A Baker's Dozen Literary Critique Reminders
Before you submit your final draft, be sure you have checked the following:
1. Produce three to four pages for a final draft, using 11- or 12-point font and one-inch margins (defaults in Word).
2. Put page numbers for any borrowing from the text in parentheses immediately after the quote. In just about every case, your quote should have this format: "When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease--of joy that kills" (49). If you quote a long passage, please indent using a block quote (see this link for discussion and example). Any questions, please ask before you submit!
3. If you use outside source materials, please document them properly! Check this website or use a handbook. If you have used just one outside source that can be found easily on the web, just provide author, title, and website URL in parentheses after the quote, so I can verify your resource. If you use more than one source outside of our text (not recommended!), you should construct a Works Cited page. If you have any questions about this, please ask before submitting your paper.
4. Reference the entire author's name at the beginning (and the title) and then use only the author's last name thereafter. When you reference the title of either section of the novel ("Science" or "Health"), put quotes around it. If you reference the novel, use italics: History of Wolves.
5. Remove any passages that summarize. Your audience knows the story so you should not include any material your readers already know quite well. The only exception is when a sentence summary might be used to help establish a context for a quote.
6. Avoid using the pronoun "you" in this analysis, but you will probably have a few "I" pronouns sprinkled through-out (since it's your critique). Check to be sure your "you's" are very few in number.
7. Be sure to provide contexts before and after borrowed material--don't expect your readers to figure out why you quoted a passage: let us see why the quote explains your point. And be sure you don't summarize or repeat the quote in your own words immediately after quoting. You should never follow a quote with a sentence like, "I agree with this quote"--we already assume you do since you used it!
8. Check to make sure you aren't overly dependent on quotes for your analysis. The largest part of any point you make should be the analysis or explanation you provide.
9. Be sure there is a clearly identifiable thesis statement in your paper. This doesn't have to be in the opening paragraph, but by the end of the first page, readers should know clearly what you wish to argue for your interpretation. It may be more than one sentence.
10. Do not include any evaluation remarks ("I really liked this story" or "I don't like Mr. Grierson"). This is not a movie review; you should stay focused entirely on your analysis/interpretation.
11. Whatever verb tense you use to analyze the story, make sure you stick with that tense through-out your paper. Most literary critiques use the present tense, but that is not a requirement.
12. Please include a cover page with your name, this class and meeting time, the date, and my name on it. Include a title of some imagination as well on the cover page, and just staple the paper together once in the upper left-hand corner. Please double space your draft, include page numbers, and use only single-sided printing for your final draft. These features are required and points are lost if these features are missing.
13. We will submit papers into the website turnitin.com at the beginning of our lab session. Please come prepared to do so. Use the Originality Report to check that your documentation and borrowing are in order. Ask questions if you have doubts. I will use this report myself to check your paper. Failure to submit your draft into turnitin.com will result in a five-point penalty. Also be sure to print out a final copy of your draft for submission: the assignment isn't done until I have the printed final draft.