Literary Analysis Essay Feedback “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

My Codes TS = topic sentence CD = concrete detail (fact, quote, statistic from research) CM = commentary (your thoughts, analysis, and explanation) CS = concluding sentence (summarizes the paragraph) T = transition PT = present tense verbs Anything circled or underlined needs attention Org = problem with organization S/F = sentences fluency W/C = word choice Exp = explain Dev = develop ( ) = needs a citation ? Needs explanation Rep = repetitive word or idea

Problem #1: Organization Intro: Hook, background, thesis Body: Each body paragraph needs a topic sentence (your claim), at least one concrete detail (fact, quote, or statistic from your research), and at least two sentences of commentary (your thoughts, analysis, explanation and development), and a concluding sentence (summarizes the paragraph) Conclusion: summarizes the essay, leaves the reader with a thought to ponder, ties back into hook to come full circle

Problem #2: Sentence Fluency The easiest way to solve your SF problem? READ your paper out loud!! You will hear the choppy parts and the parts where you are rambling on forever without a chance to take a breath. In addition, be aware of places where you get STUCK. If YOU get STUCK, your reader will also get STUCK. UNSTICK IT!! Rewrite the sentence until it flows easily off the tongue.

Problem #3: Verb Tense When writing about literature of any kind, we use present tense verbs (called the “literary present”). For example, “Anne Frank complains about her roommate, Mr. Pfeffer.” When writing about a historical event, use past tense verbs. If your book is historical, you may have a mix of present and past tense verbs, but remember- when writing about your book, PRESENT TENSE! If you see a “PT” on your paper, check all of your verbs.

Other Problems Avoid contractions (can’t can not) Avoid personal pronouns (no I, me, my, or you, your, etc.) could of, is could have People that play video games is people who Friends and family that live far away who Spell out numbers 1-10, use numerals anything larger

Citation Problems Never put the source or website in your parenthetical citation (New York Times), (PETA), or (discovery.com) Instead, you write the last name of the author and page number if there is one If you cannot find the author’s name, use the first 2 or three words of the title of the article or web page (“Shark Populations”) Make sure your period goes after the citation: (Larson 4). With ? or ! include both ? (Larson 4).

You need a Works Cited section! If you need help formatting this, ask me for a handout or Google MLA formatting, or MLA works cited, or MLA works cited sample. If you can’t figure this out on your own, please come in at lunch for help or use an online citation maker like citationmachine.net.