Haveyourteachersstartedtoassignyouessaysbasedonbooksyou'vereadReadontolearnallyouneedtoknowtobeginwritingscholarlyliteraryessays.
WhenyourEnglishteacherasksyoutorespondtoaquestionaboutyourreadingsthroughtheformofanessayitisknownasliteraryanalysis.Essayscanbehardbecauseyouhavetofirstunderstandwhathappenedinthebookbeforeansweringthequestion.
Itisimportanttounderstandthataliteraryessayshouldnotbeasimpleoverviewofwhathappenedinthebookortextthatyouarewritingabout.Whenyouwriteanessayyoushouldwriteitasifitweregoingtobereadbysomeoneelsewhohasalsoreadthebookorhasafirmunderstandingofwhatthebookisabout.Teachersareoftentellingstudentstohaveless'what'andmore'why'intheiressays.Thismeansthatinsteadofwritingwhathappenedinthetext,writeaboutwhythisisimportantandhowitaffectedthecharactersorrelatedtoreallife.
Inordertograspthe'why'ofabook,youmustrememberandunderstandwhathappenedthroughoutthestory.Createatimelineofthestorywhileyouarereading.Writingoutthemaineventsandwhencharacterswereintroducedwillhelptojogyourmemorywhenyougobacktowriteyourpaper.
Italsohelpstokeepareadingjournal.Inyourjournalyoushouldwritehowyouarereactingtodifferenteventsinthestory.DotheeventsremindyouofanythinginyourlifeHowwouldyoureactifyouwereoneofthecharactersHowdothecharactersinteractwithoneanotherandwhyWhatwastheauthor'spurposeforwritingthispiece;whatwashetryingtotellyouByansweringtheseandotherquestionswhileyouarereading,youareexploringaspectsofthetextthatyourteacherwantsyoutowriteaboutwhilethestory'sstillfreshinyourmind.
Writingdownthesethoughtswhilereadingmayslowyoudownalittle,butitwillsaveyoutimeandeffortinthelongrun.Itcanalsobehelpfultomakenotesofeffectivepassagesthatyouwillbeabletouseinthebodyofyouressay(manyteacherslikeitwhenyouquotethebook).
Ifyoucomeacrossanywordsorpassagesthatyoudon'tunderstandwhenreadingthetextthenmakesuretorereadthatsection.Stilldon'tunderstandAskafellowclassmateoryourteacherifyouareintheclassroom.Ifyouareathomethenaskoneofyourparents.Ifnooneisavailabletoansweryourquestion,makeanotetoyourselfandasksomeonelater.Thebetteryouunderstandthestory,theeasieritwillbetowriteanessayandthecontentwillbemoreimpressivetoyourteacher.
Ifitisawordthatyoudonotknow,thenwriteitdown.Trytokeepalistofunknownwordswhenyouarereading.Whenyougettoastoppingpoint,getadictionaryandlookupthemeaningofeachword.Bydoingthisyouareimprovingyourunderstandingofthestoryandareincreasingyourvocabularyatthesametime!
Whenyou'refinishedreadingthestoryandyourteacherhasgivenyoutheessayassignment,makesuretoreadtheinstructionsthoroughly.Eachteacherislookingforsomethingdifferent,soyoushouldn'tassumethatyourEnglishteacherwillwantthesameformatandcontentasyoursocialstudiesteacherprefers.
Someteachersgivetheirstudentsapromptwiththespecifictopictheywanttheirclasstoaddress;othersleaveituptoeachstudent.Ifyourteacherislettingyouchoseyourtopic,it'susuallyagoodideatorunyourthemebythemtomakesureitiswhattheyarelookingfor.
Makinganoutlineofyouressayinsteadofjustjumpinginandwritingthepaperusuallysavesstudentsalotoftime.Thisisbecausetheyknowexactlywheretheyaregoingwiththeirpaperandwhattheoverallmessageandpurposeis.
Sometimeschildren,andevenadults,havedifficultieswithwritinganintroduction.Ifyourfirstparagraphhasyoustumped,workonyourthesisstatementinstead.Thisisthemostimportantpartofyourintroductionasittellsthereaderwhatyouintendtodiscussinyourpaper;itgivesyouaconcretefocus.
Afterwritingyourthesisstatementyoucangoontothemainbodyofyourpaperandevenontoyourconclusionbeforeyoufinishtheintroduction.Manycollegestudentsusethisapproachwhenwritingpapers.
Afteryouhaveyourpaperfinished,readthroughitacoupleoftimes.Paycloseattentiontoyourgrammar,spelling,andcontent.DidthebodyofthepaperdiscusswhatyourthesisstatementindicateditwouldbeaboutDidyourpaperanswerthequestionthatyourteacherposedDoyourstatementsandconclusionsmatchtheevidenceprovidedbythequotesyouusedDidyourpaperrelatewiththestoryWhenyouarecompletelysatisfiedwithyouressayhaveyourparentsoranoldersiblingreadthroughit.Anotherpairofeyesusuallypicksuponmistakesthatyoumayhavereadover.
Afteryourteachergradesyouressays,askthemtodiscusstheircommentswithyou.Youcanlearnalotfromateacher'sinsight.Ifyouarehavingalotofproblemswhenwritingyouressays,thenaskyourteacherforhelp.Theycangiveyouadditionaltipsthatwilleasetheprocess.
Also,pleasekeepinmindthatmasteringliteraryanalysisandessaywritingtakestime.Theseskillsdon'tjustdevelopovernight.Themoreyouworkoneachindividualessay,thebetteryourwritingandcriticalthinkingskillswillget.
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