how to write an essay on english literature

This point might be summarised by saying: the best way to write a good English Literature essay is to be honest about the reading you're putting forward, so you can be confident in your interpretation and use clear, bold language. ('Bold' is good, but don't get too cocky, of course…) 5. Read the work of other critics.

The body of the essay of the essay should relate to the issues you outline in your introduction. It also needs a coherent structure: if you have used your introduction to identify the key issues of your discussion, structuring the essay becomes easier, as you can address these issues in separate paragraphs.

Table of contents. Step 1: Reading the text and identifying literary devices. Step 2: Coming up with a thesis. Step 3: Writing a title and introduction. Step 4: Writing the body of the essay. Step 5: Writing a conclusion. Other interesting articles.

You should never have a paragraph that is longer than an A4 page. Flow: Make sure that the transition between your paragraphs and sentences makes sense. One thought should seamlessly follow on from another in your English Literature essay. Helpful 'connective' words and phrases are: 'in addition to this', 'despite of this ...

Literary analysis involves examining all the parts of a novel, play, short story, or poem—elements such as character, setting, tone, and imagery—and thinking about how the author uses those elements to create certain effects. A literary essay isn't a book review: you're not being asked whether or not you liked a book or whether you'd ...

Common Types of English Papers Many assignments will ask you to analyze a single text. Others, however, will ask you to read two or more texts in relation to each other, or to consider a text in light of claims made by other scholars and critics. For most assignments, close reading will be central to your paper.

Before writing a single word, brainstorm. Do some free-thinking. Get your ideas down on paper or sticky notes. Cross things out; refine. Allow your planning to be led by ideas that support your argument. Use different colour-coded sticky notes for your planning.

To write a good essay on English literature, just follow these 5 easy steps: 1) Understand the purpose of writing essays about literature. 2) Understand how to understand a work of literature.

These 4 steps will help prepare you to write an in-depth literary analysis that offers new insight to both old and modern classics. 1. Read the text and identify literary devices. As you conduct your literary analysis, you should first read through the text, keeping an eye on key elements that could serve as clues to larger, underlying themes.

What Makes a Good Literature Paper? An argument. When you write an extended literary essay, often one requiring research, you are essentially making an argument. You are arguing that your perspective-an interpretation, an evaluative judgment, or a critical evaluation-is a valid one. A debatable thesis statement

Step 1: Read the Text Thoroughly. Literary analysis begins with the literature itself, which means performing a close reading of the text. As you read, you should focus on the work. That means putting away distractions (sorry, smartphone) and dedicating a period of time to the task at hand.

This video will teach you how to plan, write and edit an English Literature essay! It guides you through the entire process, from start to finish!BUY THE COM...

Writing begins with understanding. When faced with an essay prompt, dissect it carefully. Identify keywords and phrases to grasp what's expected. Pay attention to verbs like "analyse," "discuss," or "evaluate.". These guide your approach. For instance, if asked to analyse, delve into the how and why of a literary element.

Introduce the Work and Your Thesis. Your introduction should grab the reader's attention and provide some context about the literary work you're analyzing. Give a brief summary of the plot or main themes, but avoid retelling the entire story. Then, clearly state your thesis statement and let the reader know what to expect from your essay.

Writing an English literature essay has 3 main parts: planning, writing and editing. Planning is the most important, as it allows you to clearly structure your essay so that it makes logical sense. After you have planned, write the essay, including an introduction, 3-4 main points/paragraphs, and a conclusion. ...

Always divide your time carefully. One very good, very long answer can never achieve a mark high enough to compensate for a second incomplete, overly short or abbreviated answer. Take your time, think, and write clearly. With preparation and thought, exams can be intellectually stimulating rather than an ordeal.

Make sure you understand the exam question. Underline the key words of the question. Annotate the exam paper (this is especially great if you are answering an essay question that also includes an extract) Establish your own argument, or viewpoint, based on the key words of the question. Write down your overarching argument (this is often called ...

Evaluate: Examine all arguments in an area of interest and present a judgement. Identify the key sources you will use and list these. Critical sources in English literature should stimulate your own thinking and should lead you to explore ongoing debates. Divide the work into sections, for each key or sub-theme you wish to cover in your arguments.

Reading: 2.1 Writing as reading? 2.2 A love of literature 2.3 The discipline of English 2.4 The new English student 2.5 Plagiarism: too complete a loss of self 2.6 How to read: ways of avoiding plagiarism 2.7 What to read 2.8 Some recommended websites Works cited 3.

The best way to easily build this into your English essays is to use a three-paragraph body structure. Paragraph One - Should focus on the opposite of what you actually think. This will argue for the contrary of your opinion, detailing an idea that's commonly believed or associated with the texts.

At the heart of writing a good English Literature essay is readability. Avoid writing an essay that is a regurgitation of facts, lecture notes or other people's opinions. If you wouldn't want to read your essay, you can be sure that no one else will. The second important point to bear in mind when writing your English Literature essay is ...

7-10 minutes planning. 26-32 minutes writing. It is always a good idea to use the rest of your time to review what you've written and to make any adjustments. Students usually think that spending more time on the writing will gain more marks, but this isn't true: more essay doesn't mean more marks!

Topic Sentences: Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence that states the aspect of comparison. Comparison: Analyse each poem separately, focusing on the chosen aspect (e.g., theme, structure). Then, compare and contrast the same aspect in both poems. Use of Evidence: Provide evidence from the poems to support your analysis (quotations).

Using evidence. Evidence is the foundation of an effective essay and provides proof for your points. For an essay about a piece of literature, the best evidence will come from the text itself ...

As Paper 1 requires you to answer two questions in 1hr 45min, you have 52 and a half minutes to plan, write and check your 19th-century novel essay. A good rule of thumb is to spend: 7 minutes analysing the question and the extract. 7-10 minutes of planning. 30-35 minutes of writing.

Sample College Essay 2 with Feedback. This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org. College essays are an important part of your college application and give you the chance to show colleges and universities your personality. This guide will give you tips on how to write an effective college essay.