The devil is always in the smaller details, and it is these details that jump off the page when a reader is reading, a teacher is grading, or your boss is wondering why the heck he or she hired you in the first place.

I should not have to give you a checklist as all of these details are explained in the literary analysis paragraph rubric. It is as easy to make these mistakes as it is to avoid them.

First Look

Formatting

The most glaring errors—and the errors I catch most easily—are simple formatting errors and omissions of detail. Here is a list of the most common mistakes in formatting a literary analysis paragraph.

1. The document has the wrong file name.
2. Assignment information is missing or incomplete
3. The title is not centered
4. The quote is not centered, not in italics, or you do not cite the source of the quote.
5. You do not tab in your first sentence.
6. Book titles not capitalized or italicized.

Opening Paragraph

GUIDING THEME 

This comprises the first third of your paragraph and guides the reader in the direction your paragraph. The three parts act together to clearly state the reason your  paragraph exists.

• Broad Theme: The most common mistake is to make this a long and complicated sentence.  The only purpose of the broad theme is to “engage” the readers interest by introducing an enduring theme and tying it into your narrow theme.
• Narrow Theme: The most common mistake is to omit the one word theme and a specific reference to the literary piece in the sentence. This sentence shows how the broad theme is used in the literary piece.
• One/Two Punch: Don’t go back to your broad theme here; this is the place to narrow down your narrow theme even further to a specific character, event or observation—and be sure to reference your theme word or phrase again.

Body Paragraphs

TEXT REFERENCE & SUPPORT

This should fill up the center third of your paragraph. It is the physical proof of your theme working within the text of your literary piece.

• Setup: Oftentimes a writer does not provide enough specific detail for the reader to fully understand the context of the coming quote (the smoking gun). Be sure to fully create the “image” a reader needs to “see” by including a meaty and specific who, what, when, where, why leading into the actual text support,
• Smoking Gun: This can only be the actual text from the literary piece. The most common mistake is to forget to cite the source of the quote, or to forget to italicize the quote–or to forget to block quote the selection if it is longer than two lines on the page.

EXPLICATION & EXPLANATION

Head and Heart: This is the foundation of your paragraph. Without it, your paragraph will be as empty as it is shallow. It shows and tells the reader how your theme is relevant to your text reference. It makes reading your paragraph a worthwhile (edifying) experience.

• Head and Heart: By far the most common mistake here is to write about the theme itself instead of how the theme is specifically used in the piece of literature you are analyzing–and even more specifically how the theme is used in your text reference.
• The first sentence of the head and heart should explicate the quote.
• Never write anything along the lines of “This quote shows…” Or “What this quote means is…” Quotes don’t mean anything! The way the plot unfolds means everything, so refer to the action in the piece of literature.
• Do not tab the first sentence of the head and heart because it is not a new paragraph.
• Check this section and make sure that “every” sentence refers back to the literary piece (and your narrow theme) in some way shape or form.

Finishing Clean

TRANSITION OR CONCLUSION

This part of your paragraph should signal your readers that they have either reached their destination or you are talking the next exit off the highway. There is no reason to be wordy here. Too many words is like trying to clear a muddy puddle with your hand.

The most common mistake here is referencing your broad theme without referencing the piece of literature you just finished analyzing.

• Get On: The biggest mistake when transitioning to a new paragraph is when there is no logical flow between paragraphs.
• My rule of thumb is that I “should” be able to put a conjunctive adverb (moreover, finally, however, etc) or a conjunction (so, yet, and,or, nor, for, but) between the last line of one paragraph and the first line of the next. If you can’t do that, there might be something more you need to do….
• Get Out: It is critical to end a final or single paragraph with a sense of finality, so my advice is to finish it clean.
• The most common mistake here is to introduce a new thought that you haven’t already discussed in your paragraph–or you forget to refer back to your one-word theme AND the literary piece. 
• Never refer back only to the broad theme. This final sentence needs to capture your narrow theme PLUS the added insight of your explanation and explication about the piece of literature you are analyzing.

Final Thoughts

I am not so vain as to think that my rubrics are the end all/ be all of how you should write or present a writing piece, but it is massively important that you learn to answer a writing prompt or assignment with meticulous attention to the details that are important to your “boss” (whatever shape that boss takes). If you are working in a supposed “collaborative” group and your partners are not exactly collaborating, you need to take control of the final product before it is presented to “the boss.”