“Literary Explication” creative writing class- 3+ pages in length (any subject matter)

The “Literary Explication” must be a minimum of 3 pages in length, 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced. 

1. Find your subject matter. Will you explicate or break apart the elements of a short story? play? poem? song lyrics?

2. Decide upon a suitable topic. If referring to a short story or a novel, which literary element will you focus in on? Will you combine several? *If referring to a poem or a song lyric, ask yourself how many “sections” of that piece are you looking at? For each section, be prepared to break it apart in the body of your paper.

3. Gather information to support your paper. *State the title, author, time period, relevancy within the first paragraph. This gets you started in an explication.*

4. Organize your information. *If using a poem or a song lyric, for each “section” of that poem or song lyric, you should have ONE paragraph in your paper dedicated to the “breaking down” of what that means. What strengthens an explication is direct quotes/lines from your poem/lyrics to further demonstrate your points throughout.*

5. Write a first draft. *Compare your draft to the sample literary explications that you have viewed online.*

6. Prepare a final draft. Spellcheck