Survival Guide for Writing About Literature do we have to write about literature? 1. Sharpen Composition Skills –remember these? Thesis Statements? Topic Sentences? Intro-body-conclusion?

Survival Guide for

Writing About Literature

Why do we have to write about literature?

1. Sharpen Composition Skills – remember these?

Thesis Statements?

Topic Sentences?

Intro-body-conclusion?

Rhetorical strategies – Analysis & Argument (―So What?‖)

2. Develop Research Skills for furthering your academic career:

Primary & Secondary Sources

Parenthetical Citation

Documentation (a.k.a. Works Cited?)

Avoiding being thrown out of a university for plagiarism

3. Gain an Appreciation of Literature

A bit idealistic, but at least you will know some canonical authors in case you ever appear on Jeopardy?

How to Write a

Critical Analysis

• Write for an academic audience

• Answer the “So What?”

– So what can you tell your academic audience that they don’t already know from reading the work of literature themselves?

How to Write a

Critical Analysis

• A Critical Analysis incorporates the elements of literature to articulate a clear analysis and a sound argument.

• Don’t summarize the plot by telling WHAT happens, explain WHYit happens and WHAT it means.

• Don’t offer a ―review‖ – an analysis is NOT a recommendation for buying. The author has already gained national recognition and does not need your approval or disapproval.

• Pay close attention to the sample essays available on the Faculty Webpage, Blackboard or in your textbook.

Composition Skill:

MLA Essay Format

• Header = last name ½‖ from top right margin

• Heading

• Focused Title

• 1‖ margins – ALL sides

• Double space – NO EXTRA SPACE between paragraphs (Microsoft Word 2007 ADDS 10 pts.- FIX IT!

• Parenthetical citations

• Signal phrases

• Contains at least 3 direct quotes from primary text

• Limit 1 per paragraph.

• Summarize secondary critical texts – limit to 1 sentence that contributes to YOUR analysis (thesis argument).

• Works Cited Page – no extra spaces between citations.

Heading

Joining the Literary Debate

• Primary Source: the story, play, poem, or film

• Secondary Source: An outside critical perspective

acquired from a database or a collection of critical

essays in an anthology. May address:

– The literary work itself

– The genre or literary period

– The author’s historical or cultural influences

Debatable Thesis?

• So what’s wrong with this thesis?

Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream

is a romantic play about love.

Debatable/Controversial Thesis

Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream is a romantic

play about love.

• Doesn’t say anything–it’s basically just a summary and

is hardly debatable.

• A better thesis might be:

The intervention of Shakespeare’s fairies Midsummer

Night’s Dream illustrates a subversion of Elizabethan

social order.

Textual Evidence = ProofUsing specific examples from the text and evidence

from scholars, the writer will then prove:

• HOW do the fairies in MSD subvert Elizabethan social order?

• WHY do the fairies in MSD subvert Elizabethan social order, and

• WHAT are the implications for reading the play in this manner?

Note:• Shakespeare’s Plays use abbreviation after initial introduction in

analysis.

• Shakespearean plays or any play where lines are numbered are documented in Arabic numerals listing (Act.Scene.Lines) = (1.3.147-49).

Integrating Critical Research

• Primary Source:

– direct quotes from the work you are analyzing

– Limit direct quotes to one per paragraph to allow for an adequate interpretative analysis of the quote.

• Secondary Source:

– use paraphrase or summary for outside research and reveals what other critics are saying and how your thesis fits into this theoretical conversation.

– Includes:

• Critical Essays within the anthology

• Library Databases

• Scholarly Websites

– Joining an academic conversation requires that you know what other scholars are currently saying or what the scholars have said about the literary work or the theoretical approach.

Primary Source: In-text

• Follow parenthetical format (Author page):

(Chopin 15).

• An analysis addressing only one author and one work that has already been formally introduced in the opening paragraph with a signal phrase requires only the page number following the quote:

The protagonists sense of liberation is illustrated with whispers of ―free, free, free!‖ (15).

• Avoid long quotations. Most 3-5 page essays cannot adequately analyze large blocks of text and still remain within the 10% plagiarism rule.

• If an entire essay hinges on a large quote, use the right-indent format that omits quotation marks for anything over four lines

As a guideline, DOUBLE the analysis of a large quote. For example, a four-line quote requires a minimum of 8 lines of analysis.

Primary Text: Signal –

Quote – Integrate

• Opening lines name the story and establish the context in a signal phrase: In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ―The Birthmark,‖ a scientist’s pursuit of perfection…

• After the author is introduced signal the author by last name only: Hawthorne depicts…

• NEVER “drop” a quote – SIGNAL your analytical intent: Alymer’s dissatisfaction with earthly imperfection is revealed when he states, ―Ah, upon another face…‖ (402).

• Integrate Quote into thesis Argument: The sentence that follows the direct quote, signals the transition between the interpretation of the previous quote and your analysis: Alymer’scriticism is directed toward his wife’s birthmark where…

Secondary Source:

Quote in Essay about MSD:

Hermia expresses her defiance of her father’s edict to wed

with, ―My soul consents not to give sovereignty‖ (1.1.83).

Integration of critical source – the next sentence:

One critic, W. H. Auden, contends that Hermia’s defianceillustrates the open defiance of Elizabethan theatrical troupes

against the anti-spectacular legislation (137-39). …or

Hermia’s defiance illustrates the open defiance of Elizabethan

theatrical troupes against the anti-spectacular legislation

(Auden 137-39).

Quoting Primary TextDirect quote = 3 Parts: MAKE CONNECTIONS

1. Introduce by signaling the ―so what‖ (analysis), who (speaker or narrator), why, when or where this quote fits into the analysis and cite the source.

2. Signal the speaker or author and make the quote

– use ONLY the amount of primary text needed to support the interpretation.

3. Apply the quote to the topic sentence and/or thesis argument with a detailed analysis illustrating the details of specific wording or points from the quote and conclude the paragraph.

4. LIMIT primary text to ONE QUOTE per paragraph.

Too much quote = too little analysis =

TOO BIG OF A TURNITIN.COM SCORE!

What appears in the essay MUST be identical to the works cited page

Auden, William H. “Elizabethan Anti-Spectacular Legislation.”

Shakespeare Review 33.1 (1999): 136-145. Literature

Resource Center. EBSCOhost . Web. 9 Jan. 200X.

Shakespeare, William. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Literature: An

Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, Vol. 3.

10th Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson

Longman, 2007. 4 vols. 1592-1657. Print.

Citation & Documentation

Citing Works in an anthology:

Literary Works: USE author, NOT editor

Hemingway, Ernest. “Sea Change.” Literature and Gender:

Thinking Critically Through Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.

Ed. Robyn Weigman and Elena Glasberg. New York:

Longman, 1999. 330-33. Print

Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat.” Women’s Worlds: the McGraw-Hill Anthology

of Women’s Writing: Ed. Robyn Warhol-Down, et al. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 2008. 1405-14. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Literature: An

Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, Vol. 3.

10th Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson

Longman, 2007. 4 vols. 1592-57. Print.

Writer takes credit for writing!

Editor’s Material:

Kennedy, X. J. and Dana Gioia, Eds. “Writing About Plot.” Literature: An

Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, Vol. 1.

10th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 4 vols. 20-28. Print.

Wiegman, Robyn and Elena Glasberg, Eds. “Introduction.”

Literature and Gender: Thinking Critically Through Fiction,

Poetry, and Drama. New York: Longman, 1999. 1-11. Print.

Remember: Kennedy and Gioia did NOT write Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare did!

LSCC Database Examples

Auden, William H. “Elizabethan Anti-Spectacular Legislation.”

Shakespeare Review 33.1 (1999): 136-45. Literature

Resource Center. EBSCOhost . Web. 9 Jan. 200X.

Quotation Marks or Italics?

• In handwritten or typed papers, underlining represents italics.

– MLA format requires italic when word processing a formal essay.

• Italics: THINK BIG - Large works, like books, plays, films, and websites are italicized.

• “Quotation” marks: THINK SMALL – a direct quote from text that is under four lines or the title of an article, a chapter, a short story, and a poem are in quotation marks.

Smith 5

Works Cited

Auden, William H. “Elizabethan Anti-Spectacular Legislation.”

Shakespeare Review 33.1 (1999): 136-45. Literature

Resource Center. EBSCOhost . Web. 9 Jan. 200X.

Shakespeare, William. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Literature: An

Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, Vol. 3.

10th Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York : Pearson

Longman, 2007. 4 vols. 1592-57. Print.

Wiegman, Robyn and Elena Glasberg Eds. “Introduction.” Literature

and Gender: Thinking Critically Through Fiction, Poetry, and

Drama. New York: Longman, 1999. 1-11. Print.

Sample of a Works Cited Page

WARNING:

• DO NOT USE: any commercial website such as SparkNotes, ClassicNotes, Wikipedia, etc. as “critical sources.”

– While these sites may offer helpful summaries of major works of literature, they do not contain the detail or the language that a peer-reviewed scholarly journal can provide.

• DO NOT USE: ―Master Plots,‖ biographies, dictionaries, and/or encyclopedias as ―critical sources.‖

– Elements of the plot or biographical details are not focused on the literature, so they are a distraction from any real literary theory or analysis.

– This course focuses on the literature, not on the writer of the literature and not on the reader of the literature.

“Fair Use” of Sources &

Copyright Law

Under current copyright law everythinganyone writes, including student essays, is copyrighted—that is, protected by law from being used by anyone else without written permission.

“Fair Use & Copyright Law =

10% RULE

• 10% Source

• 90% YOU!

“Fair Use” vs. Data Drop

• A collection of reference material or primary text organized and dropped into an essay format.

• Reference material is defined as ideas, direct quotes, summaries, and paraphrases.

• Whether or not the material is cited correctly, data drop

is a violation of the 10% Rule and constitutes

Plagiarism!

• Literary essays that merely re-tell the plot through quotes and summary are examples of plagiarism, not analysis.

A note about credibility

• Use Turnitin.com as a resource

– to help balance the use of primary source quotes and

secondary source summaries.

– to create a visual representation of the ratio of source to

original analysis.

– to check for places where quotation marks or parenthetical

citations are needed

Turnitin.com – the “Ti” Report

• Turnitin.com is not an infallible authority – it’s a

“Machine!”

– Read the originality report critically. Ti picks up common phrases

like:

―In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ―The Yellow Wallpaper,‖

or

―Nineteenth century women suffered from patriarchal

oppression‖

Turnitin.com – the “Ti” Report

• A literary analysis MUST have direct quotes, so a 15-18%

“corrected score” is usually within the boundaries of copyright

law.

• Use mental arithmetic.

• Look at what is highlighted and discern if the percentage is ―fair.‖

• If ―common usage,‖ such as the examples above, is highlighted,

mentally subtract the percentage assigned.

• Be careful with paraphrase – a “Ti” report doesn’t always catch

a “re-telling” of the story which is PLOT, not analysis.

Discussions: Students enrolled in hybrid

or online literature courses

• Posting Literary Responses on the

Discussions Board:

– Postings should be in paragraph format

(introduction-body-conclusion)

– Topic sentence that answers a ―so what?‖

– Integration of primary text

– Interpretation of primary text

Posting Literary Responses

• Answer the interpretative question(s) with a declarative

thesis or theory or pose an original thesis or theory with

regard to the assigned readings.

• Use a DIRECT QUOTE as specific textual evidence to

support your theory. Introduce the quote – ―set the stage‖

with how this quote supports your assertion.

• Use a signal phrase that identifies a character or narrator or

situation and copy the quote exactly as it is written in the

text.

• Finish the quote with an appropriate parenthetical citation.

• Interpret the quote with a critical analysis that relates to the

context of the literature.

Posting Literary Responses

A great posting on the Discussions Board looks exactly like a well-developed paragraph that would be found in an analysis essay – For example:

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the story of a woman's enforced descent into madness after the birth of her child, in an apparent case of post-partum depression, which was misunderstood as hysteria in the 19th century. Gilman illustrates the dismissal of women’s illnesses when the husband of the protagonist states, ―She shall be as sick as she pleases!" (1398). The husband’s response reflects the patronizing way that many 19th century men, including physicians, discounted women’s authority over their own bodies as if illness is just a pleasing act for attention. The protagonist’s husband is treating her as if she is a child having a temper tantrum.

A word about the analysis of poetry

• Parenthetical Citation: Do not use page numbers for poetry

• In the first parenthetical citation, use the word ―line‖: (line 1).

• Each parenthetical citation that follows uses just the line number: For example the student quotes line 3, and follows with (3).

• Line distinction for brief passages of poetry:

• (fewer than 4 lines), show line and stanza divisions as a slash with line numbers:

"Roses are red, / Violets are blue” (1-2), with MLA documentation, to thine own source be true.

• Quoting 4 or more lines:

– Indent 1‖ from left margin – do not use quotes

– If the quote begins in the middle of a line, position the starting word where it would occur in the poem.

Joining the academic

conversation = “So What?”

• ―So what‖ are other scholars talking about when they talk about this

work of literature? (Summarize the critic’s entire argument – avoid

direct quotes that have no context.)

• ―So what‖ do the scholars say that contributes to YOUR argument

about this work of literature?

• ―So what‖ are you contributing to the entire scholarly conversation

about this work of literature?

The End