Mr. Ward’s
English
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All of the literary papers you will write in this
class will consist of three main parts:
INTRO w/THESIS
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Body Paragraphs
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◦ Topic Sentences, FACTS (Concrete Details), and
ANALYSIS (Commentary)
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Conclusion
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The thesis tells the reader what the writer will
prove in the essay
Tells the main idea of the paper
The last sentence of the introductory
paragraph
Example:
◦ Due to an experimental surgery, Charlie
experienced advantages and disadvantages in his
life and in his mind.
Example from freshman year:
◦ Sanger Rainsford is an intelligent hunter who
must outwit the General to save his life.
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Occur at the beginning of each body paragraph.
Must NOT repeat any key words from the thesis,
for it will be written directly after the thesis.
It must, however, connect directly with the thesis.
◦ Thesis: Due to an experimental surgery, Charlie
experienced advantages and disadvantages in his life
and in his mind.
◦ Topic Sentence: Charlie’s operation benefitted him in
many ways.
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The topic sentence will summarize the main idea
of the paragraph just like the thesis summarizes
the entire paper.
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Is written directly after the topic sentence.
The “Facts” of your papers are examples from the
story to help you prove your point.
They must be found in the story.
Direct quote: For example, the General gives
Rainsford the option to hunt or the General will
“turn him over to Ivan” (24).
Note: You are quoting the AUTHOR; therefore,
anything that is written may be quoted.
After each quote, remember PPP
◦ Parentheses, Page number, Period
 “I was very skared [sic]” (170). The period is always
last.
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Quotes
◦ Weave in quotes without speaker tags: DO NOT USE!! (he
said, “…” she expressed, “…” etc.)
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Also, we must shorten the quotes for emphasis.
◦ “I figured out a new way to line up the machines at the
factory and Mr. Donnegan says it will save him ten
thousand dollars a year in labor.
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Determine what can be omitted from the quote
and could be added in your own words.
◦ Charlie’s new found intelligence assists him at his work
by “figur[ing] out a new way to line up the machines at
the factory” (180).
◦ Use brackets to change sentences: [ing] or [ed]
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When we include our quote we must
remember: TLQ
◦ Transition
◦ Lead in
◦ Quote
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Original Sentence:
◦ “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me
and all the people I once knew and loved.”
For Example, although his newfound
intelligence allowed him to experience life
positively, he realized that it also had “driven
a wedge between me and all the people I
once knew and loved.”
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Use brackets to change tenses or add -ing to
words.
Also, you can use brackets and [sic] to signify a
typo made by the author.
◦ “I was very skared [sic].”
 The adverb sic—meaning "intentionally so written"—first
appeared in English circa 1856. It is derived from the Latin
adverb sīc, which contains a long vowel and means "so",
"thus", "as such" or "in such a manner".
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After each quote, remember PPP
◦ Parentheses, Page number, Period
 “I was very skared [sic]” (170). The period is always last.
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After the quotes, you need to provide at least two
sentences of analysis.
◦ The analysis should explain how the quote proves the
Topic Sentence.
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You CANNOT have facts in these sentences.
You must have two or more sentences of analysis
for each fact.
◦ Remember that you can always change your thesis and
topic sentences to fit your analysis.
◦ The analyses are the most important part of your essay.
◦ These sentences bring “YOU” into the literature. Your
voice/analyses is the important part of your paper.
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When a writer uses only a series of facts, the paper
is a book report. There are no individual
THOUGHTS.
Therefore, when writing literary analysis, you must
include opinions/explanations for your
facts/quotes.
Do NOT use first or second person, EVER!
◦ I, Me, My
◦ We, Us, Our, Ours
◦ You, Your, Yours
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Do NOT use
◦ should, would, could, maybe, may, might, must, seems,
probably
 These words signal irrelevant ideas or that you are unsure of
your thoughts.
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Avoid “Dead Words”:
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a lot
really
good
very
bad
mean
nice
dumb
and any other over-used, general terms
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Be sure to put the titles of short stories in
“quotation marks”.
Titles of novels should be underlined.
Be sure to spell main characters’ and authors’
names correctly.
Do not repeat key phrases. Come up with
new words. Use Thesaurus.
Keep all verbs in the same tense.
◦ DO NOT SWITCH TENSES!!!
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First sentence: General statement related to
theme in thesis. (Everyone can relate to)
◦ What is our thesis about…
◦ Society believes that ignorance equates to bliss, but
does that mean that intelligence always equates to
happiness. There are no easy routes to happiness.
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Second and/or third sentence: Another
general sentence(s) that narrow the topic
down to your thesis. (Relate more to the
story.)
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In the next sentence remember: AGTS
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Author
Genre
Title
Summarize how Charlie fits with the first two
sentences of the intro.
In Daniel Keyes’ short story “Flowers for
Algernon,” Charlie learns the truth.
This leads right into the thesis:
◦ His experimental surgery has positives and
negatives consequences.
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The conclusion begins with a restatement of
the thesis, not a repetition, and gradually
widens toward a final , broad statement of
implication.
Borrows from the body paragraphs, without
being flatly repetitive or listing points already
covered.
Creates echoes of the introduction and body
paragraphs to reinforce analysis/ ideas.
Moves outward with a statement that relates
the thesis to a broader implication
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Expand on the implications of your analysis:
So what? Why do we care about these ideas?
What’s so important about what you’ve
developed in your paper?
The conclusion need not be longer than
four to six sentences, as with the
introduction.
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Start specific, then get general and important.
Introduction
Conclusion