Explications are exercises in close reading , one of the primary skills necessary for literary analysis.
The word "explication" comes from the Latin term explicare , which means "to unfold"; accordingly, an explication unfolds or unpacks the meaning and workings of a literary text. Explications typically examine a text intensively, line by line , so they are usually used to interpret either short poems or short passages from longer works of fiction or drama.
An explication should account for all or most of the lines of the poem or passage, paying attention to whatever devices (connotations, allusions, metaphors and similes, symbols, rhythm, sounds, etc.) seem important. Explain how they relate to each other and to the overall meaning and/or effect of the work of literature. Your explication should have a strong thesis, and the rest of the paper should clearly support that thesis (think of your thesis statement as answering the question, "What is this poem or passage about?").
For a sample explication from a student in my last Introduction to Literature class, click here.
More on explications:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/poetry-explication.html
http://www.engl.uvic.ca/Faculty/MBHomePage/ISShakespeare/Explication.html#toc3
http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol32/no1/p16.htm
Sample explications:
http://users.etown.edu/m/martinlf/explication.html
http://druscila7.tripod.com/robertfrost/id2.html
Note: This last explication has not been shaped into a paper with a thesis.