Is the
Difference between an Illustrated [Text] and a Picture Book?” for details on the
differences between the two.
“Original” fairy tales, like those recorded by the Brothers Grimm, often contain violence. Some literary critics and child psychologists believe these tales are good for children because they address children’s real
fears, feelings, and desires. Others argue that contemporary “sanitized” fairy tales still convey the main
themes of the tales and are far more appropriate for children. What is your stance on this issue and what argument can you make? Use specific reasons and examples from readings assigned in ENG 250 to explain and validate your argument.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines fairy tales as, “any of various short tales having folkloric elements and featuring fantastic or magical events or characters.” Identify and make an argument for how 1-3 of the fairy tales assigned for reading in ENG 250 align with this definition and the characteristics and elements of fairy
tales as discussed in class.
Discuss and make an argument for how “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods” and “The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots” are examples of either a restoration tale or a rise tale.
Fairy tales often have happily-ever-after endings, while others end in a sad, bittersweet or ambivalent way.
What changes when a fairy-tale ending is unhappy (think about “The Little Match Girl”)? What are some possible motivations in offering tales without happy endings?
