LITERARY ESSAY REVIEW Conclusion Focus

Tips for Literary Essays  STEP 1  Be 100% sure you understand the topic  Use the dictionary to help you break down the topic question  Remember to think of context when determining which definition best suits the topic question. Many times, essay topics deal with the human condition and/or experience.  Before you ask me for help, I need to see evidence that you have attempted to understand the question ON YOUR OWN

Tips for Literary Essays  STEP 2  Develop your thesis and blueprint  Remember that the thesis MUST answer the question specifically & explicitly  Consider double checking your thesis with me BEFORE you plan the rest of your essay

Tips for Literary Essays  STEP 3  Plan the body paragraphs  Think of points/examples to prove your thesis  Look for quotations to support your claims  Think about the possible implications you can address or make regarding the reasons WHY characters act a certain way  Think about possible symbols/literary devices that the author uses to help supplement or emphasize certain aspects

Introduction

 The introduction of a literary essay has three sections to it. This paragraph is responsible for introducing the topic of the essay, the specific details the essay will develop and the thesis, or central idea the essay will focus on. General Topic Sentence Motivator Background Information re: the literature Thesis & Blueprint

The Body Paragraphs

Topic Sentence - What are you going to prove? Point 1 - Proof - DiscussionPoint 2 - Proof - DiscussionPoint 3 - Proof - DiscussionConcluding Sentence / Transition

Conclusion

Re-state thesis & blueprint Summarize Points Briefly Clincher & Universal Appeal

Conclusion A crisis of faith ultimately broke Ophelia’s mind in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Her initial honourable and just view of the world was shattered by the sight of Hamlet’s diseased mind. Ophelia accepted both Hamlet’s madness and the reasons for it without question and his poisoned mind tainted her own until she became the true duplicate of his insanity. Ophelia was too easy to persuade, her mind too open to be protected. As innocence was turned to cynicism, Ophelia’s mind fractured from the loss. There was no flaming beacon of truth and justice to guide her, it had been drowned in a sea of doubt and tragedy. Her delicate mind spun further into the twisted workings of Hamlet’s trap until she could no longer escape. The mind is so frail, so susceptible to damage that it struggles when hope and faith are lost. In the complexity of the brain, small impulses shake the filament-like tissue; this delicate structure mirroring the fragility of sanity.

REQUIREMENTS  a) no slang  b) no contractions  c) present tense  d) quotations and paraphrasing  e) effective title  f) required paragraph number and structure