L: Writing about Literature

LWriting about Literature

LWriting about Literature

L1 Reading to form an interpretation
a Reading actively
b Forming an interpretation
L2 Planning the paper
a Drafting a thesis
b Sketching an outline
L3 Writing the paper
a Drafting an introduction
b Supporting your interpretation; avoiding simple plot summary
L4 Observing conventions
a Referring to authors, titles, and characters
b Using the present tense
c Using MLA style to format quotations
L5 Integrating quotations from the text
a Distinguishing between the author and a narrator or speaker
b Providing context for quotations
c Avoiding shifts in tense
d Indicating changes in a quotation: using brackets and the ellipsis mark
e Enclosing embedded quotations in single quotation marks
f Using MLA style to cite passages from the work
L6 Using secondary sources
a Documenting sources
b Avoiding plagiarism
L7 Sample papers

An analysis of a poem

POEM: "Ballad of the Landlord," by Langston Hughes

An analysis of a short story (with secondary sources)

SHORT STORY: "A Jury of Her Peers," by Susan Glaspell