Cautions for Writing a Literature Paper
Dr. Harold William Halbert
Every professor has his or her pet peeves and concerns when it comes to the papers students write. These are mine. Many of my colleagues would agree, but not all. In generally, papers that do well in my class do the following:
1. Have a clear thesis to argue instead of simply summarizing the text or the history around the events related to the text.
- Simply listing facts you found about the subject of the book is not enough.
- Summarization is not enough either. I read the book. I don't need your summary.
- Instead, interpret the text. Interpretation requires writers to formulate a view of the text and argue for that interpretation using evidence from the text as proof.
- You should be able to distinguish between the subject you are writing about and the specific claim you are making about that subject. If you cannot fill in the blanks to this simple sentence, there's probably a problem: "I am writing about the issue of ___________ in the text and want to prove that _________________ is true."
2. Make sure each paragraph makes ONE major point that is clearly related to the paper's thesis.
- Is the individual claim of the paragraph clear in the opening sentences of the paragraph?
- Does all the evidence in the paragraph support that claim, or does the paragraph make lots of unrelated points?
- Could you answer the following question for each paragraph: "This paragraph supports my thesis that __________________ is true by ___________________"?
3. Make sure that quotes support your point in a particular paragraph instead of being the point.
- Do not assume that your readers will interpret a particular fact, quote, or image the same way you will. Present evidence as supporting details for your own idea instead.
4. Use a signal phrase for each quote.
5. Give citations for direct quotes, paraphrases, statistics, and facts that are not common knowledge.
- If you are copying a passage down word-for-word, use quotation marks and give a citation. The only exception is if the copied text is a term or label the author has coined (like "torture porn" or "Bradgalina"): in these cases, quote it the first time, and then omit both the quotes and the citation from then on.
- If you are citing statistics from a study, you must cite your paraphrasing of those statistics, even if it is not a direct quote. Remember that different sources claim to have different statistics: your readers want to know where you got your information.
- Ideas or incidents that you paraphrase without a direct quotation also need to be cited. Many of your readers will recognize when you lift an idea or detail from a source, and not citing it will make your audience question how honest you are.
6. Quote only significant words, phrases, sentences, or passages that you intend to analyze or comment upon. Simple facts from the text can be paraphrased.
7. Avoid "I" in the paper unless there is a very clear reason to make yourself a part of the analysis.
- Since your paper should represent your own ideas, beliefs, and opinions, there is no need to say, "I feel," "I believe," In my opinion," or "To me." These phrases weaken the impact of your ideas because you aren't asserting them as valid interpretations that you are proving. Instead, you are presenting them as merely your opinion (which could be wrong). Notice the difference in tone:
"I honestly feel that Ripley appears weak in Alien because she breaks down in the computer room."
"Ripley appears weak in Alien because she breaks down in the computer room."
8. Don't describe your reading, research, or writing process in the paper.
- Phrases like, "As I was reading," "While I was researching this topic," and "As I was revising this paper," usually irritate your readers: we don't want to watch a movie in which the director stops the action to say, "Here I was zooming the camera lens." We don't want to read it in your paper, either.
9. Avoid starting sentences with "Yes," "No," "So," and "Well."
- These transitional devices work in spoken English, but they give written English an air of informality that usually weakens a literature paper. Try these substitutions:
- "Yes, some people envy Gatsby, but smarter readers know he can never achieve the dream he so desperately seeks" becomes "While some people envy Gatsby, smarter readers know he can never achieve the dream he so desperately seeks."
- "So, the reader knows that Bob is dead" becomes "As a result, the reader knows Bob is dead."
10. Place the transition between paragraphs at the beginning of a paragraph, not at the end.
11. Author's names: on the first mention of the name, give the full name as it appears on the cover of the text. After that, use the last name only without any titles (Mr./Dr./Ms./etc.). Never use the first name alone: it's unlikely you have a personal relationship with the person that entitles you to that level of informality, especially if the person or character is dead.
12. Always identify the text you are working with as soon as is feasible.
13. Follow format guidelines.
14. Refer to action in the text as if it is happening in the present tense:
- Franklin argues that . . .
- Captain Ahab takes aim at the whale . . .
- The logic behind this verb tense is that a text freezes time. Just like a person in a photograph is forever smiling, on page 23 of a novel, the character is still stabbing the victim.
15. Avoid starting or ending a paragraph with a quote.
- While some writers can do this well, most cannot. The problem is that starting a paragraph with a quote usually requires the omission of a transition from the previous paragraph, prevents a clear context for the quote from being established, and delays the revelation of the paragraph's thesis.
- Ending a paragraph with a quote almost always means that the writer has not analyzed the quote sufficiently.
16. Avoid making announcements in the paper.
- Announcing "This paper will discuss" or "This paper will argue" adds nothing to your argument. While some types of writing expects this kind of announcements, like science-related writing, most humanities writers simply state the argument without declaring their intention beforehand.
17. Avoid "you" in the paper.
- "You" in spoken English can be a great way to indicate a collective or generalized action or expectation: "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."
- In written English, however, writers who use "you" place the reader in the awkward position of having their actions, histories, or beliefs dictated to them by the author, causing the reader to resist the argument.
- You usually only works when the writer is giving instructions.
18. Avoid "in conclusion."
- If you can't find a better transition, your final point is probably pretty weak.