COMPOSING AN ESSAY ON A LITERARY TEXT
*Write in the present tense, even when you are commenting
upon a short story or novel written in the past tense.
*If you are writing in French, use "nous" rather than
"le lecteur" in order to refer to a subject of your commentary.
A LITERARY ESSAY IS A LOGICAL AND ABSTRACT ARGUMENT
ILLUSTRATED BY CONCRETE REFERENCES TO THE TEXT.
IT IS NOT A SUMMARY FOLLOWED BY COMMENTAIRES.
In composing your essay:
A) First:
--1) choose one of the assigned topics or your own topic (after consultation with me);
--2) Mark passages in the text that relate to the topic and reread them carefully.
--3) Write out your ideas as they come to you.
B) Second, write your first draft:
--1) focus in on a single critical question or problem raised by the text;
--2) develop the significance of this question or problem. What general problem, enigma,
or choice does it create? Look for a major opposition or question (death/life;
nature/culture; etc.) that it
poses;
--3) discuss how the poet, dramatist, or narrator dramatizes this major question or
problem and tries to answer the question or solve the problem. Decide whether or not he or
she succeeds in resolving the question;
--4) quote and/or summarize relevant passages of the text in support of each step in your
argument.
C) Third, organize your discussion coherently (this may involve several more
drafts) by creating:
--1) an introductory paragraph with a thesis which clearly
states the question or problem that the text raises (or at least the general subject it
treats) and that your paper will discuss. Your thesis should take into account opposing
points of view on the question or problem that are expressed in the text and/or have been
discussed in class;
--2) a concluding paragraph stating how your overall paper has
demonstrated that the text answers or does not answer the question, solves or does not
solve the problem (or develops the issue) stated in your introductory paragraph,
--3) paragraphs in between, each limited to a single, new supporting
idea, that:
----a) illustrate this idea;
----b) explain these illustrations by referring to specific words cited, events narrated,
or things described;
----c) demonstrate why your idea is better than opposing ideas expressed in the text
and/or in class;
--4) topic sentences with a clear and logical order of presentation which:
----a) appear near the beginning of each paragraph;
----b) introduce the central idea of the paragraph;
----c) make an explicit transition with the previous paragraph;
----d) advance the central thesis by adding to the previous paragraph something new and
more comprehensive or deep (not just another example supporting the thesis).
After writing your first draft, it may help to make an outline based
on the Sample Essay Structure, part II below.
D) Third, if you are writing in French, correct the grammar. Pay particular
attention to grammar problems that you have had on previous papers or on quizzes.
E) Fourth, type a final copy double spaced. If you are writing in French,
check spelling and grammar on Microsoft Word Spell and Grammar Checker in the Foreign
Languages Laboratory.
F) When the essay is returned:
--1) correct its grammar;
--2) resubmit, within one week:
----a) the original;
----b) the corrected copies;
----c) the frequent error sheet;
----d) all previous drafts and papers, unless I state otherwise.
--3) Put the above all in a colored or manila folder.
SAMPLE ESSAY STRUCTURE
PARAGRAPH I: Introduction: thesis statement or statement of general issue.
PARAGRAPH II: First supporting idea.
--1) Specific example of supporting idea and explanation (of how the words cited, events
narrated, or objects described in the
example illustrate this supporting idea).
--2) Specific example of supporting idea and explanation.
PARAGRAPH III: Second supporting idea:
--1) Specific example of supporting idea and explanation...
--2) Specific example of supporting idea and explanation.
PARAGRAPHS IV...
FINAL PARAGRAPH: Conclusion summarizing your argument in support of your
thesis (not just a repetition of the first paragraph)