Writing a literature essay

Transcription

1 1 Writing a literature essay Generating a Thesis Before you can generate a thesis you have to think about what your paper is supposed to be doing. Why do you write papers in literature classes? You want to think about your thesis as contributing an answer to a problem: (i.e. Why does Austen move from the epistolary form (Lady Susan) to novels written in the third person? Why are female friendships portrayed so variously in Austen s collected works?) Pick a question that interests you and one which really puzzles you -- sometimes you may think that you know what you will find, other times you are in pursuit of meaning -- you have noticed something (a recurring character or image) and you want to find out how it functions in the novel. Ultimately the goal here is to convey your "reading" of the literature; an intellectual position or interpretation which must be conveyed to the reader. You persuade through careful and judicious use of textual evidence and a well-structured argument. What is a Thesis? Technically, it is a statement that serves as the basis of an argument. You will always have at least a two-pronged argument: Major premise: [Your position on the subject] Minor premise: [The proof part of the argument] Answers the how and the "so what?" Asserts your interpretation of a work of literature: but it must also answer the "so what?" question and "how" question? Three Checks of Your Thesis Is it limited enough in scope for your assigned paper length? Or, can this thesis sustain itself for the assigned paper length?

2 2 Hopefully, this question is answered as you accumulate data during the prewriting phase Are you specific enough in the thesis itself? not just "similar" and "different. In a comparative essay, say exactly what elements are shared or divergent and then discuss the significance of those shared or differing elements is in relation to your argument. Don t worry about signaling your argument to the reader. You should signpost your argument. You want your reader to have something to read for: specifically, you want to set up the grounds of your argument and then go on to systematically prove it. Is your thesis arguable? Is there evidence to support your reading? Again, this should be answered during the prewriting phase. Sometimes you actually might start off with a thesis but most of the time you only have an idea. What do you do if you start off with an "idea"? read the literature you think you might want to deal with very closely; taking notes; formulating grounds of argument write a draft in which you write out some of your ideas about the literature you want to examine; the scenes that you think might support the "sense"/"idea" you have about the work re-read your paper and see if you've generated a thesis by the end of your first draft re-vise paper to persuade your reader to accept that thesis; it might mean adding more material (looking at yet another poem or novel perhaps) or it might mean taking out other material that no longer supports the specific thesis you have decided to pursue. Don t let you initial thesis determine what you find! Your argument should emerge out of what you discover in the text (or texts). It may be that after writing a draft, you determine that your thesis is not what you thought it would be. Things to Keep in Mind when Writing a First Draft

3 3 Your reader, me, has already read the book, poem, letter, or essay; do not summarize but analyze Do not give generalizations without evidence Report the action in the present tense: i.e. "Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth Bennett the first time that he sees her." Revise to check for mixed tense use (i.e. switching back and forth between the present and past tense). Make sure that you analyze the textual evidence; your paper should not be merely a string of well-chosen quotes. At least one sentence of analysis for every two sentences of quoted material. Don't let the quotes do the work -- you need to point out the significance of the language that you have chosen to quote and connect your analysis to your argument Never end a paragraph with an unanalyzed quote Organizing Your Essay: From A Short Guide to Writing About Literature: The organization of an essay will depend on the nature of the essay: An essay on foreshadowing in Macbeth probably will be organized chronologically (material in the first act will be discussed before material in the second act), but an essay on the character of Macbeth may conceivably begin with the end of the play, discussing Macbeth as he is in the fifth act, and then may work backward through the play, arriving at last at the original Macbeth, so to speak, of the beginning of the play.[... ]The important point is not that there is only one way to organize an essay, but that you find the way that seems best for the particular topic and argument (54). General Tips on Introductions Do not waste your time on generalizations; get right to the thesis

4 4 Identify authors and works to be considered by full titles and full names in the introduction. You should also include a text s publication date the first time you mention it. When referring to other writers, public figures, etc. always use both the first and last name the first time that they are mentioned. Cite secondary source material when appropriate. Your thesis should be specific and present your argument; do not save the best for last. It is likely that your thesis will be more than a single sentence long. It is more helpful, perhaps, to think in terms of a thesis paragraph. General Tips on Paragraphs Assert and then support that assertion. Make sure that one sentence is manifestly connected to the sentence both before and after it. Never begin a sentence with "This". Always specifically identify your referent. Bridge sentences from one paragraph to the next and organize paragraphs around a single major point. Organize paragraphs around a single major point. General Tips on Conclusions Revisions Sum up and note the significance of your interpretation but do not merely repeat your introduction. Get the main point in focus. Gratify your reader with a new way of thinking about your interpretation. A chance to "re-see" your paper and improve the text; you really need to get some distance on your writing in order to do this

5 5 The important question to ask is: Am I conveying the idea that I intend to convey? Get another reader Or, you can simulate another reader by 1) reading aloud 2) highlighting 3) outlining Remember that you need to revise for a lot of different things and that will require more than one session: Most significantly, do I have a thesis? And if I do, have I proven it? Does all of my evidence from the literature work to support my reading of that work? Does my argument have logical coherence? Do not generate generalizations without evidence. Persuade through careful and judicious use of textual evidence and a well-structured argument. Remember: assert, support with evidence, and then, analyze the evidence. Revising Sentences Are my sentences grammatical? Do my nouns and verbs agree? Is every sentence really a sentence? Have I used semi-colons correctly? Have I used correct syntax? Beware of computer thesaurus Are my sentences active sentences? In an active sentence the subject does something and the verb tells what the subject did. In a passive sentence the verb explains something done to the subject -- the flow of the sentence is backwards Passives consist of a form of the verb "to be" (am, is, are, was, were, being, been) plus a past participle (often the -ed form)

6 6 Easy Stuff You want the subject of the sentence to be the "doer" of the sentence i.e. When telling her story, Agnes is clever enough to watch her audience's reactions. or Clever Agnes watches her audience's reactions as she tells her story. Sometimes a passive sentence fails to have an agent in it at all: The ball was hit. [i.e. The girl hit the ball]. Avoid: "It...that" sentences / "This..." / and "There is..." sentences Revise for wordiness: i.e. "in spite of the fact that" (although); "on account of the fact that" (because) Have I spell-checked? Have I read my paper over once (or twice) more after spell checking? (This is crucial if you want to catch where you have typed form instead of from, for example). Do I have a good title? Not Essay #1 but a title that indicates your argument as well as the texts and authors under consideration. Are my margins correct? Are the pages numbered correctly? Have I followed the MLA rules for citation when required? MLA Format: See this great online resource from Purdue University ( but also invest in a paperback (or ebook) copy. See the sample essay on the website for an ideal piece of literary analysis.