English Composition IIClass 2: Writing About Literature

How to Write About Literature

The Four Stages

Like all formal writing, writing about literature happens in three distinct stages:

Planning

Drafting

Revising and editing

(if your writing requires research, that can be its own step)

Planning

Considering your audience How much does your audience know about your

topic? How much background information do they need?

For example, can you assume that your audience has read the text you’re writing about? If so, you probably don’t have to summarize, unless it will help support your overall argument.

Understand your purpose What are you trying to accomplish through your

writing?

Writing to respond: your reactions and understanding of a text

Writing to interpret: explain the possible meanings of a text through examples, summary, compare/contrast, analysis.

Writing to evaluate: What are the text’s literary merits?

Planning: Choosing a Topic

Do you have a specific assignment or is it more open ended?

Exams: fairly short answers (just a few sentences), with more narrow questions.

Assignments: Much more leeway to choose your topic and write about a topic you find interesting.

Be sure to understand the assignment before you start

What are you being asked to do?

What is the expected format?

Writing about literature doesn’t have to be boring or formulaic. Write about something that interests you!

Finding Something to Say

How to find the perfect idea Freewrite/Brainstorm: for 5 minutes, just write or

type without stopping or looking at what you’re doing. Ask yourself questions. Talk to yourself, interrogate yourself and the text, and see if something sparks your imagination.

Make notes as you read

The assignments are already available. Read them in advance and keep them in the back of your mind as you read the literature. If something jumps out at you, write it down for later.

At this stage, no idea is a bad idea. They’re still just possibilities!

Finding Your Thesis

A topic is the first step, but what really makes the paper is your THESIS or argument.

What are you trying to prove through your writing? What questions are you trying to answer?

The thesis (and thesis statement) will help shape and guide the rest of your writing.

The entire paper/assignment is in support of your thesis.

Let’s Write a Paper!

How and why does Andrew Marvell use hyperbole in his poem, “To His Coy Mistress”?

Understanding the Question

What is hyperbole? Noun

1. Obvious and intentional exaggeration.

2. An extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

(source: dictionary.com)

Andrew Marvell

“To His Coy Mistress”

(1681)

Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day. Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust; The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Words/phrases I don’t understand

Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day. Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust; The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Brainstorming / Freewriting

Lots of hyperbole in this poem.

He wants his girlfriend to sleep with him and he’ll basically say anything to get her to agree.

She’s not easily convinced. But if he goes over the top, maybe she’ll be so enamored that she’ll say yes.

Regular pleading isn’t enough. I’LL JUST DIE IF YOU DON’T SLEEP WITH ME AND THEN YOU’LL DIE TOO, AND WHERE WILL WE BE THEN? HMMMM?

He’s hyperbolic but in a poetic way; he tries to couch his begging in beautiful language and phrases, to make it seem like he worships her, and would worship her til the end of time, if only it were that easy.

Possible quotations to use in paper – lines that show hyperbole

Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day. Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews.My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust; The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Developing a Thesis

Your thesis is the argument that shapes everything you will write. Ask yourself these questions:

Does your thesis statement make clear to readers what position you’re taking?

Can you support your thesis with evidence from the text (and from outside research, if necessary)?

Is your thesis complex enough to support the required length?

If you have to write a 5 page paper, your thesis needs to be complex enough to fill 5 pages. A simple argument can fill a paragraph. Can it fill 5 pages?

What should our thesis be?

First Draft “To His Coy Mistress” uses hyperbole to get his

girlfriend to sleep with him because he thinks it will help him get what he wants.

What do you think?

What should we add/change and why?

Will this set us up for a strong paper?

Supporting your argument

“Many literary arguments are built on assertions –statements made about a debatable topic – backed by evidence – supporting examples in the form of references to the text, quotations, and the opinions of literary critics” (Kirszner 35).

If your assertion is factual or obvious, it doesn’t need to be supported.

For example: poems are divided into stanzas.

Or: ice is cold.

Or: George Washington was the first president of the United States.

Elements of a Literary Argument

Introduction Should orient readers to the subject of your essay,

presenting the issue you will discuss and explaining its significance.

Should make your reader want to keep going: The Hook

Thesis statement In most literary arguments, this will come toward

the end of your introduction.

Background Any information your readers will need to

understand both the text and your argument.

Arguments in support of your thesis Once your reader has enough information, present

your argument and support it with evidence, including quotations from the text.

Conclusion Leave them with something to think about.

A reminder of the quotations we liked

Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day. Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews.My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust; The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Our paper in progress

What should our hook be? How would that draw in our reader?

Our thesis statement so far

If we’re writing a short answer, which quotation would be the most effective in proving our thesis?

How much of the quotation should we use?

What should we say about it?

How do we correctly cite it?

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s words or ideas as if they were your own.

(I plagiarized this from the textbook. Since I didn’t cite it, unless you recognized it from the book, you would have thought I wrote it.)

How to avoid plagiarism

Most plagiarism is unintentional – maybe you’re taking notes and forget to write down where something is from. When you go back to your notes, you mistakenly think you wrote it.

Be sure to always write down the source when you’re taking notes. Keep the citation with the notes, so they’re not accidentally separated.

Document all material/quotations/paraphrasing from other sources.

Be careful when cutting/pasting text from other sources. It’s too easy to forget it’s a quotation unless you mark it properly.

Record full documentation for all sources and keep a list of your sources.

How to cite a source

Every time you quote someone else’s words, you need to properly cite them in two ways:

Inline citation within your writing

Works cited page at the end

Citing Our Quotation

While taking notes and prepping for this paper, I jotted down the necessary information about the text:

“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, on pages 594-595.

I also checked the page the quotation was on, which is 594 (because we’ll need to cite the exact page).

Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Edited by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell

Published by Cengage Learning in Boston, 2016.

NOW WE FORMAT!

Formatting our works cited page

Works Cited

Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2016. 594-595. Print.

Formatting our inline citation

Because most information about our source will be in the works cited page, we don’t need to include much here beyond the page number.

If we were quoting a scholar or an article, where the writer was different from the literary text we’re discussing, we would include that author’s name as well.

For example: In her discussion of hyperbole in “To His Coy Mistress,” Hermione Granger states, “xxxxxxxxx” (15).

Or, if we don’t mention the author in the text, we would include it in the citation: (Granger 15).

Formatting our inline citation

Marvell stresses the quick passage of time as the primary reason why his coy mistress should give in to his advances, reminding her that while the grave is “a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace” (594).

Learning MLA Style

It’s a matter of figuring out what kind of source you’re using and finding the correct formula.

Plug in your information to the formula, and you’ll always get it right.

Keep the guidelines handy!

OWL at Purdue: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/