The purpose of writing a literature essay is to develop the creative thinking of the individual, as well as the ability to express thoughts in writing. This experience is very useful because it helps the author learn how to articulate his thoughts correctly and clearly, use the most important concepts, structure the information, highlight the connections between cause and effect, illustrate the thesis statements with examples, and argue the conclusions obtained.
Writing a literature essay involves a significant creative element. A trusting, friendly style of communication should be established with the reader. For this purpose, the author should intentionally avoid unclear, complicated, overly strict constructions. At the same time, boilerplate phrases, slang, and abbreviated words should be excluded from use, and an excessively frivolous tone should be avoided.
As the researchers note, a good essay can be created only by someone fluent in the topic, can see it from different angles, and is ready to present the reader with a multidimensional, but not an exhaustive view of the phenomenon in question. Experts advise students to develop their writing skills with practical exercises. But that takes time. So I found a great service where I can order to do my research paper online. If you didn’t know about this possibility, check out the best writing service.
An important feature of a literature essay is a free composition. The outline of a literature essay is not strict. Various researchers note that by its nature this genre is arranged in such a way that it does not tolerate formal frameworks. It is often constructed contrary to the basic laws of logic, on the principle of arbitrary associations. Therefore, you can develop an essay on the literature on your own.
The literature essay is designed to surprise, and puzzle the reader – this quality of it is a must. The starting point for the reflections embodied in the essay is often a vivid aphoristic statement or some paradoxical definition, which collides the theses, characteristics, and statements that are indisputable at first sight, but mutually exclusive.
One of the paradoxes of this genre includes internal semantic unity. Focused primarily on subjectivity, but free in composition, the essay has at the same time a semantic unity within the text, that is, the consistency of the main statements and theses, as well as the internal harmony of associations and arguments, the consistency of judgments, which reflect the personal position of its creator.
Peculiarities of the literary essay
- No plot is the absence of a classic plot in the essay genre. Of course, you can give various examples from life, but it will all be just an illustration of the main idea of the text. The ambiguity of form – in other words, you can, as they say, flow with thought, and for that, no one will say a bad word to you. Everything that comes to mind, you can put on paper, analyze, and then summarize the above-mentioned.
- Finding the problem of the essay – a specific problem (some unsolvable question) must be at the center of the author’s thoughts. The topic must be clearly defined. An essay cannot deal with many topics at the same time and contain a large number of ideas (thoughts). It only reflects one thought, one option, and develops them. That is, it is just an answer to some questions.
- Expressing one’s own opinion – one should only express one’s own opinion. An essay does not claim to be the only true point of view, even if it provides many arguments and evidence. This is probably only one facet of the question.
- Writing a literature essay is not a research paper. Creating a lively conversation – when writing a literature essay, it is as if there is an imitation of a lively conversation with the reader, who should be led, urged on by various questions, raising burning topics in this way, as if you are in front of him or her here and now. The author’s monologue should be outside of space and time, filled with lively speech patterns.
Keep in mind that the length of a literature essay is quite small, but it has no clear boundaries. It is about three to seven pages, written in computer text. At Harvard Business School, for example, essays are often written on just two pages. Domestic universities allow up to ten pages of typewritten text.
Literary essay structure
Introduction
“How do you begin a literature essay?” – you ask. As you know, the hardest thing to write is the first lines. You don’t need to immediately start proving something to someone by creating a sample essay on literature. To begin with, you should prepare the ground, that is, create the right atmosphere and immerse the reader of the text in a state of thought, which will help him, later on, to penetrate the author’s ideas as much as possible.
The main part of the essay
The main part consists of theses. Remember that the main idea should be formulated briefly and clearly. It should be simple and understandable. No one likes unsubstantiated statements. The task of the author who creates a sample essay on literature is not only to state it but also to prove it. For example, you claim that a person’s name determines their fate. Then prove it by giving concrete examples from life or based on some well-known theories. This is the principle by which you should write a literature essay. The thesis statement thus answers the question, “What?” After that, be sure to answer the question, “Why?” i.e., prove it.
Conclusion
The plan for writing a literature essay also includes a conclusion, a final part, and summarizing what has been said. You can talk for a long time about the subject of the essay, and go into the maze of reflection, but in the end, it is necessary to gather in a bundle all the thought riches. This is the only way to qualitatively conclude.
Text Analysis
Leave room for a thorough analysis of the text
Reflect on the topic and its meaning. Analyze how well you know what you want to write about. Are you able to offer something fresh and new on the topic? Essays are known above all for their originality. You should present a necessarily non-trivial view of even the most trivial things if they are the subject of its content. Do not forget about the freshness of the language.
Choose what you will use when writing a literature essay. Will reading and life experience be enough? Don’t forget that collage of wording, and variety of thought is always appealing. Familiarize yourself with different points of view on the subject and enter into a discussion with some of the authors. The work should give the impression of hard and long work, surprise readers with erudition, and put them in a fresh frame of mind.
You shouldn’t try to tell everything at once. You can delight readers with unexpected facts and sparkling expressions. Make it interesting, enjoyable, and also informative to read.
Write on paper the main thoughts and directions. From them, choose three of the most successful theses. Take them as a basis. If you get more ramifications, you risk that the text will seem incomprehensible and superficial, and if less – and conservative looped. Since ancient times, the number “3” is recognized as magic. Do not ignore it, therefore.
First of all, you should only briefly outline the course of thought. You can write them down in one or two sentences in each of the paragraphs, then leisurely reread, and then mold a snowball of your thoughts. You can add necessary details and examples, and you can spice up the information by applying various artistic means. Students are more likely to get an A grade if they turn to the best paper writing service for challenging writing assignments.
Write proofs
Provide multiple pieces of evidence, where possible:
Many essays make sense using a single piece of evidence from the text (or beyond it, such as a critical, historical, or biographical source) in the hope that it will be enough to make a compelling point. “Articulate, cite, explain” is the Holy Trinity of the Paragraph for many. What’s wrong with that? For one thing, this approach is too formal and basic for many arguments. Is one quote enough to support a point? It’s often a matter of degree, and while one piece of evidence is better than nothing, two or three pieces of evidence will be even more convincing.
Avoid tentative or speculative phrases:
Many essays tend to suffer from the aforementioned problem of lack of evidence, so the point is not persuasive. Often the student making the point is not particularly convinced. This seeps into the speaking usage and use of certain vague phrases: “Yesenin might have” or “perhaps Yesenin would have written it to portray” or “one could argue that.” Everything can be argued (badly), but it depends on what evidence you can produce as to whether it is a convincing argument written in the essay.
To summarize
Much of this may seem like common sense to you, but even the most sound advice can leave your head. I hope these suggestions help remind you of some of the key principles of good essay writing practice-though remember, these are not so many precepts as guidelines. No one can “tell you” how to write a good literature essay. But it can be learned. And remember, be interesting – find something in poems, plays, or novels that ignites your enthusiasm.