Tips
Writing tips
First of all, you have to throw out the whole idea of summarizing the plot. Too many high school
assignments allow you to substitute a book report for thinking. At the college level you must read
critically and think carefully about the work. Ideally, you should come up with your own unique ANGLE
on it, like a newspaper reporter who sees a story others might not have noticed. But when you bring
the angle to the reader's attention, there should be a shock of recognition, a "Yes, that's so!" reaction.
To repeat: assume your reader is already familiar with the plot; don't recount it. Now, let's explore how
to fill the emptiness where the plot-outline would go and arrive at the "Yes, that's so!" reaction you
want your reader to have.
The first, easy way to get there is through a discussion of THEME. The theme is the controlling idea of
the story or poem, what it is about. Concentrate on writing about the theme and you're off to an
excellent start, at least conceptually. Secondary to theme (and supporting it) is CHARACTERIZATION.
This is also considered topic-worthy in college papers. How has the artist brought these characters to
life? What statements do they make with their mouths or their bodies--i. e., their actions? Which
characters do you admire and which do you loathe? Why? While none of these questions is essential
to any one paper, asking yourself (not your reader) one or more of these questions is a good way to
keep the ball rolling.
The way you present your thoughts is also important. Despite the fact that famous literary critics often
write very successfully and persuasively in the first person, you should avoid it. At this level the first
person is distracting at best; at worst, it leads the college writer into all kinds of mistakes: too much
informality or even slang, too much personal introspection, too little formal literary discussion. A good
THIRD PERSON PRESENTATION will help your ethos, or credibility, while giving you the best chance
to present a formal tone and thoughtful diction.
Next I'd like to make a few observations about research. Your first temptation might be to do the bulk
of your required research online; avoid that temptation! While web pages are a good place to generate
ideas and find bibliographies, they are seldom thorough or authoritative in themselves. For maximum
ethos, you need to do things the old-fashioned way. Go to the library and find books written on your
subject; peer-reviewed professional articles in literary journals will also do.
My next comment is deserving of a paragraph in its own right. ALL YOUR RESEARCH MUST BE
DOCUMENTED WITH PARENTHETICAL REFERENCES. That means summaries and paraphrases
too, not just quotes! It has been my experience that students typically under-use parenthetical
references rather than over-use them. In fact, it would be almost impossible to put in too many. And if
you did, your instructor might give you a gentle slap on the wrist at worst. Leaving the references OUT
constitutes potential PLAGIARISM, which will earn you far more than a slap on the wrist! So how much
is enough? First of all, EVERY PARAGRAPH CONTAINING RESEARCH MUST SHOW WHERE
THAT RESEARCH CAME FROM, IN THE FORM OF ONE OR MORE PARENTHETICAL
REFERENCES. The parenthetical reference must appear at the end of the paragraph if you have not
used it earlier. When an item of information comes from two sources, cite both. When several different
sources are used for one paragraph, cite them all within that paragraph. Do this consistently and you
will never be sorry.
I also want you to think of LITERARY THEORY as a valuable tool. It provides a systematic way of
thinking about literature--any piece of literature--and if there is one thing you may substitute for plot, it
is theory! Use the literary theories we'll cover in class to help you think deeply about what a work of art
is really saying. If you can do that, you are on your way to writing a successful paper.
FORMATTING is also important. You want the reader to concentrate on what you're saying, not how
you're saying it. Errors in formatting can be just as distracting as errors in grammar (and should be
avoided for much the same reason). Every instructor has his own pet peeves, and here are mine:
always space twice after periods--have high schools stopped teaching this rule or something?--and
never, ever space twice between paragraphs (i. e., creating a vertical space much like that between
poem stanzas). Instead of the vertical spacing, differentiate between paragraphs with the standard
five-space indent.
I'd like to add one more note about research: it is absolutely essential at the college level. The more
detailed your research, the more authoritative and invigorating your papers are likely to be. Now, at the
risk of repeating myself, we will be using the MLA style, which mandates not one but TWO
documentation steps! First, you must provide parenthetical references for every paragraph involving
research, no matter how mundane--that includes details about the author's life, for example, as well as
quotes from or about the author. Secondly, you must provide a Works Cited page with full bibliographic
information so that other scholars and student-scholars, if need be, can follow your work.
And that's it, really. Try to think deeply about the controlling idea of a text (that is to say, a work of
literature), use literary theory to help you find a systematic approach in your thinking, and then present
that thinking in long, fully developed paragraphs with research to back you up. Don't forget to
document your research according to MLA guidelines and then revise as necessary for grammar and
spelling. But that is another story entirely!