I.
Introduction: Write your complete introduction.
•
Hook: A hook is a powerful opening sentence to your essay. It grabs the reader’s
attention so well that they want to read on.
Click here
for help with writing a hook.
•
Narrow towards your thesis. But don’t give so much detail that yo
u reveal all of
the paper in the introduction. Limit your introduction to five (5) sentences
maximum.
•
Thesis: This is the most important part of the introduction. It reveals what the
paper’s topic is (the “So what?”) and tells the reader why they should
read this
paper (the “Who cares?”) The thesis sets out a roadmap for your entire essay.
II.
Body Paragraphs
• Give each paragraph a title
· then remove it on the final copy. This will help you
to analyze the flow of your paper, and it will help you to see if
your body
paragraphs truly support your thesis statement.
• Begin with a strong topic sentence. This sentence
tells the reader what the
paragraph is about. It must make a point.
• Provide evidence. Evidence comes in the form of:
➢ quoted material from your researched sources.
➢quoted material from the literary text
itself
➢ examples from the literary text itself
➢ statistical/data
· driven facts (when applicable)
· H
· ere are some questions you can ask yourself about a particular bit of evidence:
· •
· O.k., I’ve just stated this point, but so what? Why is it interesting? Why
· should anyone care?
· • What does this information imply?
· • What are the consequences of thinking this w
· ay or looking at a problem
· this way?
· • I’ve just described what something is like or how I see it, but why is it like that?
· • I’ve just said that something happens
· - so how does it happen? How does It come to be the way it is?
· • Why is this information important? Why does it matter?
· • How is this idea related to my thesis? What connections exist between
· them? Does it support my thesis? If so, how does it do that?
· • Can I give an example to illustrate this point?
NOTE: You cannot use personal examples, or make personal references in a literary
research paper. Do not use any form of first person: “I, me, us, we, my, myself,
our, ours” in any part of the paper
III.
Conclusion:
i.
Restate the thesis in different words. ii.
Recap the main
ideas of this
essay. iii.
Leave the reading audience with something to consider more
deeply.
iv.
Limit this section to five (5) sentences maximum
IV.
Works Cited
•
Written on a separate page
•
Double
-
spaced entry
•
Make sure that you
have met the required number of
sources and citations.