Tips for Writing Papers in College Literature Courses
(in no particular order)
1.) Follow all formatting directions. Double space everything. Include page numbers. Use a high-quality printer.
2.) Spell all names correctly -- your own, your professor’s, and all the authors included in the paper.
3.) Be sure whatever focus / theme / thesis you establish in the introduction is carried through the entire paper and is "visible" throughout the entire paper. Everything in the paper needs to be connected back to the focus / theme / thesis. Think of the introduction as a “promise” you are making to your readers; the body paragraphs should fulfill that promise.
4.) Do not venture too far off the topic of a particular paragraph. Each paragraph should have its own unique focus (which, of course, relates to the thesis). If you do venture too far off one paragraph’s topic, begin a new paragraph.
5.) Never end a paragraph with a quotation. Quotations are not self-explanatory and they do not stand alone. What’s clear to you about the quotation and why you chose it may not be evident to your reader. All quotations should be clearly introduced ("signal phrase"). After the quotation, do something with it -- comment on it, respond to it, critique it, apply it, connect it directly to the topic of the paragraph, etc.
6.) Be sure to “follow through” on all of your ideas. Many writers think “less is better,” and they sometimes feel like they are rambling on, but in academic writing, you want to prove you know what you are writing about. Do not assume the reader will understand your topic as you do or that your reader will “fill in any gaps” you leave behind (this is the work of the writer, not the reader).
7.) Be sure to check and double check all quotations. Be sure to cite all quotations. Any problems with quotations and/or citations might be considered plagiarism. (Writing and literature professors will probably consider it "unintentional" or "accidental" plagiarism; other professors might not make this distinction.)
8.) Be careful when you are working with only one author in each paragraph. The brain’s tendency is to summarize (the path of least resistance) when what you probably want to be doing is analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, or synthesizing (connecting).
9.) Be aware of the length of your paragraphs. If a paragraph stretches to a page or longer, you might want to consider breaking the paragraph into two parts. Even though the guideline is “one idea per paragraph,” sometimes you need two paragraphs for one main idea.
10.) The “five-paragraph essay” will not work every time. It is taught in high schools to get writers thinking about structure and support (e.g., at least three main ideas, logically arranged). However, in college, papers are usually a bit longer and a bit more complex and five paragraphs might be too limiting. A 3-4 page paper written using only five paragraphs might lead to some very long paragraphs, which are sometimes difficult for readers to get through.
11.) If you rearrange your paragraphs during your revision, do not forget to go back and revise the transitions so that they make sense with the new arrangement of the paragraphs.
12.) Titles of books, novels, novellas, and plays are underlined or italicized but not both. Titles of poems, short stories, and essays are put in “quotation marks.”
13.) Be sure to check and double check any and all facts that you are summarizing from a text. For example, be sure about the setting, characters’ ages, dates, etc.
14.) Do not use too many long quotations. Yes, they do add length to the paper, but that’s not a very good tactic to use. If there are more than one or two long quotations, or if they are too long, readers tend to skim or skip them.
15.) Know your audience. If you are unsure, ask your professor. Most often, you can assume that your reader is familiar with the literary text you are writing about, so you don’t need to do a lot of summary. However, your reader may not be familiar with the approach you are taking, and the reader is not inside your head to know exactly what you are thinking, so your ideas will still need clarification and explanation.
16.) Avoid a series of short paragraphs. Academic writing is different from magazine and newspaper writing. With a series of short paragraphs, decide which ones can be combined and which ones should stand on their own (but with further support and development).
Created: Fall 2005
Additions from Fall 2006:
17.) A Works Cited page (or Bibliography or References page) is not needed for this paper, since all of the texts are "shared" and "common to all" in this class. You do, however, need to cite your sources within your paper -- after quotations and specific passages of summary and paraphrase -- by using parenthetical citations (author's last name and page number in parentheses) or by using the author's name in the sentence leading to the summary, paraphrase, or quotation and putting only the page number in parentheses. For example:
18.) Be sure to check and double check all summaries and paraphrases.
19.) Be careful about naming the "genres" of texts. Not everything is a "story." Distinguish between nonfiction and fiction, between novels and novellas and plays, between novels and short stories, etc.
20.) Use summary not to familiarize your readers (classmates and professor) with the texts (since we already read them) but to support your ideas, opinions, and interpretations.
21.) This paper IS your interpretation and evaluation of these texts, and you need to be clear about your interpretation and evaluation through clear explanations, because not everyone will see a text the same way you do. So, in this way, the paper is a form of argument.
23.) You can use the pronoun "I" in this paper, but don't overuse it. Also, try to edit out phrases such as "I think that ..." or "I believe that ..." Just say it:
Additions for Spring 2007:
24.) If your paper assignment is an argument, you need to be sure you have a clear thesis and that all the main ideas are arguments that support the thesis. One way to check for this is to use the "because" test:
Any Questions?