1. And Other Literary Arguments
Says Who?!
And Other Literary Arguments
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Did So! Did Not!
Who’s right? The winner in any dispute (except, perhaps, one involving fisticuffs) is likely to be the person with the most evidence to bear.
In analysis of literature, in particular, there are few absolute cases of black and white. Most interpretations need evidence to help them stand up in court!
Of course, you won’t be going to a legal court. But your argument does need to stand up to the scrutiny of your literary peers. This jury includes teachers, examiners, and even your own classmates.
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3. Argument? I’m Not Mad at Anybody!
Nor should you be. A literary “argument” does not require an enemy or even an opponent.
By “argument” we mean “making the case for” or providing evidence to show that something is true or at least reasonable.
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Literary Evidence
Literary evidence, like evidence in real life, involves:
Reason.
Reasonable Inference.
Direct Witness.
Facts.
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5. Use Evidence to Support a Generalization or Make a Point
Example:
Emily Dickinson’s poems tend to be short. In our anthology of 27 Dickinson poems, “I cannot live with you” is the longest poem by far at 205 words. Most of the other poems are less than half that size, the shortest being a mere 34 words.
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Numbers Count
Numbers, statistics, and other hard cold facts are hard to argue with. Even in literary argument, numbers persuade.
Example:
Emily Dickinson’s poems tend to be short. In our anthology of 27 Dickinson poems, “I cannot live with you” is the longest poem by far at 205 words. Most of the other poems are less than half that size, the shortest being a mere 34 words. Eight of the 27 poems have only eight lines each, at 34, 37, 42, 38, 36, 44, 35, and 41 words, respectively.
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7. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Provide illustration to support your point.
Literary illustration means
direct quotes,
indirect quotes and paraphrases, or
summaries.
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8. Easy. I Just Find a Quote and Use It.
Hold on. Here’s the wrong way to go:
Example:
Gertrude wants to deny responsibility for Hamlet’s actions. She says, “I do wish/That your good beauties be the happy cause/Of Hamlet’s wildness” (1396).
She says just doesn’t cut it. All quotes need context.
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Inserting Quotes
Never just plop a quote inside your analysis. When quoting fiction or drama, you need to identify who is talking, what is going on, and what the issue is under discussion.
Example:
At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully, “I do wish/That your good beauties be the happy cause/Of Hamlet’s wildness” (1396).
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Still Not Enough
But just providing the context for a quotation is not enough to allow the quote to supply the demands of evidence or illustration.
You need to follow up the quote with an examination of its relevance to the argument you are making.
See the next slide for an example of how a quote should be placed after the context but before the analysis.
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Tucked in the Middle
Example:
At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully, “I do wish/That your good beauties be the happy cause/Of Hamlet’s wildness” (1396). Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, but she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty and that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia can bear the burden of his outbursts.
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Look Again
Read the passage again. The context is UNDERLINED. The quotation is in ITALICS. The analysis is in BOLD.
At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully, “I do wish/That your good beauties be the happy cause/Of Hamlet’s wildness” (1396). Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, but she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty and that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia can bear the burden of his outbursts.
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Short and Sweet
Quotations need not be long to be effective. Even a word or two aptly used can make the case.
Example:
At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness could be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully that the girl’s “good beauties” (1396) might be the root of Hamlet’s problems. But Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, and she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty. She wants Hamlet’s love for Ophelia to bear the burden of his outbursts.
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Indirect Quotations
Use the same method for incorporating indirect quotes.
Example:
At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully that she wishes it was only Hamlet’s unreturned love for Ophelia that has led to his mood swings (1396). Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, but she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty and that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia can bear the burden of his outbursts.
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15. Summary and Paraphrase
When using summary and paraphrase follow the same process.
1. Make a point.
2. Prove it.
Introduce the quote, passage, scene, conversation, or incident.
Provide the quote, passage, scene, conversation, or incident through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary.
Analyze the quote, passage, scene, conversation, or incident by examining how it reveals the point you were discussing in the first place.
3. Tell us that you have proved your point.
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16. Fuller Example
Gertrude wants to deny responsibility for Hamlet’s actions. At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully that she wishes it was only Hamlet’s unreturned love for Ophelia that has led to his mood swings (1396). Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, but she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty and that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia can bear the burden of his outbursts. Rather than acknowledge that she has wronged both her husband and her son, she wants to put the blame on someone else.
Make the Point Provide the Evidence | Clinch the Point
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Use Evidence Honestly
Use some sense. Be sure that your quote, passage, scene, conversation, or incident DO INDEED support your point.
Incorrect Example:
Gertrude wishes that Hamlet would marry Ophelia. She says, “I do wish/That your good beauties be the happy cause/ Of Hamlet’s wildness” (1396).
Even if Gertrude DID wish Hamlet would marry Ophelia, this quotation would not support that point.
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Expert Witnesses
When you have time to do research, you may want to use quotations and paraphrases from sources outside your text to support points.
Handle these sources just the same way you handle passages from the text, itself—both embedding the quotes or paraphrases and commenting on them afterward.
See the example on the next slide.
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Example
Gertrude wants to deny responsibility for Hamlet’s actions. At the suggestion that Hamlet’s wildness might be the result of unrequited love, Gertrude approaches Ophelia and says hopefully that she wishes it was only Hamlet’s unreturned love for Ophelia that has led to his mood swings (1396). Gertrude knows that her own actions are behind Hamlet’s bad behavior, but she is trying to convince herself that she need not feel guilty and that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia can bear the burden of his outbursts. As Roberts and Zweig say in their introduction to the text of Hamlet, “Evil ensnares innocent and guilty alike” (1355). The editors acknowledge here that Gertrude has become infected by the poison that infects the kingdom. Rather than acknowledge that she has wronged both her husband and her son, she wants to put the blame on someone else.
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More Before and After
Note that when using an “expert witness,” here, too, the writer must provide both context before the quote and commentary after it.
As Roberts and Zweig say in their introduction to the text of Hamlet, “Evil ensnares innocent and guilty alike” (1355). The editors acknowledge here that Gertrude has become infected by the poison that infects the kingdom.
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21. Evidence Makes the Case
Provide ample evidence to support your arguments.
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