What is a good novel or to do a critical analysis paper on?

Question

I have a paper due soon on critical analysis on any book/novel i want. But i have no clue what to pick, i would like something not too hard but with plenty of criticism to do this 7 page paper.

Answer 1

If you want your paper to be interesting, you should pick a book that appeals to your interests. Have you read any good books lately? Perhaps you should think about the last good book you have read.

If you haven't read any books lately, you may want to pick a classic. In other words, pick a book that has been written about for many years. I don't want to pull you in any particular direction but you may be interested in Ernest Hemingway or Graham Greene. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in literature for his simplistic writing style. His books are fairly easy to read and understand. If you're interested in religion, Catholicism in particular, you may like Greene's novels.

If you're looking for something a bit more complex, you want to check out William Faulkner novels. His works often contain multiple narrators and what scholars call "stream-of-consciousness narrative." It can be rather confusing sometimes but that is what makes Faulkner brilliant.

Good luck with your paper.

Answer 2

My roommate and I have this problem of being banned from the movie theater for giving away the plot. Or reading right through the scene to the subtext. When character A tells character B that character C is "the one" and we're not watching The Matrix, she and I are famous for saying to each other things like, "Well, they're obviously setting that moron up. Do you think it'll be Whatsisname or Whatserface that shows up in time to save him?"
The point to this little bit of insight into my movie watching habits is - have you ever been reading a 200 page novel and figured out how it ends on page 63? Maybe that's the novel you should analyze - a 7 page synopsis on how the author could have avoided you're reading the rest just to see if you were right and kept you reading to, I dunno... find out how it ended?
Just a thought.

Oh, but I do have to disagree with Sarah... while Metamorphosis is good and well worth the paper-writing, I can't say that Gregor became a burden. Before he was a bug, his family sat on their butts living off him. Afterwards, his they all get jobs and become responsible, contributing members of society. It's not just Gregor's metamorphosis, but that of his parents and sister as well. Read it again.

Answer 3

You need to find a novel that means something personal to you because a critical analysis is subjective writing. You will be writing something that expresses both your opinion as well as an evaluation of the book itself.

Why don't you try going to amazon.com or bn.com? See what their top ten novels are this week and pick one that interests you.

Answer 4

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.
You can go into the psychology of a killer, the ramifications of living in a particular social strata, the social climate of Russia of the 19th Century, etc.
Plus, it's a great book.

Answer 5

Well i'm not sure my answer will help as i am only eleven (almost twelve!) but i have read the series over 3 times and am in the process of writing now, but i would remain on the theme of the book maybe- Do the conflicts in twilight(such as james) influence the passion between edward and bella? or- Does edward believe bella understands the intensity of his thought and or pains? - I hope this helped! good luck!

Answer 6

Sophie's World- about a girl learning about a ton of philosophers.

Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)- about a guy, really weird and confusing, nut should be easy to do criticism

Answer 7

"The Metamorphosis" (sp?) by Kafka is not too long, but very good. It's about this guy who wakes up one morning as a huge bug. He becomes a burden to everyone. It's pretty neat. There is a lot of symbolism in it.

Answer 8

Flowers for Algernon.
This book will definately make you think.

Answer 9

"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte