Some Common Errors in Your Essays

No thesis sentence or poorly constructed thesis sentences: A thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel. makes a claim that others might dispute. is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

The Thesis Statement The thesis statement tells your reader what to expect: it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative sentence that states the purpose of your essay -- the point you are trying to make. Without a carefully conceived thesis, an essay has no chance of success. The following are thesis statements which would work for a word literary analysis essay: Gwendolyn Brooks ‟ s 1960 poem “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” demonstrates how the poet uses the conventional poetic form of the ballad to treat the unconventional poetic subject of racial intolerance. The fate of the main characters in Antigone illustrates the danger of excessive pride. The imagery in Dylan Thomas ‟ s poem “Fern Hill” reveals the ambiguity of humans ‟ relationship with nature. Typically, the thesis statement falls at the end of your introductory paragraph.

No topic sentences or poorly constructed topic sentences. Topic sentence The topic sentence is to the paragraph what the thesis is to the entire paper. That is, a paragraph's topic sentence states the claim or argument of that paragraph. The topic sentence usually asserts a claim that will support one part of the paper's larger thesis. For example, imagine that the paper's thesis is "e" from the thesis handout: By the end of "Sonny's Blues," the narrator is liberated from his warped personality; he finally begins to feel, which means he will be freed from his fear and sadness. This paper has a lot to prove. It must begin by proving that the narrator does indeed have a "warped" personality. Thus, the topic sentence of that paragraph might be: Though many readers may sympathize with the narrator because his brother is addicted to heroin, the narrator actually begins as a hardened, unfeeling man. Two scenes show his lack of compassion. Notice that, like a thesis, a topic sentence can be more than one sentence if necessary.

Too much plot summary, not enough support, proof, or analysis. Support: Support or evidence usually refers to quotations from or summary of the literary work. Without support, your topic sentence will go unproven and your paragraph will fall flat. (If your topic sentence does not seem to require support, it probably isn't an effective topic sentence to begin with). Working with the topic sentence above, we might use the following two pieces of evidence: 1. The way the narrator treats and thinks about Sonny's friend (pp ). 2. The narrator's flashback to his encounter with Sonny in the Greenwich Village (p. 62). Analysis: With analysis, you tell your reader how you want him or her to understand the quotation or summary you have provided as support. As a writer, you can't necessarily assume that your reader will draw the same conclusions you have drawn from the evidence. For example, some people might interpret the narrator's treatment of Sonny's friend as kind, because he gives the friend a cigarette and some money. But that interpretation doesn't work for your argument, so you need to elaborate, through your analysis, on your own interpretation. Thus, support and analysis go hand in hand.

Too much plot summary, not enough support or analysis. Here's an example of some analysis following the support cited above. The green sentences are primarily analytical, while the red ones convey the evidence itself: The narrator shows how cruel and unfeeling he is when he meets Sonny's friend on the street. Adopting a sarcastic tone, the narrator questions the friend's motives: "You come all the way down here to just tell me about Sonny?" We can see in this tone that the narrator doubts that the friend truly cares for Sonny. The narrator also swears at the friend, saying "you're pretty goddamn smart, I bet," and offers him no sympathy for his "sad story," declaring that he wishes the friend had a pistol so he could kill himself (49). These reactions to the friend show the narrator's anger at the situation Sonny is in, but also convey a stark lack of compassion for those less fortunate than himself. In fact, the narrator's anger seems to fuel his lack of compassion. In the flashback scene, we find out that the narrator has been angry with Sonny before, for when the narrator visits Sonny in his Greenwich Village apartment, he tells Sonny that he "might just as well be dead as live the way he was living" (62). These scenes depict the narrator's warped personality; his anger and fear have made him cruel, almost sadistic.

Support The skillful use of textual evidence -- summary, paraphrase, specific detail, and direct quotations -- can illustrate and support the ideas you are developing in your essay. However, textual evidence should be used judiciously and only when it directly relates to your topic. The correct and effective use of textual evidence is vital to the successful literary analysis essay. Summary If a key event or series of events in the literary work support a point you are trying to make, you may want to include a brief summary, making sure that you show the relevance of the event or events by explicitly connecting your summary to your point. Below is an effective summary (with its relevance clearly pointed out) from the essay already quoted above on "The Secret Lion" (B): The boys find the grinding ball, but later attempt to bury it (SUMMARY). Burying it is their futile attempt to make time stand still and to preserve perfection (RELEVANCE).

Types of Support Paraphrase You can make use of paraphrase when you need the details of the original, but not necessarily the words of the original: paraphrase to put someone else's words into your own words. Below is an example (also from the paper on "The Secret Lion") of how to "translate" original material into part of your own paper: Original: "I was twelve and in junior high school and something happened that we didn't have a name for, but it was nonetheless like a lion, and roaring, roaring that way the biggest things do." Paraphrase: Early in the story, the narrator tells us that when he turned twelve and started junior high school, life changed in a significant way that he and his friends could not quite name or identify.

Support Specific Detail Various types of details from the text lend concrete support to the development of the central idea of your literary analysis essay. These details add credibility to the point you are developing. Below is a list of some of the details which could have been used in the developmental paragraph from the paper on John Updike's short story "A & P" (see the paragraph again for which details were used and how they were used). "usual traffic" "fluorescent lights" "checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor" "electric eye" shoppers like "sheep," "house slaves," and "pigs" neatly stacked food dynamite

Incorrectly Incorporated Quotations or Incorrectly Cited Quotations Using Direct Quotations can illuminate and support the ideas you are trying to develop. A judicious use of quoted material will make your points clearer and more convincing. As with all the textual evidence you use, make sure you explain how the evidence is relevant—let the reader know why the quotes you cite are significant to your argument.

Frequent Grammar, Spelling, Capitalization, and Usage Errors Use the “My Editor” mode of the My Access Program to identify and correct major errors in grammar and usage. Use a dictionary to correct misspelled words. Now visit my webpage and read “How to write a Literary Analysis Essay”