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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:

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:

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:

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