How it works
This literary essay graphic organizer plans an essay that argues one claim about a text and proves it from the text. Each piece of evidence sits next to its analysis, so no quotation is left to speak for itself.
Read the full guide
What the standards ask for
The Common Core writing standards have students draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis from 4th grade. From 6th grade they write arguments that support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
From the organizer to a draft
Each row of the opening sheet becomes one body paragraph: the evidence, then its analysis. A paragraph that needs more room can be planned alone on the body paragraph planner.
- If the claim will not come, collect three pieces of evidence first and ask what they have in common.
Questions and answers
How do you structure a literary essay?
These sheets plan it in three parts: an introduction that ends in the claim, body paragraphs that each give one piece of evidence and analyze it, and a conclusion that returns to the claim and adds a closing thought.
What is the difference between evidence and analysis?
Evidence is what the text says: a quotation or a detail, with its page. Analysis is what you say about it: how those words prove the claim. A draft that only retells the story has evidence and no analysis.
How do you write a claim for a literary essay?
Start from something you noticed in the text: a pattern, a change, a choice the author made. Decide what it means. Then say both in one sentence that names the text. The claim builder has a box for each step.