Writing an essay about literature may
seem at first a daunting and mystifying process. However, writing
about literature is no more difficult than writing for any other
subject. In any paper about literature, you are trying to persuade
your reader that your reading of the text (that is, your interpretation
or your analysis) is worth considering because it adds a valuable
dimension to understanding the text, a dimension that may not
be immediately apparent to your reader. In other words, in an
essay about any literary text, you are trying to persuade your
reader to look at the text in a way in which perhaps he has not
looked at before. Your slant on the reading, your position, your
insights would therefore lead your reader to a richer understanding
and appreciation of the text.
Your reader may not agree with your interpretation
of the text but then your job, as a writer, is not to prove that
your interpretation is the only valid one. Your job as a writer
about literature is to offer a well thought out position on the
text, a reading that is responsibly developed and sustained throughout
your paper.
Remember that not all interpretations
of the text are equally good or equally acceptable. Partial familiarity
with the text will never lead to any responsible interpretations.
Twisting or mangling the text to fit some preconceived or half-baked
notions about it will also never lead to responsible interpretations.
Imposing your own religious or moral predilections on an author's
meaning will also never lead to worthwhile interpretations. However,
knowing the text thoroughly, understanding it, and thinking long
and deeply about it are more likely to lead to a responsible interpretation.
To know whether an interpretation is valid, you need to test all
your assumptions against the text. If the text bears out your
assumptions and interpretation, then you are on the right track.
If the text sustains your interpretation only partially, or you
seem to be making claims that are not backed up by the text, you
need to do more reading and thinking about your text before attempting
the paper.
Ultimately, writing an essay about literature
is the result of discovering that you have insights about a text,
insights that you feel deeply about and that you wish to communicate
to your reader clearly and in an organized and logical fashion.
The Introduction
The introduction to your paper should arouse
your reader's interest; it should place the literary work within
the context of the specific issues that your paper will raise
and it should define those issues. Under no circumstances should
you begin your introduction with abstract generalities that lie
outside the scope of your paper. Many times inexperienced writers
are afraid to tackle their topic or question directly and write
global introductions full of abstract generalities.
For example, if you are asked to discuss
the idea of marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,
do not begin your paper with global statements about marriage
in general and what a sacred and time-cherished institution it
has been since time immemorial. Such an introduction has nothing
to do with the novel specifically and only wastes your reader's
time.
Examine the four introductions below. You
will see that all of these introductions begin simply by placing
the stories in the context of the writer's discussion, by defining
the issues that the paper will raise, and by narrowing to a thesis
statement.
1) In Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country
People" and Alice Munro's "Wild Swans," we meet
two women who are completely unprepared to experience their first
sexual encounter. The perspectives that Hulga and Rose adopt are
shaped by the teachings of their mothers (or, in Rose's case,
stepmother), Mrs. Hopewell and Flo respectively. Although Mrs.
Hopewell and Flo share a patronizing manner and a tendency to
stereotype, Hulga's and Rose's feelings for their mothers are
quite different. Despite this difference, they are equally influenced
by their mothers' philosophies, each sharing a desire to break
away from their routine lives. Unfortunately, Hulga and Rose do
not realize that what gives birth to this craving is also what
makes them ill-equipped to handle the situations that set them
on their individual courses of transformation.
2) The characterization of our protagonist
Connie is vital to an understanding of her ripeness for seduction
in Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where
Have You Been?" Connie's youth and vanity, coupled with her
antagonistic relationship with the members of her family, effectively
set the stage for her seduction by the older Arnold Friend.
3) In Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country
People," the cynical, rude, and world-weary Hulga believes
herself to be on such a high philosophical and intellectual plane
that she is without illusion. Her main belief is to believe in
nothing. Considering the frustration and dullness of her life
with her mother and Mrs. Freeman, it is no wonder that Hulga assumes
a jaded outlook. Unfortunately, this weariness does not come from
extensive life experience and she is not prepared to deal with
Manley Pointer, an example of the "good country people"
that her mother is so fond of. Hulga does not practice what she
preaches, and she trusts who he says he is without question. By
doing so, Hulga loses her artificiality and gains cause for true
cynicism.
4) "Good Country People" is a
story about prejudice, manipulation, and victimization. Mrs. Hopewell's
personal prejudices along with Hulga's internalization of these
prejudices, their problematic mother-daughter relationship, and
Hulga's low self-image provide fertile ground for Hulga's victimization.
Hulga and her mother both maintain a superior attitude toward
each other as well as the people with whom they interact in this
story. It is this attitude that ultimately leads to Manley Pointer's
ability to take advantage of Hulga.
Please note that none of these introductions
wastes any of the reader's time with abstract generalities. Also
none of these introductions makes it painfully apparent to the
reader that the writer is answering a specific assignment. All
of them do, however, inform the reader of the paper's argument.
The Thesis Statement
An essay about a piece of literature is
NOT a plot summary of it. Rather, it is an argument about it.
If you find yourself reverting to plot summary instead of analyzing
the text and arguing your point about it, stop and think again
about what you are trying to prove. In order to interpret rather
than describe, analyze rather than summarize, all essays about
literature must contain a thesis statement. Think about it this
way: if you had only one idea that you wished to communicate most
to your reader, what would it be? The thesis statement is the
most important idea in your essay. It contains your position,
your opinion, the conclusion that you have formulated as a result
of close reading, and the hook on which you hang your entire argument.
It is always a good idea to make your thesis the last sentence
of your introduction so that nothing else distracts your reader
from the statement of your position, the central idea and its
development in the body of your paper.
Again, the thesis is a claim, an opinion
that needs to be proved valid by your discussion. It needs to
be both restrictive and precise and formulated to fit the scope
and length of your assignment. Here are a few guidelines that
may help you to avoid some thesis statement pitfalls*:
A thesis statement is NOT an announcement
of your subject or a description of your intentions. At all
costs avoid statements such as, "In this essay I will argue
that . . ." or "In this essay I will prove that . .
." because such statements are awkward and make you sound
naïve and a novice.
A thesis statement is NOT cluttered
with expressions such as "In my opinion," "I believe,"
and the like. Such phrases make you sound defensive and uncertain
and waste your reader's time. Usually, the important part comes
after such expressions, so leave them out.
Avoid oversimplified claims because
such will never persuade your reader that you have a thorough
understanding of the text or that you have any worthwhile interpretation
to offer. For example, "In William Faulkner's 'A Rose for
Emily,' Miss Grierson is crazy" is certainly an oversimplified
claim because it overlooks and undermines the complexity of the
character. Making oversimplified claims will not give you much
credibility as an insightful reader of the text.
A thesis statement is NEVER a statement
of fact. Thesis statements are assertions of opinions that
take the form of generalizations whose validity needs to be argued
vigorously with discussion and examples from the text. Facts cannot
be argued. To say that "Nathaniel Hawthorne penned 'Young
Goodman Brown'" is to present a fact that cannot be argued.
A thesis statement DOES NOT present
an idea that is self-evident or dead-ended. For example, saying
that "Shakespeare's 'When my love claims she is made of truth'
is a sonnet," or that "Hamlet ends tragically for the
hero," would get you nowhere. These are not analytical statements
that lead to discussion or argument. For another example, "At
the end of John Updike's 'A & P' Sammy quits his job"
is a statement that does not promise a discussion. However, saying
that "Sammy quits his job at the A & P because he comes
to a realization that people are more important than policies"
would bring you closer to a workable thesis.
Limit your claim to a statement that
you can prove within the assigned length of your paper. For
example, the claim that "Both Hamlet and Othello are heroes"
is too broad and unfocused and not a thesis statement at all.
Saying that "Both Hamlet and Othello are heroes because .
. ." would bring the idea closer to being a thesis but the
claim would still be too broad to receive adequate development
in a short paper.
A thesis is NEVER stated in the form
of a question. The thesis is an opinion that the paper will
demonstrate as valid or feasible in light of your development
with persuasive examples from the text.
Above all, remember that the thesis
statement is a complete thought that has a subject, a verb, and
a controlling idea expressed in key or operative words that
indicate to your reader the direction in which you will take your
discussion.
The following examples of weak and strong
theses should help:
Weak: In Book I of The Iliad,
Homer presents Achilles and Agamemnon as both similar and different.
Strong: In Book I of Homer's Iliad
we see how pride, stubbornness, and power-qualities that Achilles
and Agamemnon share seem to unite and divide the two as well.
Ironically, the same qualities that unite them also make it impossible
for them to coexist.
The first example is weak because everything
under the sun is both similar and different and the thesis does
not make a judgment or express any analytical thought. The second
example is strong because it is restrictive and precise. The operative
words (pride, stubbornness, power) indicate the lines along which
the writer will set up the comparison and contrast and the thesis
makes a definite claim or judgment.
*Note: The thesis statement pitfalls
have been adapted from Jean Wyrick's Steps to Writing Well.
They have been modified and adjusted to the demands of formulating
a thesis when writing about literature.
Organizing
the Essay
The organization of your paper will depend
to a great extent on your thesis statement. If you have formulated
a restrictive and precise thesis statement with focused key words
or hooks upon which to hang your argument, organizing your paper
will be fairly easy.
Make your paper follow a coherent, unified,
logical, and progressive structure. In other words, lead up to
the main point of your argument in a logical and progressive manner.
Your body paragraphs should have clear topic sentences or transitional
generalizations that develop one aspect of the thesis each. Develop
each of your topic sentences fully with discussion and evidence
from the text; make each of your main ideas lead logically into
the next main idea.
To signal the progression of your ideas,
use transitional words and phrases that clearly indicate the logical
relationship between those ideas and that provide for smooth passage
from one paragraph to the next, from one idea to the next.
Test the logical organization of your ideas
this way: write out your thesis and each of your topic sentences
and see whether they signal a logical and coherent progression
of ideas. Your thesis statement and your topic sentences should
by themselves provide a microcosmic view of the entire essay.
If your topic sentences do not suggest a logical progression or
sequence, then you need to reorganize the essay.
There are several ways in which you can
control the progression of your ideas. For example, you may choose
to organize your essay in a climactic order, that is, progressing
from the less significant idea to the most significant idea. Or
you may organize the essay by moving from the known to the unknown,
from the simple to the complex, and so forth.
To write a coherent and unified essay means
that no portion of your argument can be taken out of sequence
or break away from a tightly knit overall structure and the development
of the larger argument.
Remember that organizing an essay effectively
does not come to anyone instantaneously. It needs careful thinking
and testing of ideas against the promise of the thesis statement
and careful planning.
Writing the
Conclusion
Often students overlook the importance
of writing an effective conclusion. They are content with a mechanical
restatement of their thesis or a repetition of a part of their
introduction. They write a two or three sentence conclusion and
think that it is sufficient. However, a conclusion can make or
break a paper. While it is true that the conclusion should return
in some manner to the main thrust of the essay and its main idea,
it is important to leave your reader with something to think about.
Doing so does not mean that you introduce new ideas into
your conclusion or that you recant your argument. It means
that you place your argument into a larger perspective and try
to show how the issues that you have discussed or analyzed would
benefit from further analysis.
At all cost, you should avoid tacking on
a mechanical and repetitive conclusion or making excuses for what
you have or have not done in the paper.