Literary Analysis Essay Mentor Text Pack

Use this pack of 6 exemplar essays to teach your students what strong literary analysis looks like. All essays are aligned to middle school-leveled texts (6th, 7th, and 8th grades), and the writing reflects strong middle-level 4- or 5-paragraph structured essay format. Yes, middle school students CAN write literary analysis essays! I have used these mentor texts with my 6th and 7th grade students to give them a vision of what strong writing looks like before they begin their own essays. Using these essays, students can study: 5 paragraph essay format Strong introduction and conclusion paragraphs Architecture of body paragraphs Different ways to embed evidence Clear and concise analysis Crafting topic sentences Transition words and phrases This resource includes 6 essays that explore various story elements, including: Theme (2) Theme in 1 text ("Barbie") Theme compared across 2 texts ("Barbie" & "Popularity") Character traits (1) Character traits in "Barbie" Character growth (1) Character growth in short film "Give" Compare/Contrast of 2 texts (1) Theme compared across 2 texts ("Barbie" & "Popularity") Conflict's impact on characters (1) Conflict's impact on character in "So I Ain't No Good Girl" Corresponding Short Stories & Films*: *Story texts are not included due to copyright issues, but many can be found through a Google search. “Barbie” by Gary Soto – from the short story collection “Baseball in April” “Popularity” by Adam Bagdasarian – from the short story collection “First French Kiss: And Other Traumas” “So I Ain’t No Good Girl” by Sharon Flake – from the short story collection “Who Am I Without Him” “Give” (short film)- https://youtu.be/RDHbcDJkAc4 “Snack Attack” (short film)- https://youtu.be/38y_1EWIE9I