Question

Which sentence best describes the purpose of a literary essay?

1 to illustrate how a certain theme or structure shapes a literary work

2 to convey how a literary work uniquely portrays a situation, event, or location

3 to persuade readers to adopt an author’s suggested course of action

Answer 1

Which one do you think it is?

Answer 2

Like opinion pieces, literary essays are written to inform the reader while sometimes delivering a message; unlike opinion pieces, literary essays are not designed to persuade, although affecting the way people think is often a by-product whenever information and ideas are imparted.

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