This assignment asks you to analyze Maguires novel, Wicked, by considering some of its literary elements (character, theme, style, setting, point of view, or plot) in order to present a convincing argument about what the author is trying to convey, how, and why.
In a literary analysis, you are expected to present an argument regarding the novels theme (what is the author trying to tell the readers), and logically develop this argument with evidence (both quotations and paraphrase) from the text.
Scholarly research is not required, but if you refer to sources, remember to cite them.
The purpose is not to summarize the content of the novel, but to carefully mark specific literary devices, use evidence from the novel to support your claims about those devices, and establish how such devices help the author convey her theme/message.
While you may choose any aspect of the novel for your analysis (thematic, character, symbolic etc.), there is a list of prompts at the back of the novel (407-409), that you can use to generate ideas or even respond to directly. For instance, one of the prompts is:
One of Wickeds key themes is the nature and roots of evil. What are the theories that Maguire sets out? Is Elphaba evil? Are her actions evil? Is there such a thing as evil, a free floating power in the universe like time or gravity? Or is evil an attribute of the actions of human beings?
A prompt such as this is mainly seeking to analyze the treatment of evil in the novel. You can refer to any of the prompts from the Readers Group Guide at the back of the novel or simply state your own question on your assignment sheet. Having a question/prompt not only keeps you focused, but also tells me precisely what you are trying to do.
Process
Start by identifying the main idea or theme of the novel.
You have been reading and marking the text, but it will be helpful to re-read portions of the text to locate evidence for your claims about literary devices, which support your main idea.
Formulate a preliminary thesis in terms of what the author is trying to convey and how she successfully manages to convey it.
Make an outline of the claims and evidence that will be necessary for you to support your argument.
In the introduction, you may want to set the context of the author and the writing or start with the larger context of immigrants and their stereotypical portrayals before narrowing down to the author and the novel. At the end of the introduction, you will need a thesis statement which makes a precise claim about what the author is trying to convey, why/how.
In the conclusion, you will not only touch upon your main ideas, but dwell on the larger implications of the novel and its relevance.
Mechanics: you should avoid using the first person, I. Instead, you can simply present your assertions/claims and they are supposed to be expressive of your opinion which derives from your analysis. You should also refer to the work throughout in the present tense.
