Historical Investigation Essay:
* Focus: Examines historical events, figures, periods, or trends. The goal is to understand the past, often by interpreting primary and secondary sources to construct a nuanced and evidence-based argument about a specific historical question.
* Methodology: Primarily relies on primary sources (documents, artifacts, images from the period under study) and secondary sources (scholarly books and articles about the topic). Emphasizes source analysis, evaluating credibility, bias, and context of sources. Utilizes historical methods like contextualization, corroboration, and causal analysis to build a coherent narrative and support claims. The argument is built upon factual evidence and interpretation of that evidence.
* Argument: The argument centers on a specific historical claim, often addressing cause-and-effect relationships, changes over time, or comparing and contrasting different historical interpretations. The essay aims to contribute to our understanding of the past, potentially offering a new perspective or challenging existing interpretations.
* Structure: Typically follows a chronological or thematic structure, carefully documenting sources and avoiding unsupported generalizations.
Literary Analysis Essay:
* Focus: Examines literary texts (novels, poems, plays, short stories, etc.). The goal is to interpret the text's meaning, explore its themes, analyze its literary techniques, and understand its significance.
* Methodology: Primarily relies on close reading of the text itself, paying attention to language, structure, imagery, symbolism, and other literary devices. May also consider the author's life and context, but the focus remains on the text's internal workings. Uses literary theories and critical lenses to support interpretations.
* Argument: The argument centers on a specific interpretation of the literary work, often focusing on themes, character development, narrative techniques, or the author's intentions. The essay aims to illuminate the text's meaning and offer a persuasive reading.
* Structure: Often follows a thematic or structural approach, analyzing specific passages and providing textual evidence to support claims.
In short: A historical investigation essay looks *outward* to the past, using sources to reconstruct and interpret events, while a literary analysis essay looks *inward* at a text, using close reading to interpret its meaning and effects. Both require strong arguments supported by evidence, but the nature of the evidence and the type of analysis differ considerably.