A Little Bit O’ Review & a Little More Stuff

1. A Little Bit O’ Review &a Little More Stuff Closing in on the Final Paper

2. English Studies • Always been literature based • The “greatness” of texts • Social Status • Reading the “right” texts made you a social elite • Reading literature set you off from a bland, stale, and consumer driven popular culture • Reading literature improved your critical thinking skills • NOW?

3. Postmodernism • Called into question everything the English major had been founded upon • What is “good” writing? • Who really “owns” a text? • Can an author control their intended meanings? • How useful is the search for textual meaning at all?

4. Writing Studies • While lit studies have had no good answer for these questions, writing studies have stepped in • “Good” writing is rhetorically appropriate writing • These uber “rules” of writing are arbitrary and linked to very outdated modes of thinking • Language is beyond our control- it slips, it slides, it escapes us • Meaning is made in the reader not the writer

5. Formulaic? We prefer the term “genre expectations” They Say, I Say These expectations are open for critique but stand none the less in many ways Impositions of genre> Universal Givens

6. Stupid Rules Don’t use “I.” Thesis must be at the end of the first paragraph Thesis must be only 1 paragraph Essays must be one big block of text (no sections) Conclusions should just sum up the whole paper

7. Things We Do • Define Our Terms: • Especially after reading this novel, you should recognize the importance of this • White Noise • Theoretical Concepts • Alternatives to vague words like “good,” “bad,” “effective,” “important,” “etc.

8. Things We Do • Have Strong Thesis Statements: • Don’t ask questions; take a clear argumentative stance • Make specific claims • Explain relevance of these claims • See the novel in a new way? • See society/culture in a new way? • Use them as an anchor to tie everything else in the paper back to

9. Things We Do • Follow Patterns of Integrating Research: • Introduce claim/idea • Introduce (briefly summarize) supporting document • Paraphrase or quote from document • Elaborate or clarify paraphrase/quote and explain explicit connection to thesis

10. Things We Do Make Logical Arguments: Claim Warrant (connects the claim to the premise) Premise/Thesis We write mainly about the warrant; otherwise we risk just giving examples without explaining significance

11. Things We Do • Have a Purposeful Order to our Points and Make that Order Transparent to the Reader: • Transitions • Sum up previous point • Preview upcoming point • Explain connection between the points

12. Things We Do • Meta-Commentary: • Writing about your own writing within the paper • To clarify potential confusions • To emphasize certain points • To highlight the importance of a point (or an organizational decision) • To help reader fully understand a potentially difficult point

13. Roadmap to the Final Paper Though there is obviously no one way to write a paper, or a process that works for everyone, what follows is my suggestion. It may, of course, be modified to match your own style.

14. THESIS Start with a clear idea of what you will be arguing. Make sure it, to some extent, answers the “so what?” question. What’s the significance of your idea? The actual thesis, as it will appear in the paper, may change in wording. But have the idea firm in your mind.

15. SCENES • Select which scenes or moments in the novel you will need to discuss in detail. • OFTEN, going deep into a few scenes is more effective than taking a scattershot approach throughout the whole novel • See all the samples we’ve read

16. RESEARCH Find essays that have already discussed those scenes Research any themes or theories related to your thesis Write summaries of theories to incorporate into your paper Keep a cut and paste-able document of quotes from your research

17. Discover your Claims/Explore Warrants List out what claims you will need to support your thesis. These will come out of how you’re reading your chosen scenes and what the theory or other pieces of criticism have said Explore the warrant; i.e.- what do you need to write to move beyond merely showing examples to showing logical significance.

18. Group Claims into Essay Sections • Depending on number of claims, perhaps each one is a section • 2. Babs had a more-traditional affair • 3. Jack’s unique infidelity has a basis (emasculation) • 4. The specifics of Jack’s emotional infidelities • Group like scenes or examples into a section that explores a claim they share • “Tyrannies of Television” section in Martins: • Various lines from TV • Watching Babs on TV • Jack talking about mass murderer/chess player with Heinrich

19. Sections Treat them like mini-essays inside the essay Need transitions in and out Use titles smartly to telegraph main idea (not necessary, but helpful and fun)

20. Think about Deductive vs Inductive Ways to Introduce Scenes • Deductive: • Discuss general claim or principle you’re trying to prove in detail. • Introduce novel scene/research that shows evidence of this point • Connect to thesis • Inductive: • Preview claim in brief (much briefer than deductive example) • Write about novel scene/research • Full discussion of claim and relevance to thesis.

21. Order Discussion • Chronological • General to Specific • Cause and Effect • Spatial (places, people, book sections) • Common to Uncommon • Accepted to Controversial • Definition to Examples • Claims of others to rebuttal • And so many more! There is no magic trick here. The key is to order your sections and discussion purposefully.

22. Proofread and Review Constantly as You Write • Finish sections and re-read them as you write new ones to make sure you’re making connections • Try to read the essay through someone else’s eyes. • Are there vague pronouns and referents? • Could complicated theory be explained further or more clearly? • Point your finger to a random place in your developing essay. Can you articulate in your own mind how it’s working to support the thesis? • Next, can you locate the actual written part near this place where the connection to thesis is articulated to reader • Read out loud. • There is simply no better way to hear sentences that are grammatically wonky or off.