the writing process...the norton introduction to literature provides a helpful checklist for this...

THE NORTON INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE Tenth Edition

Allison Booth ● Kelly J. Mays

The Writing Process

©2010 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Getting Started

• The first step in writing an essay is to scrutinize

the assignment. Make sure that you fully

understand what you are being asked to do (or

not to do) in your essay.

• Consider which elements of the essay are

prescribed for you by the assignment and which

choices are left to you as the writer.


Getting Started

• If you let your initial impressions, or “gut

reactions,” guide you when choosing a text to

write about, you will likely benefit from the

engagement you feel with the work. On the other

hand, you might find that you are too close or

too invested in the text to be critical or to find

something new to say.


Getting Started

• Some of the best essays are the result of the

analysis of literary works that initially puzzle or

frustrate the reader.

• Some general topics can be adapted to an

essay on almost any literary text. You should

approach these general topics as starting points

and remember that you will need to adapt and

refine them to your purposes.


Getting Started

• A common type of literary essay explores the

significance of a seemingly insignificant aspect

or element of a work.

• Other common types of literary essays focus on

characters. These might explore a character’s

worldview and its consequences, the

development of a character, or a conflict

between two characters.


Getting Started

• You might generate topics by analyzing your

initial response to a literary text, asking yourself

why or how the work affirmed or challenged your

expectations, assumptions, or convictions.

• You might generate topics by analyzing the tone,

speaker, situation, or any other element of the

text.


Getting Started

• You might generate topics by considering

motives your reader might have for reading your

essay.

• Consider which elements of a text a casual

reader might misinterpret.

• Think about interesting paradoxes,

contradictions, or tensions you can explicate in

the text.


Getting Started

• It is a good idea to come up with as many topics

as you can and then test them to determine

which will yield the best essay.

• When moving from a topic to a thesis, it helps to

formulate a specific question about the topic and

develop a specific answer. The answer will serve

as your thesis


Planning

• In general, it works best to begin the planning

process by first deciding how to structure your

argument, ordering your claims and sub-ideas in

an outline. After you have constructed an

outline, you will have a sense of the kinds of

evidence you need to support your claims.

• Create a sentence outline by writing down your

thesis and then listing each claim.


Planning

• Create a topic outline by listing each of the

topics to be covered.

• After constructing an outline, re-read the text to

gather evidence to support each claim. Be sure

to pay attention to evidence that challenges or

complicates your argument. You may need to

adjust or refine your claims as you take such

evidence into account.


Planning

• On occasion, you might find it useful to gather

evidence from the text first and then formulate

and order your claims after.

• There are a variety of strategies for singling out

evidence for a thesis. All of them involve re-

reading the literary text in a strategic way,

searching for everything relevant to your

argument. You might take notes in your book,

use different-colored highlighters, keep notes on

notecards, or take notes on a computer.


Planning

• After gathering evidence, you might find it helpful

to develop a more elaborate outline,

incorporating evidence from the text and

including topic sentences for each paragraph.


Drafting

• Treat your first draft as a “rough draft” and focus

on sketching out the steps of your argument

rather than on polishing your prose.

• Try to write the body of the essay in one sitting.

You can draft the introduction and conclusion

later.


Drafting

• If you become stuck, try taking a break,

explaining your argument to another person, or

freewriting to get your ideas flowing.


Revising

• The revision process demands that you take a

step back from your draft and try to look at it as

objectively as possible. You might also consider

asking a friend or classmate to help critique your

draft.

• Learn to take full advantage of all the

capabilities of your computer’s word-processing

programs, but also recognize their limitations.


Revising

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of all of the

essay’s elements, including its thesis, structure,

evidence, and tone. The Norton Introduction to

Literature provides a helpful checklist for this

process. See “Assessing the Elements” (ch. 27,

sec. 27.4.1).

• Be on the lookout for the following common

problems: a mismatch between the thesis and the

argument, a structure that resembles a list more

than a logically connected argument, or missing

sub-ideas.


Revising

• Consider ways to make your argument more

thorough and complex by acknowledging and

exploring alternative claims or interpretations.

• The final stage of proofreading involves

polishing your prose by focusing on your specific

words and sentences. The Norton Introduction to

Literature provides a checklist for this process.

See “Editing and Proofreading” (ch. 27, sec.

27.4.3).


Crafting A Title

• A good title should inform readers what work(s)

your essay will analyze and something about

your topic.

• An effective title will also interest readers by

using a vivid word, quoting a short phrase from

the literary text, deploying puns or wordplay, or

some combination of these techniques.

the writing process...the norton introduction to literature provides a helpful checklist for this...

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