How to write a good essay
Developing an Argument about Literature
First of all, a writer writes an introduction to describe his or her topic and the problem or question it raises. A good thesis is always the answer to a good question, posed to or about the text. The writer should not usually write the question in the actual essay, but should be able to formulate one about which he or she has come to a conclusion. For example, the writer may want to write about Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice. He or she may be interested in answering this question: how do Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy develop truly virtuous character since they are surrounded and influenced by a world and by people with such questionable values? The thesis is the writer’s conclusive statement on the problem or issue or topic specifically explained in the introduction. This thesis statement must follow the introductory information, at the end of the introductory paragraph, and be stated as an assertion, clearly, straightforwardly, and specifically. Here is an example of a possible thesis, using the idea from Pride and Prejudice: “Although the hero and heroine of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice are surrounded by a world in which values seem badly skewed, the very obstacles set in the way of the lovers, including within themselves, create a testing ground for the development of virtues such as patience, trust, determination, and the ability to choose the good no matter what the consequences may be.” The writer now knows exactly where he or she is going with the essay. Now that the writer has stated an argument, the following paper must take it up. Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, stating the point that paragraph will develop. These points heading up body paragraphs should take up the argument in the order of the thesis, subpoint by subpoint: writers are responsible to follow through specifically with what has been promised in the thesis. Thus, the writer may first want to devote a
First of all, a writer writes an introduction to describe his or her topic and the problem or question it raises. A good thesis is always the answer to a good question, posed to or about the text. The writer should not usually write the question in the actual essay, but should be able to formulate one about which he or she has come to a conclusion. For example, the writer may want to write about Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice. He or she may be interested in answering this question: how do Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy develop truly virtuous character since they are surrounded and influenced by a world and by people with such questionable values? The thesis is the writer’s conclusive statement on the problem or issue or topic specifically explained in the introduction. This thesis statement must follow the introductory information, at the end of the introductory paragraph, and be stated as an assertion, clearly, straightforwardly, and specifically. Here is an example of a possible thesis, using the idea from Pride and Prejudice: “Although the hero and heroine of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice are surrounded by a world in which values seem badly skewed, the very obstacles set in the way of the lovers, including within themselves, create a testing ground for the development of virtues such as patience, trust, determination, and the ability to choose the good no matter what the consequences may be.” The writer now knows exactly where he or she is going with the essay. Now that the writer has stated an argument, the following paper must take it up. Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, stating the point that paragraph will develop. These points heading up body paragraphs should take up the argument in the order of the thesis, subpoint by subpoint: writers are responsible to follow through specifically with what has been promised in the thesis. Thus, the writer may first want to devote a
Cited: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford: Houghton-Mifflin, 1997. Beowulf. Trans. Seamus Heaney. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2001. 23-94. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The General Prologue. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2001. 185-90. ---. The Miller’s Prologue and Tale. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2001. 191-207. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Norton Anthology: Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: Norton, 2006. 206-495. Orwell, George. “Why I Write.” The Dolphin Reader. 6th ed. Ed. Douglas Hunt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 107-14. Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave.” The Belmont Abbey Reader. Ed. Angela Miss. New York: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2012.189-94. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Riverside Anthology: The Complete Works. 2nd ed. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans and J.J.M. Tobin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. 1183-1245.