Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PREPARATION:
When reading a Literary work, it is advisable for you to keep a journal. Write
your reaction to each chapter as you read it. If you see a quote that you may want
use in your paper, be sure to write the page number of the quote in your journal.
This will save you a ton of time when it comes to writing your paper.
1. For our purposes, we will use MLA format for the first semester and APA format
for the second semester. Use the guidelines found on the MLA page of this web site.
2. Content: Your 4-6 pages of writing should contain the following five sections.
Address the questions in essay style, don’t just answer questions.
b. Critique: In two paragraphs or more, you are to critically analyze the material
you to which you are reacting. Note, critique does not mean simply saying
something negative about the text. Your analysis should address issues such as
one or more of the following:
* Does the writer present these ideas fairly or are they slanted?
How so?
* What are the strengths of the content of this Literary work? Weaknesses?
* What could be added to this material to make it better or more
complete?
This is a major part of your paper. Choose a major theme from the work and
show how the author develops the theme. Give specific examples (be sure
to cite them). Show how the theme is presented in various parts of the work.
* Why do you think this work was a good/bad choice for you to read?
* Did you like the reading? Dislike it? Explain.
* What did you find surprising about the reading? What angered or
delighted you? Explain.
e. Application: All papers should conclude with two or more paragraphs addressing this
question:
How does this material relate to your own life experience ? Explain.
This may seem like much work but if you follow this format you will have a well organized, coherent
paper. Believe it or not, it will actually save you time as well.