TIQA+body+paragraph+1

Literary Analysis: TIQA Stye TIQA is an acronym for a technique that you can use in writing a literary analysis. A literary analysis is a type of expository essay that analyzes or looks at a specific aspect of a piece of literature in detail, such as the characters, theme, setting, symbolism, etc.

• T = Topic sentence: write a topic sentence for the paragraph. A topic sentence needs a limiting idea (focus). In character analysis, your topic is the character you have chosen, and your limiting idea is a character trait. Here is an example:

• Topic Sentence: The man dies in the cold of the Yukon because he is too foolish to listen to those who know more than him. • Topic = the man • Limiting Idea = his foolishness and why this leads to his death

• I = Introduce quote: Before you supply the quote that supports your topic sentence, you need to introduce it. You need to give some context/setting to the quote. If someone is speaking the quoted words, you should tell your reader who is talking.

• Q = Quote: provide a quote that supports the topic sentence. The quote cannot “exist” on its own—it must be attached to another sentence. That’s why we introduce it in the step above.

• A = Analyze: explain to the reader (in 2-3 sentences) how the quote supports your topic, or how it proves your thesis to be true. DO NOT just tell your reader what the quote means; you have to analyze it. For example, in a character analysis, you are showing how the quote proves that the character has the trait you identified.

EXAMPLE OF a TIQA style paragraph:

• Topic Sentence: The man dies in the cold of the Yukon because he is too foolish to listen to those who know more than him.

• Introduce Quote: When the man is remembering the words of the old timer at Sulphur Creek, he says

• Quote: “those old-timers were rather womanish, some of them, he thought.”

• Analysis: This shows that the man does not respect those that have been in the area longer than he has. He insults the knowledge of those with more experience. He will later come to see how truly foolish his words were.