Writing About Literature

Literature reflects the mind of the author and the world and the ways in which people interact with that world and one another. Helps shape the world.Writing causes us to forge new connections. Writing about literature can teach us about ourselves and reading it can teach us much about the world.
Give plenty of time and minimize distractions while reading to get the most out of it.The best readers reread pieces. Critical reading is important when reading imaginative literature. Meanings in literary texts are not hidden and you need to look for the meanings.
You should take notes while reading. Underline, circle or highlight passages that strike you as important. Briefer and more specific the better. Make notes that say why certain points strike you. Ask questions of the text. Talk back to text- to something that offends you but remain open-minded. Look for unusual features of language like patterns of images, repeated words, or phrases and any other unusual stylistic features. Develop your own system of shorthand- write short notes that won't slow reading. Also go help to keep a reading journal to remember long complex notes. Use the dictionary.
It is important to ask more complex questions about literature. Questions about literature are in four categories- about the text, author, reader, and the cultural contexts. Text ?s focus on genre, structure, language, and style. Don't always assume that what the author wrote was based on his/her life. Knowing about an author's life can help us understand how to read a work of literature. Events in the wider social and cultural context influence author's writings. Also how does our culture today influence us? Consider work's intended audience.
When writing, write about something that you care about. Think about how the topic will relate to you and call upon your background and knowledge to approach the topic in fresh and interesting ways. When writing a paper you work to convince your reader that what you're
saying is true. Principle point is the thesis. Thesis is about topic and topic is issue or area you will focus attention. Want to explain defend and prove your thesis. Thesis should be clear and specific. Should be relevant. Be debatable. Be original. Should state it as a complete sentence. Be appropriate to assignment.
Support for thesis- sources: text, other people's ideas (textbook, online, conversations), and your own thoughts. Use pertinent evidence to support thesis. Reread primary text with thesis in mind. Each paragraph should contain one main idea and explanation to support it. Keep open mind to structure and organization. Sometimes you should work from an outline.
Try to write first draft fairly quickly knowing that you will revise it. Revision stage is when the real work gets done. Large-scale (don't worry too much about details) , then small-scale, and then proofreading and editing. If possible put first draft away for a day. Annotate your text just the way you would do to literature.
Globally revising- Refine or develop your focus and thesis. Reorganize paper. Expand paper with new paragraphs or new evidence within existing paragraphs. Eliminate unnecessary, contradictory, or distracting passages. Clarify any difficult passages with more specific explanations or evidence. Change overall tone of paper.
Local-level focuses on style and clarity. Words, phrases, and sentences.
Peer editing- can help you on future works. Help you grow. Guidelines- Be respectful of another's work. Be honest. Look for good and bad. Keep eye on time. Take notes on draft or on separate piece of paper. Ask questions. Don't assume that explaining yourself to your workshop partner can replace revision. Be specific in comments. Try to focus on the big picture. Push your partners to help you more.
Tips for writing about Literature- Don't assume readers will remember(or consider important_ the same ideas of incident in literature that you do. Don't retell the plot or text at length. Don't assume that quotations or summaries are self-sufficient and prove your point automatically. customary to use present tense when writing about literature. First time you mention an author, use his or her full name. Titles of poem, stories, and essays should be put in quotation marks. Titles of books, plays, and periodical should be underlined or italicized. Give your paper a title. Use commons sense and be consistent.
Explain quotations. Try to fit quotes into your sentences. If change quotation signal to readers that you have added or changed it. If omit it use ellipses by using three periods between square brackets. Checklist for Quotations- double-check the wording, spelling, and punctuation of every quotation you use. Use the shortest quotation you can while still making your point. Never assume a quotation is self-explanatory. If you are quoting a character in a story, play or poem be sure to distinguish that character from the author. Take acre not to distort the meaning of a quotation.
MLA Format. Use plain white paper, black ink, and a standard, easy-to- read font No separate cover page is needed. Include vital information in upper left corner of first page. Center your paper's title. Page numbers should appear in the upper right corner of each page.
Summary- brief recap of most important points- plot, characters.Explications- takes what is implicit or subtle in a work and makes it explicit and clear (technique is close reading). Point is to point out elements and explain them. Analyze- to take something apart and examine how the individual parts relate ton one another and function as a whole. Comparison and Contrast- proceed item-by-item or point-by-point. Literary Criticism and Literary Theory- criticism: evaluative (seeks to determine how accomplished a work it place it should hold in the evolving story of literary history) book reviews and interpretive ( all writing that seeks to explain, analyze, clarify, or question the meaning and significance of literature) it will be mostly this for this class. No has the key.People start at different theoretical bases.
Formalism- things like structure, tone, characters, settings, symbols, and linguistic features (explication and close reading) and New Criticism- focus on text not extratextual features. Formalists interested in how parts relate on one another and to whole.
Feminist and Gender Criticism- 1970s- tied to raising consciousness about the patriarchy in which many women felt trapped. Sought to reveal how literary texts demonstrated the repression and powerlessness of women. Others showed how women could overcome the sexist power structures that surround them. Other's sought to promote women's work. Realized that over the years men have usually been expected to be good providers, to be strong physically and emotionally, and to keep their problems and feelings to themselves.
Marxist Criticism- originally sought to use literature and criticism to forward a socialist political program. Social Classes. Another venue for the ongoing quest for individual material gain. Sole purpose is to expose inequalities and underlie all societies and to thus raise the consciousness of readers and move the society closer to a socialist state.
Cultural Studies- general name given to a wide variety of critical practices some which might seem on the surface to have little in common with one another. Certain texts are privileged while others are not. cannon- texts read and taught again and again. Some focus on outsiders. Some believe that all texts are to some extent artistic expressions of a culture and it can give us vital insights into the human experience. Might study tv shows, movies, and comic strips.
Historical Criticism and New Historicism- to gain insights into the composition and significance of a given work.To gain insights into periods studied.
Psychological Theories- Segmund Freud- popularized idea that the mind can be divided into conscious and unconscious components and we are often motivated most strongly by the unconscious. Examines the internal mental states, the desires, and the motivations of literary characters. Might examine why a writer wrote what he did. Examine psychology of humans. What draws and repels us from certain literary themes. Attention paid to symbols as the manifest representation of a deeper, hidden meaning.
Reader-Response Theories- text is an interaction between an author and a reader and it can never be complete unless readers bring to it their own unique insights. Insights come from beliefs, background, and other reading experiences. gaps- what text doesn't tell you. process- them meaning of the text is not fixed and complete but rather evolving as the text unfolds in the time it takes to read.
Structuralism- concerned with the structures that help us to understand and interpret literary texts. Every piece of our knowledge is a network of associations. Two types of context- cultural and literary.
Poststructuralism and Deconstruction- Post- begins with the insights of structuralism but carries them one step further. Ideas leading to other ideas leading to other ideas. Meaning is forever shifting. De- tries to undermine the idea that reality has a stable existence. Allows for several interpretations. No text and meaning is absolute.
Timed Essays- Be prepared and know what's expected. Prep: knowing material and anticipating the questions. Read through exam first. Clarity and conciseness.

Writing about literature begins from one point: the primary source. It should be a critical argument. Find and evaluate sources for your paper, read them and take notes, and then write a paper integrating material from those sources. Print books and journals are best sources in most cases. don't do large quotes.