Matteson

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Mattesons Guide For Writing The Perfect Paper
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What Exactly Is A Literary Analysis?

• Makes an argument
• Is not a summary
• Deals with interpretation
• Supported by evidence

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Dont Forget the Writing Process!

• Prewriting
• Rough Draft
• Revising/Editing
• Publishing

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The Thesis Statement

• Found in the introduction
• Clearly states the argument you are trying to
  validate
• Your entire paper should focus on defending and
  proving the thesis

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What Makes A Thesis Effective?

• Clear
• Specific
• Debatable (not a statement of fact)

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What Makes A Thesis Effective?

• Original
• Stated as a complete sentence (in some cases,
  especially with longer papers, multiple sentences
  will be necessary)
• Appropriate to the assignment

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Helpful Hints

• Assume your readers have read the literature
• Do not summarize the plot

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Helpful Hints

• It is proper to use the present tense when
  writing about literature

IncorrectOthello believed that Iago was
honest. CorrectOthello believes that Iago is
honest.
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Helpful Hints

• Titles of poems, stories and essays should be put
  in quotation marks
• Titles of books, plays and periodicals should be
  underlined or italicized
• The Crucible OR The Crucible

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Helpful Hints

• The first time you mention an author, use his or
  her full name
• For all later references, the last name is
  sufficient
• Do not reference the author by first name only

Arthur Miller is the author of The Crucible.
Arthur is an excellent writer.
Avoid this
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Helpful Hints

• Avoid the use of great praise when discussing the
  author or the text.

Arthur Miller, one of Americas greatest
playwrights addresses the theme of racism in many
of his works.
The Great Gatsby is the most brilliant American
novel.
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Helpful Hints

• Avoid writing in the first person
• The use of the first person shifts the readers
  focus towards you and away from your argument

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid ambiguous pronoun references

This explains the logic behind Proctors actions.
Make sure the reader knows what this referencesA
word? A sentence? A fact? An idea?
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Helpful Hints

• Avoid writing in the passive voice
• Passive constructions hide the question of who is
  doing the action

INCORRECTAbigail is described as a villain by
Miller. CORRECTMiller describes Abigail as a
villain.
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Helpful Hint

• Distinguish between the authors voice and the
  characters voice

INCORRECTShakespeare says, It is the cause, it
is the cause, my soul (V.ii.1). CORRECTOthello
says, It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul
(V.ii.1).
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Helpful Hints

• Give your paper a title
• A title gives your reader a clue as to what the
  paper will be about
• Avoid restating the name of the assignment (i.e.
  Literary Analysis)
• Avoid restating the name of the particular piece
  of literature (i.e. The Crucible)

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Helpful Hints

• Your voice should be your most articulate
  conversational tone
• Conversational tone is not equivalent to a casual
  tone

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid using an inflated vocabularythis makes you
  sound pompous and often creates an unnecessary
  complexity to your writing

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid the use of contractions in formal writing
• Do not use slang

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Helpful Hints

• Focus on organization
• Focus on clarity
• Focus on providing evidence to validate your
  argument
• Focus on fine-tuning your argument

A paper that discusses one issue will always
be superior to a paper that superficially
examines many
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Helpful Hints

• BE ORIGINAL

The last thing Mrs. Matteson wants is a written
description of a class discussion. Avoid writing
the safe paper. At the same time, do not write
on a topic that is so off-the-wall that it can
not be supported with evidence.
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Citations

• Drama
• Cite Act, scene and line numbers
• Block quotations of four lines or more

Othello suggests that It is the cause, it is the
cause, my soul./ Let me not name it to you, you
chaste stars!/ It is the cause(V.ii.1-3).
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Citations

• Drama ContinuedSingle-Speaker Passages
• Cite the quoted text exactly like prose fiction

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Citations

• Drama Continued
• Multiple Speakers
• -Indent each line
• -Identify the speaker (all capital letters,
  followed by a period)
• -Type the lines of dialogue
• -If the lines are written in verse form, type
  them exactly as they appear in the text

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Citations

• Example of a multiple-speaker citation

Once again, Iago is able to persuade Roderigo
RODERIGO. What say you? IAGO. No more of
drowning, do you hear? RODERIGO. I am
changed. Ill go sell all my land. (I.iii.398-
400)
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Example

Benjy says, Our shadows were on the grass. They
got to the trees before we did. Mine got there
first(54).
No ending punctuation marks inside the quotation
marks (unless it is an exclamation point or a
question mark)
Page number comes outside the quotation marks
The period (or comma) comes after the citation
(outside of the quotation marks)