"I carry my landscapes around with me." --Joan Mitchell

For more information on Joan Mitchell and her art, Click here.

Writing Assignments

When writing about literature, you follow the same basic conventions required of any expository essay. That is, you

--state a thesis in your introduction

--develop that thesis by giving supporting reasons and evidence in the body of the essay

--conclude with a summary of your main points and a restatement of the thesis

--cite and document any quotes.

There are a few conventions in writing about literature of which you should be aware.

In the introduction to your essay, mention the title of the work and the author's full name:

In "The Darling," Scott Bradfield presents a narrator who is rational but insane.

The title of a story or is set off with quotation marks; the title of a novel or play is underlined or italicized:

story: "The Darling"
play: Angels in America or Angels in America
novel: 72 Hour Hold or 72 Hour Hold

The first time you refer to an author, use his or her full name. Thereafter, use only his or her last name:

In "Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta," Kate Braverman paints a portrait of a woman who is slowly losing her battle with addiction. In order to make the narrator's disconnection from herself more vivid, Braverman tells the story from the third person point of view.

Note that a comma or period is placed inside the quotation marks; a semicolon or colon is placed after the quotation marks:

In "Lawns," the narrator confronts her father.
Mona Simpson is addressing a sensitive subject in "Lawns."
Mona Simpson has created an ambiguous ending for "Lawns"; this leaves the interpretation of the story up to the reader.
Not many events occur in "Lawns": a theft and an few conversations are the extent of the plot.

Avoid using wordy or grammatically incorrect opening lines:

In Ralph Lombreglia's "Men Under Water," he tells a fascinating story.

In this sentence, "he" doesn't refer to anyone; and if you use the author's name, you don't need "he," too. Try it this way:

In "Men Under Water," Ralph Lombreglia tells a fascinating story.

But there's still a problem: This opening sentence doesn't tell your reader what your essay is about. It's filler, without real content. Get to your point quickly and directly, perhaps like this:

The narrator in Ralph Lombreglia's "Men Under Water" may appear weak, but he knows what he wants and he gets it.

Unless you have been asked to write a personal essay, avoid using the first person ("I") and the second person ("you") in your essays. Most college essays are supposed to preserve a formal tone, and using "I" and "you" gives the essay too casual a tone. Instead of saying,

I think Bradfield's narrator is evil, rather than insane

try

Bradfield's narrator is evil, rather than insane.

Note that this makes you sound more authoritative, as well.

And instead of saying

If you look closely at Bradfield's narrator, you will see that she is evil, rather than insane

try

A close reading reveals that Bradfield's narrator is evil, rather than insane.

For information on using MLA format to cite and document correctly, see The Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University or The Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

And if you need help getting started or with a rough draft, please feel free to see me in my office (my office location and hours are posted on the Schedule) or e-mail me at annw708@earthlink.net.