Mr. Darnell’s English Class

Now available: The SlideShare version of the Literary Theory PowerPoint Presentation. Use it to help you plan your JRP

Here are the comments from your papers. These are now officially termed “Baseline Expectations.”

(In other words, take them seriously.)

–Titles should reveal your SPECIFIC topic: use colons and make your title long if necessary.

–Textual support is critical. “Quote” examples from the book to defend your claims. If you make a claim about style or language, especially, you’ll need to provide a sample. Avoid generalization. Don’t use quotes to confirm a plot point unless the quote illustrates an element of your argument (tone or imagery, for example).

–When discussing multiple works, introduce as much as early as possible (a formality, but a necessary one).

–”Based off of” = “Based on”… Use the shorter phrase.

–Avoid “very” in most cases; it’s likely that you’re using “very” instead of a stronger adjective.

–The phrase “there is” (and all “there (be)” constructions) lacks meaning. Use STRONG verbs. FOR EXAMPLE: “There is no way to define truth” could read “Truth defies definition.” A sleeker sentence packed with meaning replaces a passive sentence with meaningless words.

–”A lot”… not a phrase for big boys and girls. Do better.

–Genre awareness (play, novel, short story)… Format properly, too.

–QUALIFY! Present terms or concepts in a context, not in a vacuum. This is an issue of clarity; if you generalize, your argument will be vague. Use definitions, text support, examples, and details to QUALIFY your claims.

–Word economy: “come into confrontation with” = “confront”. “Due to the fact that” = “because”. Whenever you can, use the fewest words possible to convey meaning. Emphasize strong NOUNS and VERBS. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly.

–Conclusions: arguably the toughest part of the paper, though it shouldn’t have to be. Avoid “In conclusion” as a default entry point. Write a natural conclusion… find an apt way to, simply, conclude your argument. NO summary or re-stating of thesis (that’s boring and formulaic). TAKE RISKS.

–The pronoun “who” describes people; the pronoun “that” describes objects.

–Avoid summation at ALL costs. Presume that your audience (readers of critical analysis) have read and interpreted to some degree the texts in question. No need to present catalog of events and characters.

–Avoid cliche. Examples: “in hot water,” “truth shall set you free,” “sly as a fox.” Rule of thumb: if you’ve heard the phrase somewhere, don’t use it.

–”WC” or “awk” comments are not simply a matter of changing a word. More often than not, you will have to REWRITE the entire sentence or paragraph. Sometimes, you simply must delete the sentence (or, in some cases, the whole paragraph).

–No Webster! Bad!

–RULE FOR QUOTING: Introduce (set up) the quote, quote the quote, respond to the quote.

–Watch pronoun-antecedent agreement. Example: “If an individual gets accused of witchcraft, they will surely be in hot water.” In this case, “individual” is a singular noun (antecedent), and “they” (pronoun) is plural. The number cases do not agree. The proper pronoun should be “he” or “she.” Avoid “he or she” (unless it’s applicable), and NEVER write “he/she.”

–Avoid using “one” as a pronoun.

–NEVER use “Throughout history” or “In society” to begin a paper; avoid these phrases in general.

–REVISE, REVISE, REVISE, REVISE, REVISE, REVISE, REVISE.

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