Fiction analysis is how you explain what a story is doing and how it creates an effect, not just what happens. A plot summary reports events in order. Analysis asks why those events matter, what patterns they form, and how the author gets you to feel or think a certain way.
The easiest way to tell them apart is to listen for the question behind the sentence. Summary answers, What happened next. Analysis answers, So what.
See how these two ways of writing differ.
Generate custom courses on any topic — with hands-on practice, AI guidance, and visuals built in.
Already have an account?
Once you shift from reporting to explaining, you need a few steady lenses. A lens is a focused way of looking at a text so you can make a claim and support it with evidence.
Here are six common lenses you can use on almost any story.
Explore how each lens connects to a different kind of evidence in the text.