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Always write about literature in the present tense.

When researching, it’s often appropriate to begin with dictionaries and encyclopedias, called generally “reference materials,” but you should never quote or cite them in a college-level essay. Reference materials should help you get an idea about the issues within a work of literature (or any subject for that matter), and they will frequently contain suggestions for further reading. Use these suggestions and read further. Generally, you should also avoid citing web sites, unless you are sure that the source is reputable. The best sources to cite, quote, and reference are books and scholarly journals. If you are unsure about a source, ask your professor before using it.

Generally, when writing the title of a selection, use quotation marks for shorter pieces and italicize or underline longer pieces (you should pick one and use it consistantly throughout your essay — I suggest italicizing if you use a word processor). Titles of short poems, songs, short stories, television shows, and articles (essays) should appear in quotation marks; titles of novels (books), movies, long poems, plays, and television series should be presented in italics or underlined. For example:

• short story: “The Harmony of the Spheresâ”
• novel: Perfume
• movie: Blade Runner
• poem: “To His Coy Mistress”
• television show: “Star Trek”
• television series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
• song: “Ants Marching”
• play: Hamlet

To italicize a title on a blog, you must use an <em> tag. For example: to present Tartuffe like this, type:

<em>Tartuffe</em>

If you are unsure about how to present a title, look it up and see how critics have done it. The titles of novellas can be tricky, so checking a secondary source becomes necessary.

Use the correct vocabulary. When writing about a novel, write “novel,” not “book” or “story.” Use “protagonist” instead of “main character” or “hero,” and “antagonist” instead of “bad guy.” A precise vocabulary shows your knowledge of the subject matter and lends your writing more credibility.

When making an assertion about a work of literature, use specific evidence from the text. This is using “primary” evidence.

When quoting from a literary text, make sure to incorporate the quotation into your sentence. For example:

Correct: The writer shares a connection with the axolotls through their eyes: “the axolotls spoke to me of the presence of a different life, of another way of seeing (398).

Incorrect: “The axolotls spoke to me of the presence of a different life, of another way of seeing.” The writer shares a connection with the axolotls through their eyes.

In the first example, the quotation supports the author’s supposition with a gracefully integrated quotation. The second example presents a quotation out-of-context, supporting nothing, called a “dropped quotation.” Quotations cannot stand on their own.

Also, when the quotation exceeds four lines on your paper, you must present it as a block quotation by indenting it an inch and using no quotation marks.

Leave the reader out of your essay. If you type the word “reader” or “us” or “we,” see if you can’t just get rid of it. For example:

Incorrect: This play is trying to show us how we can believe with so much passion that we are right about our feelings, when in reality we are far from the truth.

Correct: Tartuffe illustrates how excessive passion can obscure reality.

The latter example is much more precise and specific. Be sure to revise your writing before submitting it.

Kinds of Critical Papers

Explication (Textual Analysis)

Trace the full meaning and implications of the writer?s language. Listen for the full implication of a word, a phrase, a figure of speech. Spell out full meaning of key words and phrases.

Studying a Character (Character Analysis)

Write a coherent account (or trace the contradictions) of a character. Bring together from different parts of a story evidence that helps you understand a fictional person. The more fully developed a character is, the less likely she or he is to fit into a simple category. Note contradictory traits.

The Central Symbol

Trace the role of a symbol that is central to the work as a whole. Note recurrences of the symbol. What does it reveal about the structure? The theme? Even when a symbol is not actually repeated, it can assume a central role because it sums up many of the meanings that a work has been developing.

Tracing the Theme

Trace the underlying theme that gives unity of purpose to a work as a whole. When you state the theme, you try to sum up in a sentence or a paragraph the dominant idea that seems to pervade it, that gives it shape and direction. A theme is not a lesson, or moral, but it is organically related to the whole; it may be nowhere explicitly stated, but may emerge gradually. Isolate “thematic passages” for explication and analysis. Focus on key terms that recur at crucial points.

Defining a Critical Term

Sharpen a reader’s understanding of an important critical term by applying it to a key example. Tragedy, epic, comedy, tragicomedy, force, theatre of the absurd, protagonist, subplot, dénouement, etc.

Organizing the Critical Essay

Focus on a Major Issue

For unity and coherence, work toward an interpretation that adds up and that is systematically supported; ask “What question am I trying to answer? What is the issue that I’m going to solve or focus on?” Narrow down a large, sprawling subject.

Follow a Logical Order

Avoid a chronological order; avoid a thinly disguised plot summary; restrict your use of chronological order to situations where it serves a definite purpose. When you do present material in chronological order, make your reader see that this is the most effective procedure for getting a view of the whole. When you trace the spiritual growth of a major character, for example, you may have to follow the major stage presented in the work, but, in general, try to abandon chronological order. Instead, focus on given points of evidence from different parts of the same work. Arrange your material under several logical headings and supporting evidence should be brought in from different parts of the work for each heading.

Comparison and Contrast

Consider other works by the author, or by other authors that point out dramatic similarities or differences.

Work toward Synthesis

Experiment with patterns of organization that allow you to work conflicting elements into a more comprehensive perspective. Try to find different versions of the same idea, several ways of looking at the same thing. Work in a dialectical fashion, from thesis through antithesis to a hoped-for synthesis.

Some Guidelines for Critical Writing

Use Citations

Make generous use of the author’s own words. Make ample use of striking, revealing, memorable quotations, but always be analytical and interpretive. This is called citing from the “primary source” which is the best source for support. Secondary sources take the form of books and journal articles (see above). Be careful to use valid secondary sources; avoid encyclopedias and web sites. Strong papers will make use of scholarly research.

Focus on Subjectivity

Explain and defend your personal likes and dislikes, but base subjective judgment on objective fact.

Remember Art

Do not quote from an imaginative creation as if it were a documentary report or a sociological study. Art is not a photographic reflection of historical reality. Before you cite a novel or a play as evidence of actual historical conditions, remember that an author may idealize or satirize, glorify or belittle.

Consider Style and Rhetoric

Make an effort to get into the spirit of the work, to respond to its characteristic method. Pay attention not merely to what is said, but also to how it is said. Consider how the style contributes to communicating the theme.

Don’t Ape Critics

Repeat critical opinions only if you have questioned them or made them truly your own. Do not simply substitute a critic’s ready-made opinion for your own honest interpretation and reaction. If you cite a critic approvingly, show why you think he or she is right.

Resources

• Writing about Literature by William R. Stephany

While many might debate just how one should blog (most online treatments just deal with the technical aspects), I suggest you just apply the basic skills you learn in your college composition courses and consider the blog as an online journal. Always know your subject, purpose, and audience before getting into an entry. Consider blogging to be continuing a conversation. Unlike a journal, you are not writing in a vacuum, so be sure that you have something relatively original to say; this means that you should do a bit of research first to familiarize yourself with the current attitudes about your chosen topic. A strong entry will quote from and link to any relevant sources you find about the topic. Remember, this is a conversation: it’s not all just about you.

To familiarize yourself with the basic concepts in blogging, see The Blogging Revolution from Wired. The ideas this article presents are applicable to all blogs, including this one. You might also see what the difference is between a blog and a web site.

Consider what Jacob Nielsen suggests about writing for the web in “How Users Read on the Web.” Along these lines, be sure that:

• You give the entry an original title. The title should not only inform about the general topic, but give some idea about your position on the topic. An original title is especially important when writing on the class blog, as others will be writing about the same topics.
• Your text is readable. Hit the return key twice between paragraphs, so that there’s a line of white space. This also helps with readability. Be sure to preview your entries before submitting them; this practice gives you the opportunity to make your entry as readable as possible.
• You use categories and keywords. Select the class that you are in, and then the appropriate subcategory for every entry. Use keywords at the bottom of the entry to further classify your entry.
• You use a name to post that easily identifies your for evaluation. “Hotchick” would not be wise. I suggest the first letter of your first name and your last name; e.g., mine would be “glucas.”
• You save often as a draft when you are composing, especially if you are not on your own computer. Better yet,
• You compose in a word processor, so it is easier to check your spelling. Then, you can copy and paste into the blog. This practice also allows you to save your entries on a local computer, in case the blog server decides to “eat your blog.”
• You follow correct MLA citation style and use standard conventions when writing about literature.
• You proofread and revise your entry before publishing it. Remember, anyone can access the blog, so you want to publish only polished writing, as it is a reflection of you. Also, a sloppy blog is sure to get unpublished quickly by the community during moderation.
• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, have a clear focus, or argument, in the form of a thesis statement. If you don’t know what your point is, then your readers certainly will not.

Further Resources

Give the following a read in order to be able to talk about blogs, and so that you understand just what they are and how they function.

• Remember where and when you are blogging; see Biz Stone’s entry that accesses how not to get fired because of your blog.
• For assistance in composing strong comments, see How to Write Comments.
• For an overview of many of the items covered here, see B. L. Ochman’s “How to Write Killer Blog Posts and More Compelling Comments.” She gives some excellent advice.
• 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic on SEOmoz.
• Dennis G. Jerz’ Guidelines for Evaluating Classroom Blogs suggests ideas relating to judging what a good blog does.
• Why You Should Blog covers just that: the importance of daily writing on a blog.
• Writing about literature? Consider these helpful prompts.

Examples

• BoingBoing is the most popular blog on the internet

I will minimize the pain of student error making by separating learning from evaluating, and I will provide graduated and individualized risk-taking opportunities that will make learning worthwhile and exciting. Students will participate in this cooperative effort to build a supportive classroom atmosphere by coming to class on time and prepared with thoughtfully completed reading/writing assignments, by asking pertinent questions and sharing experiences and viewpoints, by reaching out personally to the professor and other students, by showing cooperation and respect, and providing positive feedback to the professor and peers.

Even though you can get notes elsewhere, without hearing the lecture and participating in the discussion, you will probably not have the prior knowledge or cognitive framework necessary to assimilate the externally provided notes.

Take Many Notes

There is a significant relationship between note completion and achievement. Those not permitted to review notes will recall from 34 to 78% of any information they recorded, but only 5 to 34% of information they did not record.

Take Paraphrases or Summaries

Paraphrases serve a reconstructive function because they help you to construct factual information that was originally not noted. They also help with actually learning the material; when you put what you read or hear in your own words, you tend to assimilate it better than just copying verbatim.

Revise Notes Following the Class

To fill in the omissions or gaps in notes and then personally integrating lecture content. Active integration organizes ideas in memory and facilitates retrieval. Typing summaries and paraphrases of your class notes as soon as you can after the class will help you learn the content in your own way. Do not try to organize and process curing class; wait until you have time to link similar ideas in to a cohesive whole.

Reference

Modified from Kenneth A. Kewra “Acquiring Effective Notetaking Skills: An Alternative to Professional Note Taking.” Journal of Reading, January 1984.

Original Source

(from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1, 248, 249):

No political form has hitherto been discovered that is equally favorable to the prosperity and the development of all the classes into which society is divided. These classes continue to form, as it were, so many distinct communities in the same nation; and experience has shown that it is not less dangerous to place the fate of these classes exclusively in the hands of any one of them than it is to make one people the arbiter of the destiny of another. When the rich alone govern, the interest of the poor is always endangered; and when the poor make the laws, that of the rich incurs very serious risks. The advantage of democracy does not consist, therefore, as has sometimes been asserted, in favoring the prosperity of all, but simply in contributing to the well-being of the greatest number.

Student Version A

Hitherto no one has found a political form that favors equally the prosperity and development of all the different classes of society. Experience has shown that it is just as dangerous to place the fate of these classes in the hands of one class as to let one nation dictate the destiny of another. Government by the rich endangers the poor; and the poor make laws that often harm the interests of the rich. Therefore, the advantage of democracy does not consist in raising general prosperity, but simply in adding to the well-being of the majority.

PLAGIARISM. By omitting any reference to De Tocqueville, the writer implies that these ideas are his or her own. In organization the paragraph follows the source very closely — same order of ideas, same number and structure of sentences. Many of the words and phrases are lifted bodily from the source without quotation marks to indicate that they are not the writer’s. In other cases, word order has been simply rearranged and synonyms substituted (found for discovered, nation for one people, adding for contributing, majority for greatest number).

Student Version B

De Tocqueville says that no form of government in history has been uniformly beneficial to all classes of society. He maintains that both the rich and poor, when in control of the government, pass laws favorable to their class and repressive toward the other. According to him, the virtue of a democracy is that it benefits the majority, not that it benefits the whole.

PARAPHRASE: The writer admits, both in the text and in a footnote, that the ideas in the paragraph are De Tocqueville’s. He states them in his or her own words and does not slavishly follow the source. Quotation marks are unnecessary, since none of the phrases are De Tocqueville’s.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

(from Lionel Trilling, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Liberal Imagination, p. 42)

Thus The Great Gatsby has its interest as a record of contemporary manners, but this might only have served to date it, did not Fitzgerald take the given moment of history as something more than a mere circumstance, did he not, in the manner of the great French novelists of nineteenth century, seize the given moment as a moral fact . . . For Gatsby, divided between power and dream, comes inevitably to stand for America itself.

Student Version A

Of course the one thing that makes The Great Gatsby interesting is its picture of the life of the twenties, but if it were only this it would be not be out of date. Instead, like the great French novelists, Fitzgerald made the particular moment a moral symbol. Gatsby, the main character, divided between power and dream, represents the American dilemma.

PLAGIARISM: This version does not reproduce the source as closely as Version A of the De Tocqueville passage; it more subtly plagiarizes the original. Again, the writer gives no indication that the ideas expressed are not his or her own. The wording, except for “divided between power and dream,” is largely original. The comparison between Fitzgerald and the great French novelists is not original, and implies a critical breadth suspiciously beyond the range of most undergraduate writers.

Student Version B

As Lionel Trilling points out, The Great Gatsby is much more than a record of the manners of the twenties. In miniature, Gatsby represents America, “divided between power and dream.

PARAPHRASE: The writer credits Trilling as the originator of the ideas he presents. He also puts quotation marks around the one phrase he uses verbatim.

From Handbook of Current English, Sixth Edition, Jim W. Corder, Scott, Foresman and Company.

Use MLA documentation style when

• attributing a passage within your essay to someone else — “parenthetical citation”
• listing works used in your essay — “works cited”

Parenthetical citations appear within the body of your essay when you use — or cite — someone else’s ideas from another source. Use a parenthetical citation when

• paraphrasing — using your own words to explain another’s ideas
• quoting — using another’s exact words

Another’s ideas within your essay — whether quoted or paraphrased — must be cited in parentheses containing only the author’s name and page number before the period:

Rushdie believes that “redescribing the world is the first step towards changing it” — to replace the migrant’s “triple disruption” of place, language, and social norms with a new language of displacement and mongrelization (Prasch 312).

This example tells the reader that this idea comes from page 312 of the work by Prasch.
If the source’s author is named within the text (in this case “Jussawalla”), only the page number need be cited:

Jussawalla suggests that Rushdie is disavowing any solidarity with people of the Third World because he has essentially become assimilated into a British colonial citizen and has adopted an Orientalist perspective (112-4).

If more than one source by the same author is used, use an abbreviated form of the work’s title:

He was accepted by the whites: “he fooled them into thinking that he was okay, he was people like us” (Verses 43).

For a complete guide to MLA style consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or your course handbook.

Endnotes — not footnotes — are used only for comments or explanation, never for citation. A Works Cited page appears at the end of the document. References are given in alphabetical order and the names of books either underlined or italicized (preferably the latter if you are using a computer); whichever you choose, use it consistently throughout. Also, the second line should be indented one inch (hard to do in HTML).

Citing Books

Citations for books on the works cited page follow this general order:

1. Author: Last name first, followed by a period
2. Title: Articles and short works in quotation marks and long works in italics followed by a period
3. Publication city followed by a colon
4. Publisher followed by a comma
5. Date: year published followed by a period

Books

Rushdie, Salman. The Satanic Verses. New York: Viking/Penguin, 1988.

Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Sylvia A. Holladay, eds. The Bedford Guide for College Writers. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin Press, 1993.

Citing Articles

Citations for articles in periodicals or books follow this general order:

1. Author: Last name first, followed by a period
2. Title of article in quotation marks followed by a period within the closing quotation mark
3. Title of the periodical italicized
4. Volume and number of periodical
5. Year in paretheses followed by a colon
6. Pages of article followed by a period

Articles in a Periodical

Jussawalla, Feroza. “Resurrecting the Prophet: The Case of Salman, the Otherwise.” Public Culture Vol. 2 no. 1 (1989): 106-117.

Prasch, Thomas. “Contested Ground: Center and Margin in Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses.” West Virginia University Philological Papers 38 (1992).

Citing Web Sites

Citations for web sites follow a general order (this information is taken from the MLA site; I would have used a link, but the site designers decided to make it impossible to link directly to the information). Note that most citations will not include much of the following:

1. Name of the author, editor, compiler, or translator of the source
2. Title of a poem, short story, article, or similar short work within a scholarly project, database, or periodical (in quotation marks); or title of a posting to a discussion list or forum (taken from the subject line and put in quotation marks), followed by the description Online posting
3. Title of a book underlined
4. Name of the editor, compiler, or translator of the text (if relevant and if not cited earlier), preceded by the appropriate abbreviation, such as Ed.
5. Publication information for any print version of the source
6. Title of the scholarly project, database, periodical, or professional or personal site (underlined); or, for a professional or personal site with no title, a description such as “Home page”
7. Name of the editor of the scholarly project or database (if available)
8. Version number of the source (if not part of the title) or, for a journal, the volume number, issue number, or other identifying number
9. Date of electronic publication, of the latest update, or of posting
10. For a work from a subscription service, the name of the service and — if a library is the subscriber — the name and city (and state abbreviation, if necessary) of the library
11. For a posting to a discussion list or forum, the name of the list or forum
12. The number range or total number of pages, paragraphs, or other sections, if they are numbered
13. Name of any institution or organization sponsoring or associated with the Web site
14. Date when the researcher accessed the source
15. Electronic address, or URL, of the source (in angle brackets); or, for a subscription service, the URL of the service’s main page (if known) or the keyword assigned by the service

Web Sites: Example Citations

Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.

Lancashire, Ian. Home page. 1 May 1997 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~ian/index.html>.

Landsburg, Steven E. “Who Shall Inherit the Earth?” Slate 1 May 1997. 2 May 1997 <http://www.slate.com/Economics/97-05-01/Economics.asp>.

Links

• Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial
• The Bedford Bibliographer builds your bibliography
• Diana Hacker’s Researching in the Humanities
• How to Format an MLA Essay
• Mike Palmquist’s Research room
• MSC Library Subject Guides
• USG Research Tutorial
• Evaluating Web Sources

The grade of A on paper means that it excels in most or all of the following ways:

1. Treatment of subject shows good critical intelligence, careful workmanship, and originality.
2. Organization is so clear that the readers know at all times what the purpose is and how the writer intends to accomplish it.
3. Paragraphs are coherent (that is, they “hang together”) and are developed as fully as their function demands.
4. Sentences are clear in meaning and so constructed as to contribute precisely and effectively to the writer’s purpose.
5. Choice of words is exact, appropriate, and sensitive.
6. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation conform to accepted usage.
7. Secondary sources are consulted and cited using MLA citation style.

The grade of B means that a paper is good:

1. Treatment of subject shows some originality and better than average ability to relate ideas.
2. Organization is clear, though lacking the full clarity and tight coherence of A work. Subject and purpose are appropriate to organization.
3. Paragraphs are reasonably unified, coherent, and well developed.
4. Sentences are generally fluent and clear, and are sufficiently varied to make for an easy style.
5. Words are used precisely and with some attention to stylistic appropriateness.
6. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation conform to accepted usage.
7. MLA citation style is used correctly if secondary sources are cited.

The grade of C means that a paper is competent, yet rather routine in its total effect:

1. Treatment of subject is acceptable but lacks distinction.
2. Organization is fairly clear; a central idea is systematically treated.
3. Paragraph development shows little originality: paragraph structure shows some coherence but tends to be loose and uneconomical.
4. Sentences are correct and are sufficiently linked to make for continuity. Generally, however, the style is flat, and the meaning is not always clear.
5. Choice of words is generally appropriate but shows little attention to effect.
6. There are few slips in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

The grade of D means that a paper has a number of the following weaknesses:

1. Treatment of subject tends to be trite, thin, or vague.
2. Organization is not dear or effective.
3. Paragraphs tend to be incoherent and poorly developed.
4. Sentences are generally awkward or overly simple and show little awareness of style. Their meaning is frequently not clear.
5. Choice of words is often imprecise, inappropriate, or trite.
6. There are a number of errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

The grade of F means that a paper falls below minimum requirements, and it has a number of the following weaknesses:

1. Treatment of subject is thin, vague, or trite.
2. The paper lacks a beginning, middle, and ending.
3. Paragraphs obviously lack unity and are poorly developed.
4. Sentences are awkward, or are constructed in primer style. Many are not clear.
5. Choice of words is frequently inexact or inept.
6. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are faulty.