What Makes a Good Literature Paper?

An argument: When you write an extended literary essay, you are essentially making an argument. You are arguing that your perspective--an interpretation, a judgment, or a critical evaluation--is a valid one.

A thesis is a sentence that makes an argument -- says something that has to be proven or backed-up. When you read or hear a good thesis statement, your reaction will be "Really?" or "How do you figure that?" or "Oh yeah? Prove it!" or "That sounds interesting -- tell me more." In short, a thesis will set up the paper and prepare the reader to consider the evidence.

NOT a thesis statement: Ernest Hemingway wrote many short stories, some of which are as famous as his novels.

A THESIS STATEMENT: Hemingway's short stories achieve, through compression and understatement, emotional effects as powerful as any he achieved in his novels.

Give your essay a helpful title. Don't call it "Final Paper" (that gives no relevant information); don't give it the name of the work you're writing about; and avoid sweeping titles like "Wordsworth." Aim for an unpretentious descriptive title, like "Nature Imagery in Three Poems by Modern Poets" or "Hemingway's Implied Attitude Toward Lady Brett". Adjust your title to the actual paper that gets written, just as you will need to adjust your opening paragraph. Titles and openings are, in fact, best written last.

Content: what to say

  • Avoid apologizing for what you say. It goes without saying that the views and interpretations you offer are yours, doesn't it? So there's no need for such phrases as "It seems to me" or "In my opinion."
  • DO NOT say, “I am going to write about……..” Just write it. Don’t “announce” it first.
  • In writing about fiction, you will find more interesting things to say if you focus on characterization rather than characters. Writing about characters too often means writing as though they were real people, speculating about what happened before or after the action of the book or story, and other imponderables like that. Characters in a work of fiction are not real people, but rather careful constructs that resemble real people. Focusing on characterization means studying how the writer presents the character -- what selection of detail is used, what mixture of direct "showing" to indirect "telling," what implied valuations are being made, etc.
  • Rule of thumb: when you quote supporting passages from the text being discussed, never let the quotation just lie there on the page inertly; make use of it, put it to work, point to specific features or details or words in it, say what you see.

Avoid plot summary for its own sake. Summarizing content in order to make a point in your argument, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter and is very much an appropriate part of papers. Provided that you subordinate the summary to a critical point that you are making, you'll be okay.

Compare:

  • Hamlet then goes to talk with his mother in her bedroom or "closet" and grows angrier as he talks to her. Finally, he has a vision of his father's Ghost, and this restores him to some calmness.
  • When Hamlet talks to his mother in her bedroom or "closet," his criticisms of her grow angrier and uncontrolled. Ironically, it's only his vision of the Ghost -- which she interprets as his madness -- that restores him to some degree of reasonableness.
  • a then goes to talk with his mother in he

In the first version, the writer seems to think that the summary is sufficiently interesting to hold our attention, but it just isn't -- not for anyone who has read the play. In the second version, the bits of summary are made to serve some point of interpretation or comment.

To repeat: summary should always be offered as a way of supporting a point you are making about the story or poem. Ideally, there should be noneutral narrative sentences about the characters or the action, such as "Ferris goes to visit his wife." Instead, all such bits of summary should be in support of an interpretative point or comment: "When Ferris goes to visit his wife, he discovers that …………..…...and this is important because……………..” etc.

To put it another way: do not write a paper about the characters in a story; instead write about the story itself -- its words, its shaping or organization, its high points, symbolism, etc.

So, start your essay with a “hook” to get the reader interested. (SOMEWHERE in the introduction, you have to put the author’s name and title of the novelor play. Underline the title.) The hook could be one of the following:

  • a brief basic statement about the book. “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most well-known novels of the Romantic era. The story is one that has seeped into the popular imagination……”
  • an OUTSIDE quotation (meaning not one in the book) that relates to the topic. For example, for A Separate Peace, you could find a quotation about friendship. DO NOT START WITH A QUOTATION FROM THE BOOK. Those go later. Again—outside quotation ok to start with; quotation from the book—NOT ok to start with.
  • A general statement that relates to what you are writing about. “Chaos often rules on the fringes of society……..”
  • A general statement about the type of literature you are analyzing. Then discuss your subject within this context. “The best science fiction always seems believable and logical within the context of the story line. This is certainly true in……..”

EXAMPLE OF AN INTRODUCTORY HOOK: Arthur Miller’s classic tale, The Crucible, provides insight into the lives of Massachusetts Puritans in 1692.

THEN, after you have your hook, you have your thesis statement. (Sometimes you need a “transition” sentence or two to move logically from the hook to the thesis statement.) If you have been given a question or topic about which to write, turn that into a response. Your response becomes your thesis statement. (Your thesis statement pretty much sums up your entire paper in one sentence, so you could write it last, if you want to.)

  • The thesis statement always comes at the END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
  • The thesis statement is ONE SENTENCE—or two if you use a semi-colon or colon between them.

“As Miller asserts, the real story of the Salem witch trials is the breaking of charity; judgment and intolerance reigned over common sense and decency in Salem.”

  • Then you have the body of the essay—where you support your thesis statement with specific quotes from the book and your analysis of the book—as discussed above. (Your “commentary” becomes the analysis.)
  • There is nothing “magic” about five paragraphs—use as many paragraphs as you need. Don’t worry about having “three prongs” in your thesis statement.
  • Introduce quotes—don’t just “drop” them into your paper.

Example: Proctor states, “You will not use me.” (Go back to the book and find EXACT word-for-word quotes)

BAD example: “You will not use me.” This is said by John Proctor.

  • Write about literature in present tense—“Proctor states,” for example, rather than “Proctor stated.”
  • If you abbreviate the author’s name, use the last name, rather than the first name. “You would say “Miller” or “Arthur Miller” instead of just “Arthur,” for example.
  • Book and play titles are underlined. (Titles of poems and short stories go in quotation marks.)
  • Periods and commas go inside of quotation marks; question marks might go inside or outside, depending.
  • Remember that a literary analysis (an essay) is NOT a book report! Assume that the reader of your essay has read the book. Don’t just say what happened, analyze why what happened matters.
  • Again—quotations from the book go IN THE MIDDLE of your essay, NOT at the beginning and not at the end.
  • Use non-sexist language. (This is supported by the National Council of Teachers of English.) Do not use the term “man” when you mean “human beings” or “people,” for example.
  • Use words and phrases that show transitions. Words such as: for example, therefore, however, in fact, moreover, also, even though, meanwhile, etc.
  • In all formal writing, write out contractions. Write “were not” instead of “weren’t,” for example.
  • Do not let your paragraphs get extremely long. Whenever you are finished with one thought and starting another, start a new paragraph. A good rule of thumb is to not let your paragraphs get longer than five or six sentences.
  • Make sure that your essay is organized—do not jump around with your thoughts. Re-read your essay before you turn it in—if it seems jumpy, then revise it so that it is more organized.
  • Also, only put in what actually relates to the essay question or essay topic. Do not put in unnecessary details.
  • Then you have the conclusion, where you wrap up the essay without being redundant. Repeat ideas, not words. Don’t say exactly what you’ve already said. Find a different way to say it at the end (use a thesaurus if you need to). Leave the reader with a strong final last thought.

This is what the AP people have to say about the five-paragraph essay structure:

Teachers should help students move beyond such programmatic responses as the five-paragraph essay that provides an introduction with a thesis and three reasons, body paragraphs on each reason, and a conclusion that merely re-states the thesis. Although such formulaic approaches may provide minimal organization, they often encourage unnecessary repetition and fail to engage the reader. Students should be encouraged to place their emphasis on content, purpose, and audience and to allow this focus to guide their organization.