How to Analyze Two Books in an Essay

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I have had a lifelong passion for reading and writing and graduated with a BA in English Literature.

how to write an essay comparing two books

One of the most important skills a student of English literature must have is understanding how to analyze a book, or even two books, in an essay. When it comes to analyzing two novels, whether for discussion or in an essay, things can quickly get complicated. analysis does not necessarily mean that one compares two books, but rather that one explores both, finds connections, and then digs deeper into those connections with a focus on what is most important to you. It takes practice to get really good at book analysis, but with time and some good advice, you can do it in no time.

You are reading: Comparing two books essay example

The first step in writing your essay on two books and reviewing books is obviously to read the two books you have been assigned or have decided to review. For each novel, ask yourself some basic questions, such as the following:

what is the theme?
what symbols appear in the text?
what is the style?
what motifs used?
how are the characters developed?

chances are you’ve already been given your essay topic or decided on one, but if you haven’t, these questions can help you get started by helping you focus on a certain aspect of the novels you’re writing about . . what you’re trying to do is look at the basics of each novel before analyzing the book. the overall goal here is to find connections and patterns between the two novels that you can analyze under the umbrella of a strong thesis.

how to write a thesis on two books

Now that you’ve finished reading both novels with questions in mind that are relevant to the overall theme you’re focusing on, it’s time to find your thesis. this is easier said than done, especially when analyzing two books in one essay. remember, a thesis is not just a question or an observation, it is part of analyzing the novels in your essay and bringing to light the new and interesting aspect of the novels that you have discovered and are about to share with your audience.

Your thesis about analyzing two books in your essay should be introduced in your first paragraph and serve as the center of your analytical argument. my favorite college professor once said that it is the “thread that binds together your interpretations of all the significant moments, patterns, developments, changes, and/or contradictions that you will develop in the body of your article.” Think of your essay thesis as a promise to your audience about what kind of analysis you’ve done for the books, and make it specific. this way you can find specific evidence within the text to support it and not lose focus on what your thesis has already committed to cover in your article.

There are three basic components of a great thesis: what, how and why.

The “what” component asks you to cover what specific claim you are making about the two books you are reviewing. the “how” asks exactly how you are going to support this claim, using literary devices, themes, etc. specific. this topic?” my teacher liked to ask “so what?” show your reader that this is worth reading before they get involved. otherwise they might lose interest before it even starts. don’t be general by The more specific you are, the easier it will be to demonstrate in your essay.

Some important things to remember about a thesis that many don’t realize are that it can be more than one sentence, a strong thesis addresses a potentially opposing point of view, and it must address all three questions listed above to be successful. Creating a strong thesis is a great start to understanding how to successfully analyze two books in one essay.

write an outline for an essay analyzing two novels

An outline is essential when analyzing one or two books in an essay. It’s important to provide equal support from both novels for your thesis to keep your argument balanced but also to keep it organized enough that your reader doesn’t get lost. this balance between two novels is why it can be difficult to understand how to analyze two books in one essay. An outline helps you maintain this balance because it ensures that your argument will be presented in an organized way, with the same support for your analysis in both books.

The thesis of your essay is your starting point and should be at the top of your outline. after that, he wants to branch out to the different arguments that support his thesis and the analysis that he made for both novels. each of these arguments should be divided into separate paragraphs. I like to think of each topic sentence in each paragraph as a mini thesis. Like the lead of his essay, it acts as the introduction to the topic he’s about to discuss and reminds the reader why it’s important. it’s also a promise to the reader about what your paragraph is about to cover, so remember to stick to exactly what you said you were going to talk about.

Basically, at this point, you want to have an outline with the main thesis at the top, with some topic sentences below it, representing different paragraphs within your text. now you come to the next step before finishing your outline, which is to find the supporting evidence. Outlines are essential when analyzing two books in an essay because they keep your thoughts focused and organized. Without an outline, it can be easy to get lost as you have to put the same focus on two books under one thesis for your essay.

analyze two books

The most important thing not to do when writing an article reviewing two books is to avoid summaries unless absolutely necessary. When your essay calls for a summary of one or two books you’re reviewing, try to keep it as concise as possible.

evidence to compare two novels

The next big thing is to find in-text evidence to support your thesis and every little mini-thesis below it. this usually consists mostly of quotes, but can also be scenes within the two books you’re discussing that you can reference without citing.

This does not mean that you should reread the two novels you are writing your essay about. you should have been taking notes as you read each book highlighting, underlining, or marking significant passages in some way as you read and had those earlier questions in mind. this way, you can go back to each “wrinkled,” yellow-stained, or lined page and figure out which ones are most significant to your argument.

here, it’s best to make notes of all the relevant quotes and then narrow them down to the ones you think are the strongest support for your claim and each minithesis. you don’t want to use too many quotes, but you still want enough to make a convincing argument. yes, this takes time but it’s worth it. Once you’ve narrowed down your support for each of the two books you’re discussing in your essay, you can move on to the final step.

tips for writing an essay in english about two books

Now that you have your citations, put them on your outline. For each paragraph, have your mini thesis, the citation you want to use, and then the points for each citation. A basic rule of thumb is that for each quote, you want two sentences after and one before you introduce it to the reader. don’t put a quote right after the topic sentence without some sort of transition to introduce it or you’ll drive your teacher crazy. this also applies to any scene you can reference.

at this point, you want your schema to include that you want to quote x here, and you’ll support that by saying y and z. I like to use two pieces of evidence for each paragraph. By analyzing and comparing two books in one essay, this makes it easy because each piece of evidence can come from each novel. or you can change the paragraphs that go from one book and how it supports your thesis to another paragraph about the other book and how it does (or doesn’t) do the same thing. Once you’ve finished your outline, you can start writing your analytical essay.

start typing

So, you’ve finished your introductory paragraph and started writing the gist of your essay. for each topic sentence for each body paragraph, she will have evidence to support that mini thesis of hers that supports his thesis. Yeah, it’s like a train that never ends and you run it. don’t be afraid, your schematic should help make things easier.

Each sentence you write after the quote is an explanation to the reader why you chose this quote. better show us how a specific symbol was used in the text? Is it key to character development? tell us. then break it down for us in terms of the big picture, aka your thesis.

at the end of each paragraph, summarize what you just said with the main idea you just tested and move on to the next paragraph and the next point you will make. Repeat until you reach the conclusion. All of this may sound like learning how to write an essay by analyzing two books is too complicated, but once you get the hang of things, it will get easier.

concluding your essay on two books

The hardest part of your essay, aside from comparing two books and analyzing them in one essay, is the conclusion. The best way to start is to rephrase your introduction and especially your thesis. you’re basically working backwards to remind the reader what your main argument was and how you proved it. the most essential piece here is the “why” part, just like what you had in the thesis. why was it so important for the reader to read this? how does it help your understanding of the novel or change it in any way? the most effective conclusions leave readers with a thought that stays with them for a period of time after they leave your work.

tips for writing essays on english literature

english literature research topics some suggested research topics to get you started on finding your own topic for your english literature essay, as well as steps on how to find a topic and some examples.
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comments

greg on April 26, 2020:

excellent

talha akhter on October 25, 2018:

pretty informative… thanks i read it before my igcse

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david on March 22, 2018:

“with time and a few good tips, you can get there in no time.” lol

sup my bruh on March 17, 2018:

hey, I don’t know what this means

_ on March 6, 2018:

a little cool

invoice dated March 6, 2018:

This is awesome, can I link to it so I can tell my class how to write an essay?

wonder on November 01, 2017:

does it work with doctoral theses?

noah on April 30, 2017:

thank you!!!!!!!

seth tomko from macon, ga on May 13, 2012:

good suggestions. let’s just hope the students listen to them.

collegiate of the upper peninsula on May 12, 2012:

I wish I had read this before studying English literature. good job!

lisa (author) from wa on May 12, 2012:

No, I definitely don’t care. in fact, I take it as a compliment. thanks for reading.

ke morgan of arizona on May 12, 2012:

good topic, I’ll eventually write a hub on compare and contrast essay formats. do you mind if i link?

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How to Analyze Two Books in an Essay – Owlcation