Authentic Blackness in Toni Morrison’s ‘Tar Baby’

A brief analysis of Morrison’s 1981 novel Tar Baby is concerned with authenticity in a few ways, linking the notion of authenticity to sanity and to blackness. In this 1981 novel, Morrison navigates a strange exploration of these links in a moody narrative that places competing notions of Black authenticity at the problematic center of

Composing Literary Analysis – A Sample of the Process

Here is a sample of the process of engaging with a literary text, analyzing that text, and writing about that text.

Conventions for Writing Literature Analysis Essays

Every branch of writing has its own set of stylistic preferences and rules. Literary analysis is no different. Here is a brief guide to the conventions of literary analysis composition.

Applying Literary Terms

This page provides a run-down of how we might apply several terms to an analysis of a sample text, “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Literary Analysis Terms – Selected Glossary

Literary Analysis Terms – Selected Glossary

20 Questions for Analyzing Fiction

Not every work of fiction is the same, but our approach to analyzing any story can be helped if we ask some key questions.

Analysis vs. Summary

There is sometimes confusion about what kinds of ideas and content to include when we write about literature. The short answer is that our focus should be on analysis.

Common Themes in Literature

The world of literature offers a huge variety of themes and ideas, but there are some themes that are more common than others.

What Is Literary Analysis, Exactly?

Literary interpretation is fundamentally interested in the question of what a text means. What is this text about? What ideas does this text communicate?