ARGUING ABOUT LITERATURE

Arguments- refer to a system of reasoning that encompasses one or more of the following: 

1. Issue- a themes, messages, or concepts laid out in the work
2. Problem- concerning plot, characters, and specific scenes
3. Conflict- between characters with characters, characters with their society
4. Controversy- scandals, unsolved mysteries, secret betrayals

An argument establishes a claim (a statement that needs to be proven) about any of the above factors in reference to a literary work. 

Example: 

“Hamlet explores betrayal and death caused by several levels of poison: physical, psychological and social.  All of these poisons are intertwined on a psychological level.  Hamlet was first affected by Claudius’s physical poison—the poison that he had poured into the King’s ear, killing him.  After Claudius killed the King social poison spread throughout the kingdom like a disease.  The rebels began to call Laertes Lord, disrupting Hamlet’s claim to the throne, ‘How cheerfully on the false trail they cry’ (IV, V, 87).  Hamlet’s suppressed desire, the Oedipus complex, for his mother led to his own psychological poisoning, ‘Go not to mine uncle’s bed’ (III, III, 153).  He was upset that he desired to kill his father, as his uncle did, in order to possess his mother.  Hamlet desired to seek revenge on those who had hurt him, which was caused by his id, ‘Here thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink of this potion’ (V, II, 330-333).  However, Hamlet hesitated to kill his uncle because of his moral super ego, ‘How I stand then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all asleep’ (IV, IV, 56-59)?  These inner psychological conflicts prevented Hamlet from acting until it was too late, and death was already knocking on his door, ‘The potent poison quiet o’er-crows my spirit’ (V, II, 359).” 

When writing about literature, the critic tries to focus on one characteristic of the work, instead of the work itself.  Otherwise, if the writer tries to write about the work as a whole, then he or she will produce a summary and not an analysis of literature.  In this particular example, the writer is focusing on establishing a claim about the meaning of the poison to examine the protagonist’s psychological issues.   

Therefore, an argument can focus on or use any of these six factors concerning literature: 

1. Conflicts arising between relationships among characters
2. Roles or representations of characters, objects, places, and narrators in the work
3. Consequences of actions, decisions, and processes in the work
4. Causes and their effects (chronology of the work)
5. Advantages and disadvantages concerning narration, plot, characterization
6. Character strengths and weaknesses