Using Writing Conferences for Effective Literary Analysis

You’re not imagining it: teaching literary analysis is hard. Your students essays barely scratch the surface, and you’re not sure how to get students to go deeper. Not to mention, you’re trying to fit an in-depth literary analysis unit into your already overflowing curriculum. One of the best ways to improve students analytical skills is with writing conferences.

Let’s explore how to plan your literary analysis unit, how to use writing conferences to improve student essays, and what literary analysis might look like in your classroom. For more details on literary analysis, tune into the Loving Literary Analysis + Leveraging Conferences workshop!

What is Literary Analysis?

When I moved from elementary to middle school, I had no idea what literary analysis was, let alone how to teach it. Essentially, literary analysis is when students evaluate and analysis texts. Students are looking for things like plot, figurative language, tone, and more – and how these elements support the theme or move the story forward.

If that sounds challenging, that’s because it is. Analysis requires a basic knowledge of author’s craft and analytical skills. But that’s also what makes literary analysis so important. Analysis is a life skill that goes beyond fictional texts.

Writing Conferences with Literary Analysis

As I mentioned, literary analysis can be tough for you and your students. My not-so-secret weapon is writing conferences. Conferences have a bad reputation. They’re seen as time-consuming and overwhelming. But they don’t have to be.

Writing conferences are your chance to correct students mistakes while their happening – instead of waiting until the draft is done (and now you’re stuck with headache-inducing essays). I recommend making writing conferences super informal. Invite students to your desk for a quick chat or take a seat next to their desk.

Start by just reading what they have so far and thinking aloud. Ask them how they are feeling, what they are stuck on, or what questions they have. These short, sweet conferences also allow you to meet with more students.

Outlining Your Literary Analysis Unit

You’re ready to plan your literary analysis unit, but you have no idea where to start. Been there. After years of teaching middle school ELA, I put together a simple unit plan that will keep you on track – and allow you to dig deep into analysis (without spending months on this unit).

I recommend choosing two texts for your literary analysis unit. These can be poems, myths, short stories, and so on. I also suggest that you follow an alternating unit plan, so you can give this unit the time it needs. That means focusing on writing for the full five weeks (and supporting reading and grammar skills alongside your writing unit).

In my workshop, Loving Literary Analysis + Leveraging Conferences, I share a day-by-day plan for your literary analysis unit. Here’s a peek at what I discuss in the workshop:

Week 1: Read and Analyze Story One

Start this week by introducing analysis and literary analysis elements. This will prep students for the work ahead. Then, students will dig into their first text. You can assign a text to the class or have students choose a text (from a list you give them). They will need to read the text more than once. First, they will focus on annotating and summarizing. 

Then, students will start writing their rough drafts. The focus should be on analyzing author’s craft, symbolism, themes, and important scenes in the first text. This is also when writing conferences will begin. Meet briefly and informally with students to guide them, answer questions, offer advice, and more. They can use this feedback to improve their writing.

Week 2: Read and Analyze Story Two

Start the week by finishing story one, then transition into reading and analyzing story two. Once again, you can assign the text or have students choose. They will read the text multiple times, making sure to analyze the author’s craft and more.

Students then continue their rough drafts, this time analyzing story two. This week, you’ll meet daily with students for writing conferences. Focus on the analysis here. The sooner you can catch “bad” or “surface-level” analysis and steer students in the right direction, the better the essays will turn out.

Week 3: Find Connections Across Texts

It’s time to make connections across the texts. This is the backbone of their literary analysis essays, so model this analysis for students. Then have students analyze symbolism and author’s craft across the texts. Again, you’ll want to meet daily with students for writing conferences. Instead of spending 10+ minutes marking up their papers, just pull up a seat beside them and pick up where they are. Offer guidance and support where needed.

In the latter part of the week, model using counterclaims, analysis, and evidence. Then, give students ample time to apply this to their writing.

Week 4: Draft Literary Analysis Essays

By this point, students have written a lot! But it’s probably disjointed and lacks organization. That’s totally normal. This week, students will focus on finishing their draft and turning it into a clear, coherent essay. That means adding an introduction, body paragraphs, and linking words.

During this week, I suggest meeting with every student every day. Yes, these will be short, sweet meetings! And that’s okay. The goal is to check in with each students and guide them through thesis statements and introductions.

Week 5: Create a Final Draft

You’ve almost made it! Students will wrap up their literary analysis essays this week. They will write their conclusions, revise and edit their essays, and publish their final drafts. 

You should still meet with students in writing conferences this week. Instead of a typical check-in conference, though, you’re going to start grading. When you conference, use a rubic to check through their essay. This will cut down on your grading time later and gives you a chance to offer some last minute feedback.

Your Guide to Writing Conferences

Want more tips on using writing conferences with literary analysis? Want to help your students go deeper with their analysis? In Loving Literary Analysis workshop, I’ll give you a step-by-step guide to teaching literary analysis – including how to use conferences for more effective writing.

You’ll get immediate, lifetime access to the 90-minute workshop, guidance and training with actionable strategies, the done-for-you literary analysis unit, and more.

After the workshop, you’ll be able to scaffold and differentiate your writing instruction, increase writing independence, deepen students analytical writing skills, and leverage writing conferences!
You can grab Loving Literary Analysis workshop here! Want the workshop for free (and get your hands on hundreds of other ready-to-use ELA resources and workshops)? Join the Hungry Teacher’s Hub.