Literary analysis

Literary analysis is the process of examining a work of literature; sometimes used more broadly to apply to analysis of non-literary works of art.

Axes of literary analysis include:

• plot and structure
• characterization
• writing and rhetoric
• authorial intent, perspective, identity (see deconstructionism, auteur)
• audience reception (see Audience theory
• situating & evaluating the work within related bodies of work (e.g., related by time, genre, theme, culture)
• references, homages, influences on the work
• references, homages, influences of the work
• genre studies

Literary analysis often stems from a particularly mode of critical theory, such as feminist criticism, deconstructionism, or Marxist criticism.

Aiming at a few useful distinctions:

• archetype - sometimes used synonymously with stereotype; more specifically, a mythic model of a character that carries meaning to the story; echoes universal themes
• characterization - the creation of a fictional person or entity, with motivation, background, culture, beliefs, actions, etc.
• genre - in literature, a classification of a work, often according to plot, writing style or mode
• genre convention - a trope popularly used within a genre; permits shortcutting of explanation, world-building, characterization, and so on; e.g., "hyperspace" in science fiction, a way to travel great distances in space without having to describe an actual technology and physics.
• cliché - something used so often that it has lost its original meaning or emotional resonance
• mode - a way of writing that significantly shapes and permeates the work; often used to refer to the poetry / prose distinction and to the realistic, speculative, fantastic spectrum.
• motif - a recurring element, a pattern, with symbolic significance
• plot - the narrative structure of the work; the action
• plot device (narrative device) - triggering moment, event, person, or thing in the plot; aspect of plot that moves the plot forward
• stereotype - a characterization based on one or only a few attributes; need not be logically consistent or make sense, and need not have a "grain of truth" behind it; e.g., "women are pure and sexless" and "women are sexually voracious" are two conflicting stereotypes about women. Stereotypes in literature are a shortcut to characterization, and may play on social stereotypes with class and power implications, such as racist stereotypes, sexist stereotypes, etc.
• theme - most broadly, an underlying idea played out in a work, often with mythic implications--the "moral of the story"; more narrowly, sometimes used synonymously for plot device or other characterizations
• trope - a familiar and repeated character, plot device, theme, or motif. Within a given genre, tropes may work as a genre convention.