Final Tips on your Literary Essay

Following the “Yes” Test 1. Typed 2. Times New Roman, 12 point Font 3. MLA Format pages 5. 3 quotes w/in-text citations. 6. Covers the scope of the novel 7. Double Spaced * = a note about the Yes Test: I fill it out, you don’t!

Avoid “Dead Words: So-Stuff So-Stuff Like-Things Like-Things Very-’nuff Very-’nuff A lot-Kinda A lot-Kinda Some-Sort of Some-Sort of Gonna-Basically Gonna-Basically ‘Cause-Y’know ‘Cause-Y’know

Other Common Mistakes 1. Puritan and Romantic are proper nouns so please capitalize them. 1. Puritan and Romantic are proper nouns so please capitalize them. 2. Names: Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, not Dimmsdale and Chillingsworth. 2. Names: Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, not Dimmsdale and Chillingsworth. 3. Citations: (author, pg#). NOT “blah blah.” (author,pg). OR “blah, blah.” (author, pg#) 3. Citations: (author, pg#). NOT “blah blah.” (author,pg). OR “blah, blah.” (author, pg#) 4. Repetition of words or phrases. Ie: “In the beginning, in the middle, in the end.” 4. Repetition of words or phrases. Ie: “In the beginning, in the middle, in the end.”

Focus This is an expository essay on The Scarlet Letter. This is an expository essay on The Scarlet Letter. Avoid words like “I” or “My” because the essay is not about you.

Organization Introduction: Hook, Thesis, Subtopics Introduction: Hook, Thesis, Subtopics Body Paragraphs 1- 3: Beginning, Middle, End. format Body Paragraphs 1- 3: Beginning, Middle, End. format Conclusion: restate thesis and subtopics with So what? at the end. Conclusion: restate thesis and subtopics with So what? at the end.

The Title Your essay is NOT titled The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne has been dead over 150 years and he did not write your essay. Your essay is NOT titled The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne has been dead over 150 years and he did not write your essay. The author’s name is Nathaniel Hawthorne, NOT Nathanial Hawthorne. The author’s name is Nathaniel Hawthorne, NOT Nathanial Hawthorne. Please write The Scarlet Letter or The Scarlet Letter, not “The Scarlet Letter.” Only songs, poems, essays, or short stories or in quotation marks. Please write The Scarlet Letter or The Scarlet Letter, not “The Scarlet Letter.” Only songs, poems, essays, or short stories or in quotation marks.

Citation Sandwich Set-Up: Give the context of what is happening in the scene. Set-Up: Give the context of what is happening in the scene. Quote: Include the quote and cite with author and page number. Quote: Include the quote and cite with author and page number. Analysis: Explain how the quote ties to your thesis and use phrases from the quote support yourself. Analysis: Explain how the quote ties to your thesis and use phrases from the quote support yourself.

How do I get to 3 – 4 pages? If you are asking yourself this question, my simple answer is refer to the citation sandwich: 1. Are you giving a complete picture what goes on to set-up the quote? 2. Is your quote long enough to explain your point? 3. Are you analyzing enough to explain how the quote ties the thesis? 4. Could you add another quote to support your point?

Here is an example… Set- Up: At the beginning of the book Hester Prynne is on the scaffold with her daughter Pearl for committing the sin of adultery. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest and be publicly humiliated by the Puritan society. She is interrogated by the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who the reader later learns, is Hester’s lover and Pearl’s father. Dimmesdale asks Hester to reveal “the name” of the father. Hester defiantly replies to him:

Evidence, Analysis, and Transition Quote: “My child should only know a heavenly father because she will never know an earthly one” (Hawthorne, 34). Analysis: This quote is significant because it demonstrates that Hester has no guilt for her sin. By saying her child “will never know an earthly” father she is telling Dimmesdale, the other adulterer, you must reveal yourself publically, because I will not do it on your behalf. Transition: Dimmesdale, on the other hand, has his guilt weigh upon him for his sin, which is revealed at the second scaffold scene in the middle of the book.

Essay Checklist Yes Test Yes Test Rubric Rubric Final Draft Final Draft 3 rd Draft w/revision 3 rd Draft w/revision 2 nd Draft w/revision 2 nd Draft w/revision 1 st Draft w/revision 1 st Draft w/revision Outline Outline Brainstorm Brainstorm Also…turn in your Dialectical Journal separately. Also…turn in your Dialectical Journal separately.