Writing About Literature

A few simple guidelines

It is always important to remember that an essay about literature is still just an essay. As such, you should not be forgetting the structure of an essay and should follow the same rules that you learned (hopefully) in ENC1101. Make sure you have a clear thesis statement at the end of the introduction with an X, Y, and Z. Body paragraphs should have topic sentences and should keep to one idea/topic per body paragraph. Explain yourself and give support -- point to a passage, include a quote. The conclusion should restate the thesis, typically as the first sentence. The last sentences of the conclusion should lead us out with statement of the relationship of story to world, look to future, give advice, or broaden the discussion of theme, for example.

This is all typical of the five paragraph essay. The only difference is that your subject is now a story or stories and your support will come directly from the story or stories, often in the form of quotes (exact words taken from the story).

There are a few things particular to writing about literature that need to be noted, however.

• Titles of short stories go in quotations marks; title of books are underlined or italicized.
  ex. Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" can be found in Literature for Composition.
• Write in present tense about the action of a story.
  ex. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard hears of her husband's death and dreams of her new life.
• Make sure you get the following items correct in your essays: titles of stories, names of characters, names of authors, direct quotes. These things are all there for you to see so there is no excuse for misspellings or inaccuracies.
• Introductions should always include the author's full name and the full title of the story. After that, authors can be referred to by their last names only.
• Introductions often include a very brief summary of the story's plot. Relevant background on the author or story may also be included.