The structure of a literary argument is similar to the structure of any other argument: it includes a thesis statement in the introduction, supporting evidence, refutation of opposing arguments, and a strong concluding statement. However, unlike other arguments, literary arguments follow specific conventions for writing about literature:
In your essay’s first paragraph, include the author’s full name and the title of each work you are discussing.
Use present tense when discussing events in works of literature. For example, if you are discussing “I Stand Here Ironing,” you would say, “The mother worries [not worried] about her ability to provide for her child.” There are two exceptions to this rule. Use past tense when referring to historical events: “The Great Depression made things difficult for mothers like the narrator.” Also use past tense to refer to events that came before the action described in the work: “The mother is particularly vulnerable because her husband left her alone to support her children.”
Italicize titles of plays and novels. Put titles of poems and short stories in quotation marks.
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If you quote more than four lines of prose (or more than three lines of poetry), indent the entire quotation one inch from the left-
When mentioning writers and literary critics in the body of your essay, use their full names (“Emily Dickinson”) the first time you mention them and their last names only (“Dickinson,” not “Miss Dickinson” or “Emily”) after that.
Use MLA documentation style in your paper, and include a works-
In your in-