I need professional literary analysis/criticism examples

[lewelma]

My ds is supposed to write either a literary analysis or a literary criticism by having a hypothesis and then picking 2 resources to argue with. I think he would use the techniques in They Say, I Say. He writes very well if he has read and studyied some writing in the style that he is supposed to write.  I believe that he could either write in a formal academic way (so with google scholar style), or he could write for more of a lay audience as long as he attacks his hypothesis with 2 other works.  I've been looking for either 1) formal open access journals, 2) lay person magazines, or 3) high-end websites/blogs from critics.  I'm a bit stumped on the formal academic journals as they seem to be way too long or way to hard to read.  As for lay person magazines, I've looked at the New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and the London Review of Books. I know my ds would love their style (he is into creative nonfiction), but I'm struggling to find ones that actually enter a conversation with other writers.  What do you guys suggest?

Ruth in NZ

Edited September 27, 2020 by lewelma

[EKS]

8 minutes ago, lewelma said:

I'm a bit stumped on the formal academic journals as they seem to be way too long or way to hard to read.

Ha.  Yes.  Professional literary analysts seemed to be trained to write particularly opaque prose.  It's infuriating. 

[lewelma]

3 minutes ago, EKS said:

Ha.  Yes.  Professional literary analysts seemed to be trained to write particularly opaque prose.  It's infuriating. 

Agreed. The lay person magazines were very readable, but I couldn't really see a clear thesis.  So he can only mimic them if I can find some examples with a thesis.

I'm also a bit wobbly as to the difference between literary criticism and literary analysis. So I'm happy for someone to explain that too.

[royspeed]

On 9/27/2020 at 7:22 PM, lewelma said:

I'm also a bit wobbly as to the difference between literary criticism and literary analysis. So I'm happy for someone to explain that too.

Literary criticism & analysis are essentially the same thing; there's no clear, agreed-upon distinction. 

For my part, I can steer you to examples of awesome (as opposed to loathsome) literary analysis. But I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're looking for, i.e., your son needs to take issue with two other writers, yes? — What's his topic?

Here are two pieces, for instance, on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet — each is a great piece of writing (see attachments). But is your son writing about Shakespeare, or something else?

—Roy

CAROLINE F. E. SPURGEON - Shakespeares Imagery - Chapter 15.pdf 2006 - Ryan McKittrick - How Romeus Became Romeo.pdf