The literary essay

A literary essay focuses on such elements as structure, character, theme, style, tone, and subtext. You
are taking a piece of writing and trying to discover how and why it is put together the way it is. You
must adopt a viewpoint on the work in question and show how the details of the work support your
viewpoint.

A literary essay is just another form of the expository essay in which you must:

 Discuss or express an opinion on something, or argue a point of view. In a literary essay, you
are given a topic or question about a text you've been studying, and your job is to discuss it in
writing.
 give evidence to support your opinion or ideas. You must give specific examples from the text to
support the points you make . Include quotations.

Here is one such question you may be asked:

"Discuss two or three themes or issues dealt with in the novel you have just studied and explain
how the ending of the novel made you think about one of these themes."

Step 1 - Read the question

If you think this is the easy bit, think again! Students often write essays which make very good points
but they forget to check whether they have answered exactly what the question asked. Questions at
this level use words like

Discuss - Evaluate - Compare or contrast - Explain - Show how

They don't ask you just to summarise the plot or describe what happened in your novel. You'll be
asked to comment on some aspects of the novel. The question often asks you to do more than one
thing in your essay, too. You need to look carefully for the key words to find out what these are.

You can see that the question is in two parts. You'll need to answer both parts in your essay.

Checklist for reading the question

1. First reading: Read the whole question to get the general sense.
2. Second reading :Underline the key words and number the separate parts of the question.
3. Third reading : Explain the question to yourself!

Step 2 - Jot down ideas

A good way to get started is to divide a page into two and jot down the main points you think you'll
make on the left, and the evidence you will provide to support your points on the right, like this

Main points Evidence from novel

Theme 1 -  Jem goes back to rescue his trousers.
Courage  Atticus stands up to the lynch mob.

 Mrs Dubose fights off her morphine habit.

You must refer to specific details, characters, incidents from the novel in your essay to show that you
have read it closely.

Step 3 - Make a Plan : Structure of your essay

It is very important to make a plan of your essay before you start writing it. This helps you to organise
your points into the best order. It will also give a clear shape or structure to your essay. Your plan could look
something like this:

Introductio Paragraph Answer the question and briefly state the main points you'll cover in the
 essay. Mention the title of work and writer. Include your thesis
n 1 statement which you will develop in the body of your essay. Don’t start
developing your points at this stage.

Paragraph Main point - Theme or issue 1 Examples - supporting evidence from

Main body
2 the novel.

Paragraph Main point - Theme or issue 2 Examples - supporting evidence from

 
3 the novel.

Paragraph Main point - Theme or issue 3 Examples - supporting evidence from

 
4 the novel.

Main point - Ending, how it made me think about a theme. (You may
Paragraph
  want to add more paragraphs. Check that you have covered all parts of
5
the question).

Final
Conclusion Sums up the main points and refers back to the original question.
paragraph

Write a plan or outline for your essay now.

Step 4 - Write a first draft:

Introduction - Your opening sentence should

 state what your essay is going to be about

 relate clearly to the question
 be snappy and lively, not long and boring. You want to get the reader's attention.
 "In the novel "The God Boy", Ian Cross deals with the psychological and social effects of
dysfunctional families."

Main Body - Refer back to your plan. Check that you've kept to it.

 Each paragraph should focus on one main point.

 Refer to specific details, characters, incidents from the novel.
 Try to link your paragraphs so that the ideas seem to flow on smoothly and logically. You can do
this by
 referring back to something in the previous paragraph
"Another important theme is........."
 using linking words or phrases
however, despite, therefore, as well as, consequently, in addition, but

Conclusion Your final paragraph should

 round off and sum up the points you have been making
 prove that you have answered all of the question
"It is clear, therefore, that Ian Cross deals with a number of important issues in "The God Boy".
"The ending of the novel suggests that....."
 Make sure your conclusion is not just a repetition of points already made .

Language register

 A literary essay should use the language of formal, written English, not everyday, spoken
English.
 No First Person (No "I" Or "We")
 Use the Present Tense When Talking About the What Happens in the Piece of Literature
 Use Your Most Conservative Punctuation and Grammar
 No Slang — Use Formal Standard Written English
 Use Modern Language Association (MLA) Format for Citations

Write the first draft of your essay on your own paper.

Step 5 - proof read

. Proof-reading is a specialised skill. It requires close attention to detail. You will make mistakes in your
early drafts. You are concentrating on getting your ideas down. It is very easy to see what you think
you wrote and not what is actually on the page, when you read over your writing. You must eliminate
errors.

Each paragraph should

 have a clear topic sentence (usually the first sentence) which states the main idea or aspect
dealt with in the paragraph
 between 3 - 6 more sentences which develop the topic sentence.
 follow on logically from the previous paragraph.

Check that you have used paragraphs appropriately and effectively in your writing. Different genres or
forms of writing have their own conventions for paragraphing