Instructions for Literary Essay
Prewriting: As you read, find quotes and write down
page numbers, so you have them handy when you write the paper. Don’t wait
until you have finished the novel to start.
Introduction: The introduction paragraph is the most
important paragraph in the essay. The
beginning should introduce the book and your opinion of it. Follow
the ANT pattern for the introduction.
|
Attention-getter: The attention-getter should be general
and interesting. It should draw the reader in. It should also
connect thematically to the thesis |
Strategies & Examples Ask a question – Is forced conformity fair? Use a fact – According to Teen People, 85% of teens are exposed to peer pressure. Use a statistic – According to Tiger Beat, 4 out of 10 teens between the ages of 14 and 16 have ditched school at least once. Use a quote – John Wooden once stated, “It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Use an anecdote – retell a very short story that relates to your topic. |
|
Necessary information: In an essay about a single story or poem, the title and the name of the author or poet is necessary information. A brief summary of the subject, the problem or the story or poem |
|
|
Thesis: You must have an opinion about this book —you may not
just tell what happened. If you have been given a question or
prompt, the thesis MUST answer it! |
Strategies & Examples Your opinion
must be more
in-depth than I liked it / I didn’t like it / it’s great / it stinks.
Think about the outlook of world presented by the author. Why did he or she have this opinion of the world? What message was it trying to give the reader? Does it address any important issues in a person’s life or in our society? Examples: Although over twenty years old, The Breakfast Club still demonstrates the difficulties and classifications teenagers face today. Douglas Grath’s version of Emma offers viewers of romance films a bonus—a character that gets the guy and learns a valuable lesson about life. Although clever and entertaining, Judd Apatow’s film The Forty-Year Old Virgin is disturbing in its portrayal of someone who doesn’t have sex as bizarrely different. After capturing the viewer’s hearts with a poignant life-and-death family story, Nick Cassavete’s film John Q disappoints audiences by turning into a political commercial. Oliver Stone’s Platoon far exceeds any film he directed before or after. Rocky III shows that when a person gets soft, they lose the goal of their dreams because there will always be someone who wants it more. Sense and Sensibility, as directed by Ang Lee, demonstrates the two ways women can handle emotionally difficult situations. |
Body Paragraphs:
After
the writer introduces the idea in the introduction, the bulk of the literary
analysis paper becomes a place to prove that point.
If,
in the introduction, the writer stated that “Oliver Stone’s Platoon far exceeds
any film he directed,” the middle portion must now compare specific qualities
of Platoon to Stone’s other films—Nixon, JFK,
etc.
If,
in the introduction, the writer stated that “Judd Apatow’s
film The Forty-Year-Old Virgin is disturbing in its portrayal of someone
who doesn’t have sex,” the writer may in the middle discuss how our society is
over-focused on sex, specific ways the main character is portrayed as an
outsider to society, etc.
If
the essay is required to provide four examples, it will need to have four body
paragraphs.
Follow
the TIQA pattern:
|
Topic Sentence: |
This should have the topic of perspective taking and the
limiting idea of whatever example you are providing in the paragraph. |
|
Introduce an example or quote. |
Put the quote or example you are about to provide into
context. You may not just put a quote down. You need to say
something such as When Scout stands on the Radley’s
porch, she says,“--insert quote ” (32). |
|
Quote or example. |
You can quote from dialogue or narration. If the quote is
thirty nine words or less, simply include it in your paragraph using
quotation marks. If the quote is forty words or more, indent it and do
not use quotation marks. Either way, you must put the page number—for
example, (10). |
|
Analyze the quote or example. |
After you have provided the example or quote, you must spend a
few sentences explaining how the example or quote supports the topic
sentence, which probably says that the character you are talking about has
experience perspective taking. Then you need to explain what the
character has learned. Provide examples that support that the character
is better off. Or that good came from perspective taking. |
Normally,
you can repeat TIQA twice per paragraph. The T
the second time stands for transition.
Conclusion
DO
NOT start your conclusion paragraph with “In conclusion” or “To summarize” or
any other overused phrase. Just write the conclusion.
Restate
your thesis. RESTATE, not rewrite. Say your thesis again but
differently.
Summarize
your main points. Do NOT introduce any
new material.
Clincher—Round
off—your last impression to the reader should relate back to the
attention-getter.
Post-Draft Work:
Your
title must be original – it cannot simply be the title of the book, poem, or
movie. See How to Make a Great Title.
Check
how you’ve written the title of your book within your essay. It should
always appear in Italics.
Re-read
to make sure
your sentences make sense.
Use your Cntrl-F worksheet to proofread your
paper.
Absolutely
do not turn in your paper with the word “you” unless it appears in a
quote.
Absolutely
do not turn in your paper with the words “I”, “me”, or “my”. Do not use “I think,” “In my opinion,” and so
on.
|
Parts of
these instructions were adapted from To
Kill A Mockingbird Paper on Mr.
Lettiere’s English Web Site (http://www.argo217.k12.il.us/departs/english/blettiere/TKM_Paper.pdf
) |
Other parts were
adapted from |