2. The Writing:
• The Thesis
• Introductions
• The Argument
• Conclusions
The Technical Details:
• Integrating quotations
• In text citations
• The works cited page
• MLA formatting
AGENDA
4. THE INTRODUCTION
The writer of the academic essay aims to
persuade readers of an idea based on
evidence. The beginning of the essay is a
crucial first step in this process. In order to
engage readers and establish your authority,
the beginning of your essay has to
accomplish certain business. Your beginning
should introduce the essay, focus it, and
orient readers.
5. INTRODUCE THE ESSAY
The beginning lets your readers know what the
essay is about, the topic. The essay's topic does
not exist in a vacuum, however; part of letting
readers know what your essay is about means
establishing the essay's context, the frame within
which you will approach your topic.
6. ORIENT READERS
Orienting readers means providing the information and
explanations necessary for your readers to understand your
argument. Orienting is important throughout your essay, but it is
crucial in the beginning. Readers who don't have the information
they need to follow your discussion will get lost and quit reading.
Supplying the necessary information to orient your readers may be
as simple as answering the basic questions of who, what, where,
when, how, and why. It may mean including a short summary of the
text you'll be analyzing.
At the minimum, the Introductory paragraph should briefly
introduce the author, the style of poem (sonnet, blank verse, free
verse), and the basic topic/theme the poem addresses. Do make
sure it leads up to the thesis; don’t begin your argument in the
introduction.
7. THESIS STATEMENT
The thesis of the essay will be your statement of
interpretation about what a particular poem means. There
are two related questions that you should consider in order
to come up with the thesis for your poetry essay:
1. What is this poem about? (determined through a close
reading)
2. Why did the writer choose to use the words, images,
metaphors and perhaps the particular kind of rhythm
scheme; what effect do they achieve?
Your thesis statement should contain answers to these
questions. Often thesis statements are complex enough to
require two or even three sentences. If you need multiple
sentences to express your idea, use them.
8. WHY A STRONG THESIS?
A paper needs a strong thesis
statement so that it can make a
strong argument. Weak thesis
statements can result in papers with
no clear direction or in papers that
rely on summary to fill their pages. A
good thesis statement predicts
limits and organizes the content of
the essay. In other words, it notifies
your reader about the scope of the
paper, telling him or her exactly what
your paper will cover and in what
order.
9. EXAMPLES OF
POETRY THESES
• Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” uses robust imagery and
a profoundly ironic tone to illustrate the paradoxical nature of
the speaker’s childhood relationship with his father, suggesting
that a father’s love is not always expressed through a gentle
caress.
• Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” juxtaposes imagery of
playfulness and violence to evoke an ambiguous tone of
reverence mixed with fear, illustrating the speaker’s attempt to
reconcile his paradoxical childhood relationship with his father.
• The waltzing ritual in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is
not about dancing; it is about a man who asserts and maintains
physical control over his son even as he loses control over
himself.
10. THE ARGUMENT
The first body paragraph generally presents the large
issues; for example, it might advise the reader of
dramatic tension or describe the speaker’s paradox
or conflict.
The next paragraphs should develop the discussion
of the conflict by focusing on details of form, rhetoric,
syntax, and vocabulary. In these paragraphs, the
writer should analyze or explain the poem by
discussing details line by line. The writer should
include important elements of rhyme, rhythm, and
meter here.
11. Each paragraph should consist of a point
which is credible, relevant to your thesis,
and analytical.
• Remember that you are attempting to convince
your reader of certain position.
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence
that tells your reader the focus of your
argument. Make sure that your topic sentence
ties back to your thesis.
• The body of the paragraph should support
your the assertion (and by extension, your
thesis) with convincing evidence.
12. You must create a compelling argument through evidence,
and you must present that evidence in the context of your
own argument.
• Before the quotation, describe the evidence in terms of the
context of the poem. Where is it located in the poem? Inform the
reader what he or she should be looking for in the poem.
• After the quotation, explain problematic syntax or vocabulary or
describe any particular rhetorical strategy you will include in your
analysis.
• Then, when you analyze the quote, show how it supports the
claims you are making in your thesis. This is the most important
part of your paper; it is where you make your interpretation clear
to the reader and where you prove your thesis. Don't assume
that the quotation will speak for itself—you must explain it, so
the reader understands your interpretation.
13. TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND
1.Refer to the speaking voice in the poem as the
speaker.”
2.Use the present tense when writing the explication.
The poem, as a work of literature, continues to
exist!
3.To avoid unnecessary uses of the verb “to be” in
your compositions, the following list suggests some
verbs you can use when writing the explication:
14. WRITING CONCLUSIONS
The conclusion is your last chance to persuade your
readers to accept your point of view, and to impress
yourself upon them as a writer and thinker. The
impression you create in your conclusion will stay with
readers after they have finished the essay.
The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense
of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the
lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning,
its implications: the final paragraph should close the
discussion without closing it off.
15. TO ESTABLISH A SENSE OF CLOSURE,
YOU MIGHT DO ONE OR MORE OF THE
FOLLOWING:
1. Conclude by framing your essay, that is linking the last
paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or
phrase you used at the beginning.
2. Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in
structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance
or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex
discussion.
3. Conclude by setting your discussion into a different,
perhaps larger, context.
4. Conclude by considering the implications of your
argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your
argument imply, or involve, or suggest?
16. HOW NOT TO END YOUR ESSAY
1. Don't simply summarize your essay. A brief summary of
your argument may be useful, especially if your essay is
long, but shorter essays tend not to require a restatement
of your main ideas.
2. Avoid phrases like "in conclusion," "to conclude," "in
summary," and "to sum up." These phrases can be useful
in oral presentations. But readers can see when an essay
is about to end. You'll irritate your audience if you
belabor the obvious.
3. Don't undercut your authority by making statements like,
"this is just one approach to the subject; or, there may be
other, better approaches”; or, “this is just my opinion.”
18. QUOTING VERSE
When short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from
poetry, mark breaks in short quotations of verse with a slash,
( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede
and follow the slash).
• Roethke writes, “The whiskey on your
breath / Could make a small boy dizzy”
(1-2).
19. LONG QUOTATIONS
For quotations that extend to more than four lines of verse or
prose, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and
omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with
the entire quote indented one inch (10 spaces) from the left
margin; maintain double-spacing. Only indent the first line of
the quotation by an additional quarter inch if you are citing
multiple paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come
after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse,
maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-
spacing throughout your essay.)
20. In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke
explores his childhood with his father:
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We Romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself. (quoted in Shrodes,
Finestone, Shugrue 202)
FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN CITING
MORE THAN FOUR LINES OF
VERSE, USE THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE:
Hanging indent for
long quotation: 10
spaces
21. ACCORDING TO THE ST. MARTIN'S
GUIDE, THEREARE THREE MAIN WAYS
TO SET UPASIGNALING PHRASE:
1. With a complete sentence followed by a colon.
• The next two lines of the second stanza go like this: "My mother's
countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8).
2. With an incomplete sentence, followed by a comma.
• Rather than saying, ”[papa kept] time on my head/with a palm
caked hard by dirt” (13-14 ), the narrator uses much more
aggressive language.
3. With a statement that ends in that or that flows directly into the
quotation.
• the narrator says that “[papa] beat time on [his] head" (13).
• The first stanza begins with a description of "the whiskey on
[Papa's] breath" (1).
22. USING SIGNAL PHRASES:
One common error a lot of people make when they include a quotation is that
they tend to put the quotation in a sentence by itself. Unfortunately, we cannot
do this. We need to use what Diana Hacker calls a signal phrase to introduce
the quote and give our readers a context for the quote that explains why we are
taking the time to include it in our paper.
Incorrect: The next two lines of the second stanza explain that his mother is
upset. "My mother's countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8).
Correct: The next two lines of the second stanza explain that his mother is
upset: "My mother's countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8).
Correct: In order to explain that his mother is upset, the narrator says, "My mother's
countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8).
24. MLA FORMAT: ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER
“WRITING SUPPORT.”
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write
papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the
English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system
for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays
and Works Cited pages.
Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating
accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA
style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the
purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
26. Double Click in Header
Area
Type your last name
Justify right
Go to “insert” and click
on “page number
MARGINS AND
FORMATTING
HEADER: LAST
NAME 1
1” all around
Go to “Layout” and
adjust margins or use
custom settings
Times New Roman 12
Indent body
paragraphs ½ inch
from the margin
27. • Your Name
• Dr. Kim Palmore
• EWRT 1c
• 3 May 2015
• Original Title (not the title of
your poem)
• No italics, bold, underline, or
quotation marks
• Centered on the page
• No extra spaces (just double
spaced after your heading
and before the body of your
text.
HEADING: DOUBLE
SPACED
TITLE
29. For this essay, you will likely be citing only the poem you are analyzing. Here are
directions for citing a poem accessed on a web site according to MLA standards.
Cite the poem as a page or article on a web site.
You may have to navigate to other pages on the Web site to find citation
information ("About Us," About this Site," etc.)
If you cannot find some of the elements of the citation, you may omit the
missing elements.
MLA does not require the URL of the Web site to be included in the citation.
http://libguides.pstcc.edu/content.php?pid=24540&sid=1751623
31. HOMEWORK
Post #6: Your introduction with your thesis; your
conclusion
Draft your essay
Bring two complete copies of your draft to our next class.
You must have two copies to participate in the Peer
Review Workshop.