Expectations for Formal Analytical Writing About Literature

(These are specifically chosen as relevant to my classes, but you should find that following these guidelines will satisfy the expectationsof most other HS and college writingassignments as well.)

Mr. Nulf

INTEGRITY-This is the most important quality. All other qualities of your writing rest upon this, and become completelyuseless (to you as a learner, to the teacher, to the world) without it.

Your writing and thinking must be YOURS. It is perfectly OK, and sometimes desirable to use ideas of other, but you must always cite them.

Consider the extent to which you insult yourself, and anyunfortunate readers when what you are writing is blindly pastedfrom somewhere else…

Purpose + Audience-

You are always writing TO someone, and FOR something.

Make sure you have a sense of what you are writing for, and to whom you are writing, and keep these in mind as you write.

In general, for analytical writing, you are writing for the teacher, but should always think of yourself as writing to your classmates as well, and to a select group of people who have also read and thought about the texts you are discussing. Your purpose is always about articulating your insights.

Insight (Analysis)-

Even if you are not confident about the ideas, don’t forget thatthe main reason you are writing for these assignments is to practice Critical Thinking.

You are almost never writing to summarize the plot.

If you include quotes, you must use them to build/inform your ideas.

Often the full insight is not clear until after you write for a while – oftenyou must go back over your writing after you finish a draft, so that you can understand and clarify your own insights for the reader.

Voice-

Usually, formal analytical writing is in “third person” voice, which meansyou should avoid personal pronouns (I, You, We) in explaining your ideas.

I noticed that Emily used no punctuation in her poem, whichmade me a little confused at first, but then I thought that maybeit was because she was upset when she wrote it.

VS

The fact that Dickenson used no punctuation in this poem, while initially confusing to the reader, ultimately helps to depict the agitation of the speaker.

Voice II-

HOWEVER, not ALL analytical assignments are in Third Person voice.Many assignments (exploratory essays, or “responses” to readings) willactually encourage you to use a first person voice.

If you are not sure whether to use 3rd person voice – ASK.

First person voice for academic writing, though, should still be formal and thoughtful. STILL refer to authors by last name, for instance.

Even if you are in FIRST PERSON voice, you should generally try to eliminatephrases like “In my opinion…” or “I think…,” since the audience is already aware of the fact that they are reading your opinions.

Avoid slang or colloquialisms.

“I, like, think, and stuff; therefore I

am, yo. LOL!”

Design-

Some assignments will ask you to follow a particular set structure; some won’t.

Thesis-based essays, for instance, require intro, body paragraphs, and conclusions.

If no structure is mandated, the structure and design of your writing should always bedesigned to best develop and serve your insights.

Use paragraphs thoughtfully – try to be sure each has a purposeful topic, relatedto previous and subsequent topics.

Use transitions, where helpful/appropriate, to clarify your design and progression.

Do not use transitions just to use transitions.

Citation- “ … “When you are first introducing quotes or specific detail from another workinto your writing, you should state the name of the author and work.

In his essay, “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau challenges readersto consider whether they offer themselves nearly enough time for getting out and really observing / enjoying the world around them.

NOTE: Titles of essays or articles by other authors should be offset by quotation marks (see next page).

Citation II –(Titles) Always Capitalize and offset titles as follows:

Italicize “Quotation Marks”

Book Titles “Short Stories”

Film Titles “Essays”

Plays “Articles”

Epic Poems (Paradise Lost, The Odyssey…)

“Shorter Poems”

“Chapter Titles”

“Song Titles”

• Underline titles (from left column above) only when

handwriting (this is new as of 2011).

Citation III- Block quotes:When using quotes that will take up 4 or more lines of your paper, you shouldoffset the quote with narrower margins, and single-space. You do not need to use quotation marks for these.

In his essay, “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau challenges readers to consider whether they

give themselves nearly enough time to really observe and appreciate the world around them, and

even wonders how most people don’t go insane.When sometimes I am reminded that the mechanics andshopkeepers stay in their shops not only all the forenoon, but all the afternoon too, sitting with crossed legs, so manyof them—as if the legs were made to sit upon, and not to stand or walk upon—I think that they deserve some credit for not having all committed suicide long ago. (3)

Citing IV - parenthetical citations (MLA Style)

According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.

According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184).

(examples from Purdue University OWL site)http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ (<<MORE DETAIL, HERE)

• In parentheses, put only page number, and, in some cases, author’s name.

• If you have stated the name of the author in your sentence, you don’t need it in the parentheses.

• Note that there is no punctuation inside the parentheses.• Note that the commas and/or periods from the sentence go

AFTER the parentheses. (Sigh… Unless you are using block quotes. See prev. page).

Note: If you are citing from a book, use that page number. If you are citing from a class handout, use the page number on that. If it is a poem, use line number. For Shakespeare plays, use Act, Scene and line numbers.

Citation V- more punctuation weirdness…

When YOUR QUOTATION ends in ? or !, those marks have to stay inside the quote, and you must leave the end of your parentheses hanging with NO end mark.

Shakespeare may not have anticipated the double truth embodied in Brutus’s proclamation, “How many ages hence / Shall this our lofty scene be acted over / In states unborn and accents yet unkown!”(III, i, 125-127)

If YOUR SENTENCE ends in a ? or !, though, you should put that end-mark AFTER the parentheses.

Could Shakespeare possibly have known “How many ages hence” the “lofty scene” he immortalized in Julius Caesar would be “acted over / In states unborn and accents yet unknown” (III, i, 125-127)?

Note: When quoting poetry, if your quote covers multiple lines of the poem, you should designate line breaks with the forward slash, as shown.

Citation VI – Efficient use of Text

• Select quotes carefully – using just the words or phrases from a passage which are most important to your developing idea, and which you intend to address.

• Blend the quotes into the syntax of your ideas. The less clunky the better.

In the following quote, Patsy Stoneman describes early critical reaction to Wuthering Heights, “Thus bereft of landmarks, the earliest readers of Wuthering Heights found it ‘a strange sort of book, -baffling all regular criticism.’ The main problem was that they could not work out its moral standpoint”(viii).

VS

Wuthering Heights has confused critics since its initial publication. The novel’s “earliest readers,” according to modern critic Patsy Stoneman, “found it a strange sort of book, -baffling” to “all regular criticism”(viii).

REVIEW:

INTEGRITY PURPOSE + AUDIENCEINSIGHT (ANALYSIS)VOICEDESIGNCITATIONS

RATIONALE:While these standards can be initially confusing, they are used and required by the academic community (teachers, professors, writers, fellow students, and you) to make it easier for all of us to communicate effectively while dealing with highly complex and nuanced ideas. We are participating in an ages old conversation about language and ideas, and in order to respect all other participants in this conversation, and give credit where it is due, we all agree to try and meet these basic expectations.

Great Resources for Writing:

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/