Essay: Why Write about Literature

From the Course Calendar: Unit 1A [reading]: from Hacker & Sommers: reviewing critical reading, the essay, and the writing process; from Johnson & Arp, the openings of five chapters, around thirty pages, that address why writing about literature has value, the topic of the first essay.

The first chapter in the Johnson & Arp text is titled "Writing About Literature," and the first section, titled "Why Write about Literature," provides two purposes for "written assignments in literature class" in the first sentence; the introduction to the short story section addresses the value of the study of literature as does the introduction to the chapter on theme and the chapter "What is Poetry?" 

The first half of Unit 1 reviews the process of planning the essay as well as its structure. The second half of Unit 1 (Week 3, next week) introduces the literary analysis, a persuasive essay that focuses on the interpretation of literature. Next week's assignment is a discussion post in response to the assigned readings.  

Essay will demonstrate an understanding of the structure of the academic essay: introduction with thesis that introduces key points of support; well-developed, coherent body paragraphs with transitions between paragraphs; a conclusion that returns to the main idea (the thesis) and provides insight.  

To develop a thesis, begin by "prewriting": Everyone has his or her own particular method. Depending on the topic, I typically list or cluster ideasAlso, the process is discussed in Unit 1A > Rhetorical Situation and Planning

If you have not read the assigned material from the Johnson & Arp text, that is a good starting part since the rule of thumb is that we "write about what we know," so "knowing" is important. 

Based on what you read, consider the reasons for writing about literature: Its value, what literature allows us to see or understand. Additionally, you can consider analysis as a "higher level" skill as identified in Bloom's Taxonomy (discussed in the lecture about critical reading) as well as writing (as noted in the Johnson and Arp readings). 

Once you have gathered the information in one place (the prewriting), choose two or three ideas that you can discuss or develop in a paragraph. 

At that point you are ready to draft the thesis, which states your opinion about "why write about literature" with a purpose of demonstrating your understanding of the topic (based on your reading) and an audience of both your classmates and me.

In brief: First, identify what you know then choose the best points as support. Choosing three or four points so that you can drop the weakest is a good starting point. 

Essay will demonstrate the use of academic English: sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. 

Essay will demonstrate the use of quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material as support. 

Essay will demonstrate an understanding of MLA documentation, both in-text and bibliographic citations (Works Cited).