What is a literary analyses?

I wrote one for my honors class about a character being suspicious of white people because he lived in racist times (The Black Ball) but was told it sounded more like a summary so...how?

Question

What is a literary analyses?

I wrote one for my honors class about a character being suspicious of white people because he lived in racist times (The Black Ball) but was told it sounded more like a summary so...how?

anonymous · Answer

Maybe it could have used more detail to make it sound like a full story instead of a summarized version

compassionate · Answer

A literary analysis is analyzing the poetic terms. 

What is the story about?
What is the message? 
Foresight? 
Shadowing? 
Personification?