Book excerpt: This book provides a complete guide to analyzing literary works, from an introduction of basic principles to the finer details. Separated into three sections, the book covers: • Principles—this looks at what literary analysis is, its three main components, and the various possible objects of analysis. • Main components—introduces nearly 30 aspects of text analysis, such as style, themes, social aspects, and context, and then goes on to introduce nearly 50 approaches, such as literary history, ecocriticism, narratology, and sociology. • The process of analysis—details the general structure of the analytical text, the structure of a pedagogical essay, the analysis of a theoretical element, possible “plans” for the analytical text, methods of argumentation, statements of opinion, hypotheses, the structure of paragraphs, and the use of citations. This book is a synthesis of established scholarship with new, original insights, making it an ideal introduction to the study of literature as well as a valuable companion throughout further study.