Tips & Samples

Format

• Include page numbers in the upper right-hand corner with your last name.  ie.  Brinkmann 2

• Exception: first page has no number. 

• BE SURE TO WRITE IN PRESENT TENSE WHEN WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE
  After Mufasa dies, Simba feels so guilty that he leaves the Pridelands.
  NOT After Mufasa died, Simba felt so guilty that he left the Pridelands.

Title

• The headline for your paper. Should be unique and interesting. The best titles are usually done after the paper is written.

• Consider: Would you rather watch TV Drama, or Lost? Soap Opera, or The Young and the Restless. Do not use “My Essay” or the title(s) of the book(s), the authors already have.    

Tips:

        1. Short phrase: Connection to character and/ or text

        2. Be creative

        3. Watch length

        4. No bold, underline, or italics (book titles still in italics)

        5. Capitalize the first letter each word - except articles "the, a, an" and
            coordinating conjunctions "FANBOYS", and prepositions "at, by, to", etc..

Samples:

• Who's to Blame?: Juliet and Romeo Are Victims of Their Parents

• Admitting and Forgiving: The Internal Conflict of John Proctor in The Crucible

Hook

Tips:

1. Don't over-generalizing - "Everyone has been in conflict in life..."

2. Don't use (dictionary) definitions

3. Don't pose questions

4. Don't use plot summary

5. Do make statements relevant to your thesis' topic by rewording a provided prompt or explaining a theme - your thesis will answer "how" and "why" with details specific to the characters/ text.

6. Do follow through on a hook in conclusion ("So What?")

Sample:

• Strong: Someone with strong morals should have empathy for others, but setting limits is necessary for good mental health. (Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees) 

• Advanced: In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, secrecy leads individuals towards insanity and physical degeneration.

Introductory paragraph

Tips:

        1. Follow funnel format - General to specific

        2. Hook → examples from body paragraphs → thesis

        3. Include TAG (title, author, genre)

Topic sentences

Tips:

1. Must introduce example in body paragraph

2. Must also tie to thesis

Sample:

Thesis: McMurphy is able to defeat Big Nurse because of his moral flaws. (Cuckoo's Nest)

1. Topic sentence #1: McMurphy gambles to make a profit, but at the same time his gambling unites the patients.

2. Topic sentence #2: McMurphy is an aggressive figure, in both personality and actions, which gives him the power to attack Big Nurse and then transfer that power to the patients.

3. Topic sentence #3: McMurphy disrespects and uses women, which benefits him in disarming Big  Nurse and stealing her power to free the patients.

Quote sandwich

Tips:

        Also see Quote sandwiches 

Sample:

Abigail refuses to believe that Proctor doesn't have any feelings for her, and whenever he tries to convince her otherwise, she blames his wife. Abigail talks with Proctor about their past, telling him that, "It's she who put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out and you loved me then and you do now!" (22). Because of her resentment of Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail eventually uses her influence in the trials to take revenge against her and pave a path for her to be with John Proctor.

Citations:

First citation of primary text "Quoted text inside quotation marks" (Miller 21). Any following     citations "Quoted text" (35).

Secondary texts "Quoted text" (Gilman 135) or "Quoted text" (Cool Hand Luke).

Re-quoting uses single quotation marks - 'you loved me then'.

Concluding paragraph

Tips:

        1.  Follow reverse funnel format - Specific to general

        2. Thesis > examples from body paragraphs > tie back to hook (if possible) & "so what"

        3. "So what?" is insight about characters, text and/ or literature or life. 

Sample "So what?"

The pursuit of the past, especially when it was built on a false belief to start, can only result  
    in self-destruction. Living in the present is the only thing that really can lead to fulfilling a   
    dream.       

Creative assignments

Tips:

1. Capture character's voice (realistic - there should be textual evidence to support your interpretation)

2. Include accurate details from the text, but not as a list (including dates)

3. Describe, don't tell

4. Include insights about characters

5. Fully address requirements (not a brief sentence)

Samples:

• When I lived with my dear mother she stressed to me the importance of writing down events in the saga of my life. As a child I did not understand why this was important, but with her recent passing, I have decided to carry on her tradition and begin a diary of my own.

• Today is the day of my punishment. I wait, as time crawls by, with this new being in my hands.

• Instead of - She seemed unusually confident, prideful, and even a little bit arrogant, Try - Whatever becomes of me, I will not let the scarlet letter become my identity. Nor will I back down from these people and show them weakness.

• ...they have taken out their fear, which they disguise as fury, on my child...

• ...I wanted to remain a dedicated Puritan, but after learning much about the science and medicines from the Indians, I strongly believed in much more than just God.