Guidelines for Writing Papers About Literature
English X
Dr. Freeman
To write a paper about any piece of literature, you must
have read the work in question very carefully, usually several times. Your
insights into the work's meanings increase with every rereading. In the case of
short stories, you need to have a firm idea of what the story is about, what it
is trying to say, what it means; only then can you decide what you have to say
about it. What you have to say should never be a simple repetition of what the
author has said. Instead, you should provide insight into how the story works
and what it means by examining various elements of the story and explaining how
and why they are significant.
The well-written paper is built upon a thesis; the thesis is the central idea that your paper intends to demonstrate or prove, and it should appear in your opening paragraph. The thesis is the core of your paper, the essence of your interpretation, the conclusion you have come to regarding the topic you have chosen. Note that a good thesis NEVER begins, "in this paper I intend to prove that. . . ." A thesis is not a statement of intention; it is a conclusion that the rest of the paper should attempt to prove or illustrate.
The essay is divided into paragraph units. The first, the introductory paragraph, should contain general introductory material, a “hook” to lure the reader—to make him or her interested in what you have to say—and from which general subject the thesis is derived. The introductory paragraph should also present the clearly stated thesis and the main points to be covered by the body paragraphs.
Each body paragraph needs a topic sentence.
The topic sentence is the “point” you are trying to make in the
paragraph; it should be crucial for the demonstration of your thesis.
The topic sentence usually comes at the beginning of the paragraph, often
following connecting or transitional material.
After the topic sentence, you must lead the reader toward your evidence:
the second sentence, generally introduces the quote you are using to
“prove” the validity of your topic sentence.
After you present the quote, you must discuss it; the quote, in and of
itself, does not “prove” anything. You
must make your quote “work” for you by showing specifically how the material
it contains may be used to persuade your reader about the validity of your
point. Frequently, a paragraph ends
with a transitional idea, something that prepares the reader for what is to come
in the next paragraph.
The body of the paper should systematically present the
evidence that demonstrates or proves the validity, the soundness of your thesis;
textual evidence—i.e., quotes—form the basis for most such evidence.
These "proofs" should be presented in order of their
importance, saving your strongest, most important argument for last. Since the
well-written paper is in essence an argument that you wish to win, you should be
concerned about being well-organized, thorough, logical, and above all,
convincing.
As a lawyer must do in a court of law, you must win your
argument by presenting specific evidence; sweeping, general statements,
unsupported by specific references, do not constitute persuasive evidence. The
evidence that you use should be incorporated into your paper by means of direct
quotations whenever possible.
Your diction (word choice) should be appropriate to the
subject. Unless you are quoting, slang and informal usage are rarely
appropriate.
You are required to observe the conventions of edited
Standard American English. Proofread carefully for mechanical and grammatical
errors. Non-standard constructions such as sentence fragments, run-on sentences,
subject-verb disagreements, and faulty pronoun references will not be
acceptable. Spelling and punctuation are also expected to conform to convention.
Bases of Evaluation
The following criteria will be used to evaluate your
papers. Note that the final draft should be typed or word-processed.
1) The paper's ideas:
Your ideas should be clear, well thought-out, reveal some imagination on your
part, and be interesting. The examples, evidence, and arguments which you use
should be carefully selected and related to the main point of your paper, your
thesis.
2) Organization:
Your paper should have a clearly observable structure (beginning, middle,
conclusion). Make sure the reader always knows where he/she is and where she/he
is headed. All paragraphs must be related to one another by appropriate logical
or associative transitions.
3) Style: As I
said above, your choice of words, your sentence structure and paragraph
structure should be appropriate to the subject and intent of your paper.
4) Mechanics: To
repeat, grammar, spelling, punctuation, should all conform to the conventions of
edited Standard American English.
***
An A paper must show strength in all of the four
criteria cited above; in addition, it must teach me, or any educated reader,
something I/he had not thought about before.
A B paper may have minor lapses in all areas or a
major lapse in one, but it must demonstrate real strength in most of the
components of good writing.
A C paper must demonstrate competence in at least
three of the criteria; a C means that the paper is minimally acceptable
in its overall presentation.
A D paper will reveal general weakness in at least
three areas.
An F paper demonstrates incompetence in most of the
areas.