Paper Guidelines For ENG222H --paper #1

Guidelines For the First Literature Paper in ENG222H

(PLEASE READ ALL GUIDELINES AND INFORMATION.)

GUIDELINES:

GENERAL --
Your paper should be roughly 1300-1600 words long. (Please doublespace and use New Times Roman 12-point font, single-sided printing.)
The point of the paper is to show that you have a very good grasp of one or more of the works we read, that you can have and coherently share an insight (a thesis) about this literary work that goes beyond ideas and other material from our class discussions, and that you can argue persuasively, using specific evidence, especially quotes from the literary text, to show that your insight is correct.
What is most crucial is to have specific, fully developed, well-organized, and well-supported ideas while avoiding any needless repetition and irrelevant extra material. For example, summarize only what is particularly relevant to your point(s) and do so only where it is needed.
More generally, for every sentence you write, you want to feel confident that you know why that sentence is there, why in that paragraph, and why at that point in the paper.
USING QUOTES -- Think carefully about the quotes you use as evidence, choosing those that most specifically give the right type of information or raise the right type of question for the reader. Make sure to use a quote when appropriate rather than just summarizing some observation you've made about the text. Make sure you clear indicate the connection between your quote and the point you are making with it, especially when the connection is indirect or metaphoric.
Also, one of the tricks to using quotes in your writing is to consider ways to incorporate them into the structure of your sentences and paragraphs. Try not to let them float in your paper like detached little written icebergs, breaking what you want to be the smooth process for your intended audience of following along with your ideas.
CITING WORK -- You should not use any outside source other than the literary work(s) under discussion (unless you get advance approval from me). You must, of course, cite all quotes, paraphrases, and borrowed ideas properly and include a bibliography (or "Works Cited") page even if your topic involves using just one literary work as your source.)
TITLE AND TITLE PAGE --
Your work needs an appropriate title, which should be on a separate title page with your name and other relevant information. An appropriate title is directed; it gives the reader a hint about the main point you will be making in your paper. In fact, knowing you have a title that characterizes or strongly alludes to your perspective in the paper is one good indication that your paper itself has direction. The title(s) of the literary work(s) you are referencing should not be the title of your work. Extra literary analysis title tip: Great titles in works of literary analysis also often attempt to capture the reader's attention. (Here's one hypothetical example: "Books and Gardens: The Location of Women's Power in Speculative Fiction" :))

DEVELOPING A THESIS:

The topic you chose hopefully makes sense to you and, ideally, also seems at least a little interesting. :) Now you must find some very specific stance (point of view) that you can argue for on that topic. Your thesis is your stance, your answer to the topic prompt. Remember that this is not a personal response paper; it's a persuasive analysis, which may be a new type of writing for you. You will need a thesis that you can support with very specific arguments and for which you do not see any blatant counter-evidence that you can't eliminate.

To start developing a thesis, you can ask yourself questions like these: In what way is the personality or behaviour of one or more of the characters in the text(s) relevant to this topic? How, if at all, do specific moments in the plot relate to this topic? Does the setting relate to this topic? What particular images or metaphors does the author use that might relate to this topic? Are there any particular lines from the text that stick in my mind and seem to sum up an idea related to this topic? etc.
Next, look for patterns in what you have observed. Alternatively, you could find it helpful to start by making a list of possible points of view on this topic and to then look for evidence to support the various sides, choosing the point of view that works with the evidence or determining that the right point of view lies somewhere in between two different points of view on your original list.
Before you begin writing a draft of the paper, you should have at least a tentative answer to these questions: What conclusion(s) have you reached? What would be an informative title, in light of these conclusions, for your paper? Will you have plenty of specific excerpts from the text(s) to discuss in support of your conclusion? Will you have something to say about any apparent counter-evidence against your conclusion? In the process of writing the draft, you may change your mind about some of your answers or even your overall stance; that's absolutely fine! Just make sure that you do leave time for editing and that your final draft is completely consistent with your final thesis. Hint: Neither take a more absolute stand than you think you can support nor resort to cliches as arguments.

Finally, Here Are Some Writing TIPS --
Start by considering the questions you have about this type of paper. This may be a new type of writing for you. Allow yourself the time to work on this skill. From my perspective, the best papers will achieve elegance in language and thought, but on the other extreme, the writing problems I find most problematic are the ones that decrease the basic effectiveness of your communication. Here are a few things to consider:

As one example, while you are right to try for a moderately formal writing style and to avoid slang, it is dangerous to use terminology you don't completely understand. If a simple, non-slang word you already know expresses your meaning exactly, use it. If not, carefully research the correct word and learn how to use it in a sentence. This generally requires more than a dictionary/thesaurus. If you find yourself needing to use the same word over and over and can't be sure an alternative in your thesaurus really has exactly the right meaning in your context or if you're not sure exactly how that word is used in a sentence, try paraphrasing your whole sentence instead. (As a starting point for word choice decisions, there is a link to the OED below.)

Watch out too for word and phrase choices that could seem ambiguous to your reader. Watch too for sentence (and paragraph) structures that leave a reader to guess how your current point relates to what you've said so far or that distract a reader away from your ideas with awkward phrasing. Nothing ruins a great point like a sentence that has to be re-read several times! (Bad word choices, random tense changes, run-on and incomplete sentences, and dangling modifiers can all do this. Ask me, if you don't know how to identify some of these things.)

It's also important not to expect your first draft to be perfect or even "good enough.” The most naturally talented writers can nonetheless write some truly horrible sentences and have some very confusing passages or connections in their first drafts. Really!! Expect to do some editing.

Finally, sometimes when you think you're having a problem with the "writing", what's really causing the problem is that you are a bit fuzzy on the details of your thoughts or the logical structure of your argument. It requires careful thinking and intellectual craftsmanship to make a good argument, writing factors aside. If you find that you keep saying to yourself, "I know what I want to say but I just don't know how to write it," ask a friend to let you talk out loud about the idea (but remember that, unlike your friend, your reader will need you to get it right the first time because he/she can't ask questions.) If you can't talk clearly through your thoughts yet, you might want to try outlining them. Maybe you haven't completely made up your mind what you believe? Or, maybe you're trying to make a couple points at once? It might be that you need to make some more logical choices before you can share your thoughts coherently.