HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ESSAY

SUGGESTED LENGTH: 600 WORDS

(i)

THE TITLE should be specific. You should identify a particular

problem in the literary text youve chosen to write about.

Acceptable: The Role of the Narrator in Henry Fieldings Joseph Andrews;

Family Politics in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice
Unacceptable: Jane Eyre; Shakespeares Sonnets; William Blakes Songs of
Experience
(ii) PRESENTATION
The essay should open with a clear introduction. The introduction tells
your reader what the essay is about. You should state your aims. Please dont
tell the reader what a great text youve chosen to write about or what a
wonderful writer produced that text.
The statement of aims should remain flexible until the paper is
actually finished. If you discover new information in the process of writing,
then you can rewrite the statement. On the other hand, if you discover that
the statement includes things that you haven't actually addressed, then you
need to limit that statement by cutting some of the aims.
The body of your text should be organised in clear paragraphs with
each paragraph focusing on a particular aim.
The concluding paragraph must draw together the ideas and
arguments presented in the text and provide a closing commentary on the set
topic.
(iii) DISCOURSE MANAGEMENT
This includes good use of English, accurate and appropriate
vocabulary, cohesion, consistency, and coherence.
Please pay attention to the following:
Write about literature in the present tense unless logic demands that you do
otherwise. Even though a story is written in the past tense, we say that the
main character writes to her brother because she thinks she knows something
important. Even though Shakespeare is long gone, we say that Shakespeare

suggests or uses or says. And in his plays, we say that a phrase or word
suggests or means or implies something (all present tense verbs).
However, when you refer to an authors life you should use the past tense.
E. g. The poet Frost moved his family to England before he died in 1963.
(iv) TITLES, CITATION/QUOTATION AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
The titles of plays, novels, magazines, newspapers, journals (things that can
stand by themselves) are underlined or italicized.
E. g. Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie was first staged in
Bulgaria in the 1960s.
Toni Morrisons novel Beloved provides many challenges for interpreters.
The titles of poems, short stories, and articles (things that do not generally
stand by themselves) require quotation marks.
E. g. William Blakes poem To Spring is often included in anthologies.
When quoting, quote exactly!
Quotations that constitute fewer than five lines in your paper should be set
off with quotation marks [ ] and be incorporated within the normal flow
of your text. For material exceeding that length, omit the quotation marks
and indent the quoted language one inch from your left-hand margin.
If quotation marks appear within the text of a quotation that already has the
usual double-quote marks [ ] around it (a quote-within-a-quote), set off
that inner quotation with single-quote marks [ ]. A quote-within-a-quote
within an indented quotation is marked with double-quote marks.
When quoting from a poem and using fewer than five lines, use slash marks
( / ) to indicate line breaks and incorporate the lines within the flow of your
text.
E. g. In the lines "My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a
farmhouse near," Frost creates a tone that reminds us of nursery rhymes.
However, when using more than four lines, indent the lines, use the poet's
own line breaks, and do not use quotation marks.

Quotations in the text should be organised as shown below. Your paper

should include a list of alphabetically arranged bibliographical sources
placed under the heading WORKS CITED. Please follow the
Guidelines below.
Guidelines for MLA Citation/Quotation Style (Based on the MLA
Handbook, 5th Edition)
Type of Entry

In-Text Citation
Form

Book. Single
Author

(Keyser 75).

Book. Two or
Three Authors

(Blocker,
Plummer,
and Richardson
52-57).

No Author
Given

(A Handbook of
Korea
241-47).
(Auerbach 10).

Author's Work
in an Anthology
A Multivolume
Work
Edition Other
Than the First
A Republished
Book
A Book in a
Series

(Daiches 2: 53839).
(Chaucer 545).
(Doctorow 20912).
(Reiman 113).

An Article in a
"Familiar"
Reference Book
Article in a
Journal

("Wasatch
Range").

Article from a
Weekly or
Biweekly
Magazine
Article from a
Monthly or
Bimonthly
Magazine

(Gleick 33).

(Spear 94).

(Snyder 68).

Works Cited Form

Keyser, Elizabeth Lennox. Whispers in the Dark: The
Fiction of Louisa May Alcott. Knoxville: U of Tennessee
P, 1993.
Blocker, Clyde E., Robert H. Plummer, and Richard C.
Richardson, Jr. The Two-Year College: A Social
Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 1965.
NOTE: If there are more than three authors, name only
the first and add et al. or name each author.
A Handbook of Korea. 4th ed. Seoul: Korean Overseas
Information Service, Ministry of Culture and
Information, 1982.
Auerbach, Nina. "Jane Austen and Romantic
Imprisonment." Jane Austen in a Social Context. Ed.
David Monaghan. Totowa, NJ: Barnes, 1981. 9-27.
Daiches, David. A Critical History of English Literature.
2nd ed. 2 vols. New York: Ronald, 1970.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed.
F.N. Robinson. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1957.
Doctorow, E.L. Welcome to Hard Times. 1960. New
York: Bantam, 1976.
Reiman, Donald H. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Updated ed.
Twayne's English Authors Series. 81. Boston: Twayne,
1989.
"Wasatch Range." Encyclopedia Americana. 1993 ed.
Spear, Karen. "Building Cognitive Skills in Basic
Writers." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 9
(1983): 91-98.
Gleick, Elizabeth. "Sex, Betrayal and Murder." Time 17
July 1995: 32-33+.
Snyder, Mark. "Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes." Psychology
Today July 1982: 60-68.

Article from a
Newspaper

(Jereski C1).

Film Review

(Harrington D1).

Interview
Television
program

(Morganis).
("Debate on
Welfare
Reform").
("Kosovo").

Electronic
Source:
Document
Within Online
Scholarly
Project
Electronic
Source:
Personal or
Professional
Site
Electronic
Source: Article
in Online
Periodical

(Maxwell
Library Home
Page).
(Hixon 2).

Jereski, Laura. "Entertainment Stocks: Is a Boffo

Performance Over?" Wall Street Journal 1 Aug. 1995,
eastern ed.: C1+.
Harrington, Richard. "Under Siege 2: Railroad Ruckus."
Rev. of Under Siege 2. Washington Post 15 July 1995:
D1+.
Morganis, Nancy. Telephone Interview. 8 Aug. 1995.
"Debate on Welfare Reform." Face the Nation. CBS. 6
Aug. 1995.
"Kosovo." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 13 Sept.
1999
<http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=47187&sctn=1>.
Maxwell Library Home Page. 3 Aug. 1999. Clement C.
Maxwell Library,
Bridgewater State College. 13 Sept. 1999
<http://www.bridgew.edu/Library>.
Hixon, Allen L. "Preventing Street Gang Violence."
American Family Physician 59.8 (April 1999): 4 pp. 3
Aug 1999
<http://www.epnet.com/ehost/login.html>

WARNING ABOUT PLAGIARISM:

Please remember that you must always acknowledge your sources.