Lecture

1. COMPOSITION II
WEEK FOUR
TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
REMINDER:
QUIZ OVER FIRST HALF
OF SLEEPY HOLLOW ON
9/15

2. MECHANICS TIP
• Use transitional phrases to connect sentences and paragraphs and organize writing into a unified
whole
• Transitional words and phrases can help your reader understand the logic of your paper
• Always use a comma after a transitional phrase or word regardless of where it appears in the sentence
• Examples of transitional phrases:
• furthermore
• moreover
• too
• also
• in the second place
• again
• in addition
• even more
• next
• while
• immediately
• never
• after
• later, earlier
• always
• when
• soon
• whenever
• meanwhile
• sometimes
• in the meantime
• during
• afterward
• nevertheless
• nonetheless
• after all
• but
• however
• though
• Otherwise
• therefore
• consequently
• accordingly
• thus
• hence
• as a result

3. MECHANICS TIP (CONT.)
• Examples:
• Subsequently, the mayor agreed in 1995 to allow yo-yos in public places once more.
• This kind of person, for instance, would be more susceptible to illness.
• The research, so far, indicates that women tolerate the drug better than men.
• In contrast, the people in the urban areas seemed to thrive under these provisions.
• The scientist, however, doubted the proof.

4. IN-CLASS EXERCISE
• Using your handout, find an appropriate transitional word or phrase to insert in the
blanks.
• _________________, the sales representative concluded her speech with a demonstration.
• _________________, the research proved that men cannot operate the machine as well as
women.
• The media, ____________________, portrayed him as a raving lunatic instead of a visionary.
• The information showed, _______________________, that the fundamentals of the experiment
were lacking. This, ________________, led us to understand our research on a whole new level.
• ____________________, this type of novel is not one to be read just once in a lifetime.

5. LITERATURE AND THE
WRITING PROCESS
WEEK FOUR LECTURE

6. WHY LITERARY ANALYSIS?
• Literary analysis- the practice of looking closely at small parts of a story or poem to
see how they affect the whole
• Focuses on how plot, character, setting, and more create meaning
• Writing about a literary work encourages us to become better readers because it
requires a close examination of the elements and themes of a story
• Paying close attention to the details allows us to understand how a work conveys its intent
and meaning
• Understanding and employing literary analysis is a method crucial to research
• Being able to identify tone, biases, psychological complexities, and themes can help you
dissect many works for validation, inspiration, and further research

7. LITERATURE AS RESEARCH
• Is literature a type of research?
• Yes! Writing poems, novels, biographies, fictional stories, and all that good stuff is an
exploration of our humanity
• A study that has been around since the beginning of civilization
• Literature can:
• validate many social customs and practices specific to a culture
• embody a moment in history
• Inspire further research into a subject
• Create commentaries on political injustices

8. USING ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
• Authors make specific choices for particular reasons
• Writing and responding to literature should be an effort to point out the authors
choices and explain their significance
• Literary analysis varies by perspective
• You do not always have to value the author’s intentions with a work
• As long as you can use the text to defend your answer, you are correct!

9. ALLEGORY
• A narrative form in which the characters are representative of some larger
humanistic trait (greed, vanity, bravery) and attempts to convey some larger lesson
or meaning to life
• Examples of allegories:
• X-Men evils of prejudice
• Harry Potter dangers of seeking racial purity
• The Tortoise and the Hare wasting natural talent/ laziness

10. CHARACTER
• Representation of a person, place, or thing performing traditionally human activities
in a work of fiction
• Protagonist- the character the story revolves around
• Antagonist- a character that opposes the protagonist
• Minor character- provides support or illumination for the protagonist
• Characterization- The choices and author makes to reveal a character’s personality,
such as appearance, actions, dialogue, and motivations

11. IMAGERY
• The author’s attempt to create
a mental picture in the mind of
the reader
• Most immediate forms of
imagery are visual
• Some imagery can evoke
emotional sensations
• How would you recreate this
scene using imagery?

12. PLOT
• The arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story
• Foreshadowing- When the writer clues the reader in to something
that will eventually occur in the story
• Suspense- the tension the author uses to create a feeling of
discomfort about the unknown
• Conflict- struggle between opposing forces
• Exposition- background information regarding the setting, characters,
and plot
• Rising action- the process the story follows as it builds to a conflict
• Crisis- a significant turning point in the story that determines how it
must end
• Resolution- the way the story turns out

13. POINT OF VIEW
• Pertains to who tells the story and how it is told
• Narrator- the person telling the story who may or may not be a character in the story
• First-Person- narrator participates in action but has limited knowledge/vision
• Second person- narrator addresses the reader directly as though they are part of the story
• Third Person (Objective)- narrator is unnamed/unidentified (a dethatched observer)
• Omniscient- All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives)

14. SETTING
• The place or location of the action
• Provides historical and cultural context for the characters
• Can symbolize the emotional state of characters

15. IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
• Children’s literature can be a good place to begin with literary analysis. Generally,
children’s literature is easy to dissect and have broad, allegoric themes that create
commentaries on morality, safety, and social expectation.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k25wlcFOglA
• Listen to this story and answer the following questions:
• How did Dr. Seuss employ imagery? How did this imagery influence the message of the
story?
• Who was the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? Who are the minor characters?
• Did any of the characters represent something bigger than their part?
• What was the setting? Did it change?
• Did Seuss employ foreshadowing? What was the crisis? The resolution?
• What was the allegory of this story?
• Is this story significant outside the study of literature?

16. PLANNING A LITERARY ARGUMENT
• Decide what you want to argue about
• An argumentative essay attempts to change the way readers think about something
• Topic must be one on which some people might disagree
• Topic should be narrow enough to debate within your page limit
• If your topic is too broad you cannot hope to discuss it in detail
• Your topic should be interesting
• Your ideas should be well supported

17. DEVELOPING AN ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS
• An argumentative thesis statement makes a claim about a topic and then justifies it
with specific evidence
• lays the foundation for your entire argument
• Your thesis must make it clear to readers what position you are taking
• You must be able to support your thesis with evidence from the text
• What do I mean by claim?
• A claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement,
or an interpretation

18. EXAMPLE: ARGUMENTATIVE THESIS STATEMENT
• It would help our economy and inspire patriotism if everyone in the United States
were required to serve one year in the military or do one year of community service
work.
• The paper that follows should:
• Support the claim that military and community service aid the economy
• Support the claim that military and community service inspire patriotism
• The character the Onceler represented small business owners and how they can be
afflicted by capitalistic greed and lose site of their business’ original goals and
intentions.
• What should the following paper be about?

19. BUILDING MAIN POINTS/ BODY
• Consider the literary evidence that support your claim
• Consider how your beliefs and values support the claim
• Consider how the beliefs and values of society affect your claim
• Build strong main points that relate to the text and the larger argument
• Understand your opinion on the matter
• Understand the opposition

20. USING EVIDENCE
• Use MLA format to cite quotes, paraphrases, and themes from a work
• All main points should be supported by textual evidence
• You can also use textual evidence to disprove the opposing argument

21. DUE:
• Thursday September 15:
• Have read first half of Sleepy Hollow
• QUIZ over first half (REVIEW LITERARY TERMS)
• Be working on Mini Paper
• Tuesday September 20:
• Have finished Sleepy Hollow
• QUIZ over second half
• Have your mini paper for peer review
• If you do not bring your mini paper you will be asked to leave class
• Journal due Sunday 9/18 by midnight!