1.  Invention

Choose a topic you are interested in.

Reread.  Go back through the work you have chosen, taking careful notes and marking any relevant quotations.

Formulate your thesis.  Your thesis determines your reader's attitude toward your paper.  Make sure it is (1) detailed, (2) specific, (3) unified and (4) interesting.

Interpret, don't just give an observation or an opinion.  An interpretive thesis takes a strong stance on the meaning of a particular text.  Instead of simply re-telling the plot of a text, a good thesis works harder in order to tell the reader what kind of intellectual response he or she should have to the text.

Brainstorm. </LI>

Organize logically.  As you develop your ideas, arrange them in a logical fashion, providing appropriate links between them.  Each paragraph should have a controlling idea which keeps it (and your essay) focused.

Make strong transitions.  Just as each paragraph must have an "intra-integrity" (a focus within the paragraph), so too must paragraphs have an "inter-integrity" (a system of transitions that hold different paragraphs together.)

Prove your claims.  All general statements should be supported with evidence from the text.  To persuade your reader, you need to provide citations from the text which back up your assertions.  Use the MLA Guidelines when including a quotation.

Provide specific analysis.  Link your claims with your quotations by providing an explanation.  Carefully analyze and explicate each quote and its relationship to your claim.

Conclusion.  While your introduction announces your claims, your last paragraph resolves them.  Conclude your essay by synthesizing your argument rather than merely summarizing it.  Use your conclusion to suggest the further implications of your argument or the larger issues it raises. </LI>

Style.  Correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar determine the overall reception of the paper.  Technical errors can distract from and even undermine the strength of your ideas.  Proofread!  Proofread!  Proofread!  Use a dictionary or spell checker when in doubt, and always read your work through to catch typographical or other minor errors.  Reading your own words out loud often helps you catch what your eyes might miss.

Outside sources:  Though I don't expect (and would even discourage) you to use any outside sources for your essays in this class, if you do derive any ideas from other reading or discussion, be sure to credit the source (whether a book or a person).  Failure to do so is a form of plagiarism.
Seek help if you have questions.  Use my office hours or make an appointment.  Please also consult the Learning Center or the Bedford Handbook. </LI>