The Literary Essay Kalb 2016-2017

Literary Essays

✪ Require thought

✪ Require planning

✪ Require revision

✪ Require proofreading

It’s a process...

You have to find your own way

✪ Everyone has a different way of doing things, and practice will make perfect.

✪ Listen to your professors and pick up on their preferences and expectations.

✪ Consider professor feedback carefully, and in your next paper, make it a point to show an improvement on any flaws that he or she mentioned in the previous paper.

✪ Play around with different ways of planning and executing your papers – just be sure that you always have a plan and a process that does not involve Starbucks at 1:00 a.m.

Pre-reading

✪ The essay process can be made much easier by doing a little pre-reading research.

✪ Use online tools to know themes, motifs, etc. before you begin reading. ✫ The Bell Jar, by Sylvia

Plath – Sparknotes

✪ If your professor does a pre-reading lecture, be sure to take note of things he or she seems to emphasize, like characters, themes, historical context, etc. This gives you insight into what he or she deems important about the text.

During Reading

✪ Read with a purpose ✫ Look for evidence of the themes you found in your

research

✫ Look for evidence of things you took note of from your professor’s pre-reading lecture, such as characterizations, or examples of historical context affecting the story.

✫ Look for patterns – repeated mention of certain topics, conflicts that appear throughout the plot, the repeated use of certain literary devices, the repeated mention of colors, items, etc. (these are often symbols or motifs.)

✫ Flag and note things as you read so that you can easily locate them when it’s time to quote and cite. (Color-coding comes in handy here.)

Before Writing

✪ If you are provided with a prompt, carefully analyze the prompt to be sure you understand what you are being asked to do.

Example:

“In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the author weaves the title’s topics throughout the novel to explore the relationships and intricacies of society and class in 18th-century England. In a carefully written, three to five page essay, analyze how the topics of pride and prejudice are developed into themes in the novel.”

“In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the author weaves the title’s topics throughout the novel to explore the relationships and intricacies of society and class in 18th-century England. In a carefully written, three to five page essay, analyze how the topics of pride and prejudice are developed into themes in the novel.”

What background information is given?

What are you asked to do? What is the task?

What is the question being asked?

“In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the author weaves the title’s topics throughout the novel to explore the relationships and intricacies of society and class in 18th-century England. In a carefully written, three to five page essay, analyze how the topics of pride and prejudice are developed into themes in the novel.”

What background information is given?

What are you asked to do? What is the task?

What is the question being asked?

Pride and prejudice are found throughout the novel and they relate to society.

Write a three to five page formal essay.

What is the theme and how do pride and prejudice help to show it to readers?

So, how does an author “develop” something?

✪ The short answer is “literary devices.” ✫What are literary devices?

☆ There are hundreds!

✭ Exhaustive Listing of Devices

✪ Among the most common are…

Simile Metaphor Motif

Symbol Characterization Syntax

Personification Allusion Archetype

Dialect Irony Satire

Exposition Climax Denouement

Rhyme Imagery Narrative Structure

Practice Go to the class website, kalbghs.weebly.com, “Seniors” page, then the “Links” page. There, you will find a link to the list of literary devices. Each row will work as a group to research information on the devices listed below to present them to the class. You need the definition and one example for each.

Row A (podium) Row B Row C Row D Row E (door)

Archetype Allegory Antagonist Irony Foreshadowing

Characterization Logos Metaphor Motif Personification

Juxtaposition Paradox Parallelism Point of View

Syntax

Omniscient Setting Protagonist Narrative Conflict

Perspective Tragic Flaw

Theme

Dystopia Mood

Utopia Tone

Practice - Homework

✪ Look up the following novels: ✫ Howards End, by E.M. Forster

✫1984, by George Orwell

✫ Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

✪ For each novel, provide the following: a) One theme

b) When the novel is set (year/historical period)

c) Where the novel is set (location)

d) A two-sentence explanation of what the novel is about, in general.

Brainstorming

✪ So, you’ve read your novel carefully, and you have flags and notes and highlights and underlines and sticky notes galore.

✪ Where to begin? ✫ If you have to come up with your own topic, look

back through your notes and see what interests you the most.

✫ IMPORTANT: just remember that you are making an ARGUMENT and your paper’s thesis needs to be something that a reasonable person could disagree with or argue against.

Brainstorming

✪ If you are a visual learner, mind maps are a great way to collect your thoughts.

✪ If you are a tactile learner, “fill a page” is a good tool. Just write, stream of conscious, and fill up a page. When you are done, read it to see what ideas stand out or are mentioned the most.

✪ If you are a logical thinker, make a chart of your ideas and list the evidence for each.

Practice

✪ Choose a mind map, fill-a-page, or a chart and complete it for Pride and Prejudice. ✫ Charts need at least three ideas with at least three pieces of evidence each. ✫ Mind maps need at least three “arms.” ✫ The fill-a-page needs to be at least ¾ of the page.

Thesis Statements

✪ Thesis statements include the following: ✫ The title of the work ✫ The author ✫ The type of work (poem, novel, play,

essay, etc.) ✫ Your argument – something that a

reasonable person could disagree with ✫ In many cases, a preview of your

evidence is appropriate, as well

Thesis Examples

✪ In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author uses characterization, conflict, and imagery to illustrate the fact that prejudice is a condition that all people possess.

✪ Imagery, characterization, and symbolism come together in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, to show that the American Dream is an unattainable goal, a mere bit of propaganda, sold to Americans by advertising executives.

Practice

✪ Look back at your brainstorming materials. Write two thesis statements based on your ideas. ✫ Author

✫ Title

✫ Type of Work

✫ Debatable argument

✫ Possible evidence/method

Group Work

✪ In your assigned groups of three, review each other’s brainstorming technique and product.

✪ Next, share your thesis statements with one another. ✫ Exchange statements, and have a peer write a

thesis statement with an opposing argument to your own.

The Five-paragraph Essay

✪ The Five-paragraph essay offers a template for

writing literary analysis papers.

Paragraph Four: Third piece of evidence, analysis of

evidence, textual support, transition

Paragraph One: Hook, thesis statement, transition

Paragraph Two: First piece of evidence, analysis of

evidence, textual support, transition

Paragraph Three: Second piece of evidence, analysis of

evidence, textual support, transition

Paragraph Five: So what? statement. Why does it matter?

Brief – VERY brief – recap of your argument and evidence.