Final Tips on your
Literary Essay
Following the
“Yes” Test
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Typed
Times New Roman, 12 point Font
MLA Format
3-4 pages
3 quotes w/in-text citations.
Covers the scope of the novel
Double Spaced
* = a note about the Yes Test: I fill it out, you
don’t!
Avoid “Dead Words:
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So
Like
Very
A lot
Some
Gonna
‘Cause
-Stuff
-Things
-’nuff
-Kinda
-Sort of
-Basically
-Y’know
Other Common Mistakes
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1. Puritan and Romantic are proper
nouns so please capitalize them.
2. Names: Dimmesdale and
Chillingworth, not Dimmsdale and
Chillingsworth.
3. Citations: (author, pg#). NOT “blah
blah.” (author,pg). OR “blah, blah.”
(author, pg#)
4. Repetition of words or phrases. Ie:
“In the beginning, in the middle, in
the end.”
Focus
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This is an expository essay on
The Scarlet Letter. Avoid words
like “I” or “My” because the
essay is not about you.
Organization
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Introduction: Hook, Thesis,
Subtopics
Body Paragraphs 1- 3:
Beginning, Middle, End. format
Conclusion: restate thesis and
subtopics with So what? at the
end.
The Title
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Your essay is NOT titled The Scarlet
Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hawthorne has been dead over 150
years and he did not write your essay.
The author’s name is Nathaniel Hawthorne,
NOT Nathanial Hawthorne.
Please write The Scarlet Letter or The
Scarlet Letter, not “The Scarlet Letter.”
Only songs, poems, essays, or short
stories or in quotation marks.
Citation Sandwich
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Set-Up: Give the context of what
is happening in the scene.
Quote: Include the quote and
cite with author and page
number.
Analysis: Explain how the quote
ties to your thesis and use
phrases from the quote support
yourself.
How do I get to 3 – 4 pages?
If you are asking yourself this question, my
simple answer is refer to the citation
sandwich:
1.
Are you giving a complete picture what
goes on to set-up the quote?
2.
Is your quote long enough to explain your
point?
3.
Are you analyzing enough to explain how
the quote ties the thesis?
4.
Could you add another quote to support
your point?
Here is an example…
Set- Up: At the beginning of the book Hester
Prynne is on the scaffold with her daughter
Pearl for committing the sin of adultery. Her
punishment is to wear a scarlet “A” on her
chest and be publicly humiliated by the
Puritan society. She is interrogated by the
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who the
reader later learns, is Hester’s lover and
Pearl’s father. Dimmesdale asks Hester to
reveal “the name” of the father. Hester
defiantly replies to him:
Evidence, Analysis, and
Transition
Quote: “My child should only know a heavenly
father because she will never know an
earthly one” (Hawthorne, 34).
Analysis: This quote is significant because it
demonstrates that Hester has no guilt for
her sin. By saying her child “will never
know an earthly” father she is telling
Dimmesdale, the other adulterer, you must
reveal yourself publically, because I will not
do it on your behalf.
Transition: Dimmesdale, on the other hand,
has his guilt weigh upon him for his sin,
which is revealed at the second scaffold
scene in the middle of the book.
Essay Checklist
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Yes Test
Rubric
Final Draft
3rd Draft w/revision
2nd Draft w/revision
1st Draft w/revision
Outline
Brainstorm
Also…turn in your Dialectical Journal
separately.