Planning an Essay

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Planning a Literary Essay

Wondering how to get started with your essay? Students have told me the following works for them.

Usually, writing an essay about literature means making an argument -- and making an argument means proving an idea. In an essay, your specific idea -- the point you're trying to prove -- is set out in a thesis. The reasons that support, explain, and prove the thesis are called divisions.

The body paragraphs have provided a good idea of how to focus writing around a particular point: that point is the division referred to above. And speaking of thesis and divisions, how about some examples?

Suggested Steps for Drafting A Literary Essay

As you read through the suggestions below, you'll notice that the usual way students write -- staying up for three hours the night before the draft is due -- isn't suggested here. Like me, you've probably learned the hard way that college level writing involves planning. Below, you'll find a series of suggested steps which should help you avoid the grades I earned in my first few college courses . . . before I learned that I couldn't write an essay three hours before . . .

Rereading selected work/s
Once you have a particular question in mind, a text "reads" differently.

Choosing a question/argument
When working from a list of questions, your argument is pre-ordained. If you're developing your own argument, then this may come after you choose quotes.

Choosing quotes that seem related to topic
Again, this is where the rereading comes in. With a particular question in mind, a seemingly innocuous quote, word or image will leap off the page.

Type up a list of anything in the work which seems even remotely connected to your topic. It's easier to plan your essay with your raw material -- the quotes -- spread out in front of you.

Finding connections or patterns
With an array of quotes before you, it's easy to find connections or patterns. These connections could be quotes that reveal a character's emotions, images that cohere around a particular idea the author proposes, or an incident that supports an idea advanced in your thesis. Your job is to find a word/adjective/phrase to group and categorize these quotes so readers can understand how they support your argument. These groups will form the basis of your divisions

Developing a Thesis and Division and outline
These will ground your thoughts in words and supply a structure for you to focus your thoughts. Thesis and divisions are described in the links. Your outline should set out rough topic sentences (see samples above).

Below you'll find thesis statements based on familiar topic sentences. These illustrate both how divisions can separate your thinking on a topic and how topic sentences connect back to divisions.

Sample #1
Thesis for essay on "Life in the Iron Mills"
For Davis, the oppression of the working class is supported by religion, the press, and capitalism.

Topic sentence for division 2 of thesis
Another mechanism of oppression in "Life" is the press.

Sample #2
Thesis for essay on Ragged Dick
Alger makes clear that achieving respectability requires religious devotion, education and a neat appearance.

Topic sentence for division 3 of thesis
Becoming "respectable," according to Ragged Dick, entails dressing the part.

Sample #3
Thesis for essay on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain's bitter view of humans is illustrated by the society's acceptance of violence, the narrator's acerbic view of religion, and Tom's treatment of Jim.

Topic sentence for division 1 of thesis
The casual acceptance of murders and beatings reflects harshly on the characters Huck and Jim meet throughout the novel.

Note that in these examples, there is close repetition of the division word in the topic sentence. It's this kind of organization that will help readers follow your thinking. Note, as well, that each topic sentence sets up an argument that you'll use the reminder of the paragraph/s to prove.

Fill in the Blank Thesis
If you're stuck, you can try the fill in the blank thesis statement below.

[The] ____________ in "________" is illustrated/demonstrated/shown/indicated by ___________, __________, and _________.

Topic Sentences:

Topic sentence should contain two things: 1) statement of a particular part, section or idea in a story, and 2) a reference back to a division (which means a reference to one of your reasons).

For a basic format, try the following starter topic sentence:

Insert statement of evidence illustrates/demonstrates/shows Insert answer to what the paragraph will illustrate/demonstrate/ etc.

Drafting
Getting your ideas down -- knowing, of course, that you'll be revising them later. In other words: low standards (set writing-standard-o-meter to "Whew! Glad that's finished"). Your goal is to get thinking down on paper (or in pixels as the case may be). See "Writing Suggestions" on the Course Documents page for more suggestions.

Revision
This is where the real writing begins. You move from getting your thoughts down to thinking about the reader. As you reread and reread your essay (the repetition is by design), you continually ask yourself "How can I make this idea about death/love/etc. clearer to the reader?" "What analogy can I use to help the reader understand Edna's actions?"

Another way of looking at this is the writing-standard-o-meter needs to be set on, to borrow a line from that classic mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, eleven.

Top suggestion for successful revision? Work on your essay one paragraph at a time. In other words, do not try to sit down and revise the entire essay in one sitting. Break your revision down into sections so it will seem less onerous and so you can continually come to your work with fresh eyes. For an overview of the kind of reading necessary for revision, see Donald Murray's The Maker's Eye. You can also review the suggestions on the Course Documents page.

Proofreading
Often confused with revision, this is the careful attention to words and punctuation that separates the profound from the pedestrian (hint: go for profound). After you've completed your revision -- which focused on adding ideas, deleting wayward thoughts, adding explanations -- it's time to focus on the words: the way that you'll communicate with the reader.

Top two suggestions for proofreading? 1) slowly read your work out loud: if you sprain your tongue on a particular phrase, that's a sign it needs work, and 2) repeat #1 . . . repeatedly. For an interesting take on the kind of attention necessary when proofreading, see Pico Iyer's In Praise of the Humble Comma.

© 2008 David Bordelon