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Advanced · 3 min

Build and test an interpretation

A literary argument makes a focused, debatable claim and explains how textual evidence supports it. Quotation alone is not analysis, and plot summary alone does not establish a thesis. Consider details that complicate the claim as well as those that fit. Revise an interpretation if it cannot account for important features of the work.

Practice

Which response best strengthens an interpretation when a scene appears to challenge it?