Academic arguments about literature are really no different than other kinds of academic arguments you might make in other papers, only you are concentrating on one or more literary texts.

As with all other academic arguments, you need to make claims and then support those claims by citing examples from the text at hand. The claim/support structure also goes by other names, like position/evidence or assertion/reason. Whatever you call it, the first term makes a statement, the second term goes to prove that statement.

Note that statements of your topic cannot function as arguments or theses. So "symbolism in Catcher in the Rye" is not an argument; it is a topic (and too broad for a college essay). Topic sentences are always more general than supporting sentences.

Practice: Topic and supporting sentences

Label each sentence below as either a topic sentence or a supporting sentence.

1. The relationship between Emily and Homer Barron is very complicated.
2. Maya Angelou's "Graduation" is narrated in the first person to bring the reader closer to the experience of the speaker.
3. The first two lines of Brooks' "Sadie and Maude" explain their difference: "Maud went to college. / Sadie stayed at home."
4. The tigers in "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" are "prancing, proud and unafraid."
5. In "Oranges," the boy and girl enter the world of experience.

Arguing from literature

Creating an argument from literature means reading carefully and then considering what sorts of statements you can make about a text that can be reasonably supported. The key to building a reasonable argument is crafting an effective thesis statement.

Practice: Appropriate thesis statements

Choosing an appropriate thesis statement means managing specificity and generality well. For example, in a four– or five– page essay, you cannot hope to cover all aspects of a long work, let alone all aspects of many works. Thus your thesis statement must lay out an argument you can conceivably cover in the space allotted. Also, a thesis statement must present an arguable position. "There is change in Shelley's Frankenstein" is both too broad to be a thesis statement, and it does not make an argument. (Who would say there isn't change in Frankenstein?) "Victor Frankenstein changes for the worse in Shelley's Frankenstein" could work as an argument, since someone might as easily say that he changes for the better. Thus you'd need to justify your position with evidence from the text.

Practice: Appropriate theses

Imagine you've been assigned a four– to five– page paper for your English class. Suggest which of the theses below would be appropriate.

• Symbolism in literature.
• Symbolism in "The Merchant of Venice."
• The paperweight as microcosm in Orwell's 1984.
• Landscape is important in the works of Margaret Atwood.
• Landscape is important in the poetry of Margaret Atwood.
• The importance of landscape in Margaret Atwood's "The City Planners."
• Landscape is important in Margaret Atwood's "The City Planners."

Generating ideas and drafting

There are many techniques for drafting and generating ideas before you start to write. No matter which you use, however, you must do some kind of initial planning. Many young writers feel it's an unnecessary step, even a waste of time, to plan an essay before just sitting down at the computer. But planning, drafting, sketching, etc. are essential for generating ideas, grouping details together, and discarding ideas you don't want to cover. Some form of drafting and planning in the early stages will save much more time than it will take.

Webs or outlines

Some writers like to make webs as a way of generating and organizing ideas.

Note: Click on the image to enlarge it.





Webs are easy to make since they do not involve a lot of organization; when you get an idea you can just write it down without having to think too much about how it fits. Webs are good for brainstorming ideas; often you'll find many minicenters develop around the original center of your web. Also, webs are excellent because they force you to always connect ideas. Webs do not allow you to hierarchize the thoughts and details you generate, however. This is another step you'll need to take.

Outlines require you to list ideas and details under these headings: I —> A —> 1 —> a. Continue using subheadings the more specific the detail is. Outlines are not always as good as webs for helping to generate ideas, partly because outlines require a more rigid form than webs do and so it's harder to brainstorm quickly. By the same token, though, outlines force you to put ideas and details in order of importance and to consider levels of generality and specificity in the material you're working with.

Also, since you are using numbers to organize ideas, you can work toward the standard five-paragraph essay by imagining roman numerals I—V. I = introduction (with thesis statement); II = Body paragraph 1 (topic sentence); III = Body paragraph 2 (topic sentence); IV = Body paragraph 3 (topic sentence); V = Conclusion.

By outlining just five sentences—a thesis, three body paragraph topic sentences, and a conclusion—you are well on your way to crafting a unified and coherent essay.

Remember though, that although the five-paragraph essay is a good guideline, you need to develop more complex essays as your abilities increase. Also, as far as choosing a method of generating ideas and organizing them on paper, use whatever method works best for you. Try alternate methods sometimes. Or try a combination of things.

Practice: Creating a web or outline

Create a web and an outline you think might work for a four– or five–page essay. Are you more comfortable with doing webs or outlines? Why? Try creating a web from the outlines you've made, or, if you started with a web, create an outline from it.

Keeping a reading notebook

It is a good idea to keep some kind of reading notebook or journal in addition to notes you make during class. This is not a diary; this is a record of reactions, thoughts, and especially questions you have as you work through readings for class. Often, instructors will assign such a reading journal.

A reading notebook helps you focus your thinking about what you are reading because you need to actually put thoughts into words. A notebook is almost the equivalent of a conversation, in the sense that instead of keeping a few thoughts or questions unformed in your mind, you need to arrange them in language. Also, the notebook will help you generate texts from texts, since the reading will be the catalyst for you to write. Thus you produce a text that is yours, but that also stems directly from class reading.

Unless your instructor offers specific guidelines, your notebook can address everything from very specific lines or words from a reading to general impressions or ideas, and you can begin to link your own experience to what you are reading.

Revising

Although we often think of revising as an activity that occurs at the very end of the composition process, it is really the most fundamental part of writing. (Some students confuse revising with the more specific activity of proofreading.) Revising occurs from start to finish. We are always rethinking, sometimes rewording, ideas as they develop.

To be an effective reviser, you need to think of revision as an integral part of the whole writing process. Revising is not just fixing mistakes before you hand your paper in. Revising requires that you consider other ways of saying things, and it means you need to be able to delete what you've already done. This might sound easy enough, but writers tend to get very attached to the glorious look of their own words on paper, and thus are often reluctant to scrap things, even when they know something could be better.

Revision needs to be an ongoing process that occurs on all levels: from concepts to sentences. Revising concepts means rethinking the way you've argued or organized large sections of your paper (or sometimes your entire paper). Can you move things around to make your essay more effective? Do some sections require another rewrite? Do your supports actually go to prove your claims? And is the connection between claim and support clearly stated? Does the essay deliver what your thesis statement promises? Does each paragraph deliver what your topic sentences promise? Do you arrive at a conclusion that fits with your introduction? Do ideas flow from one paragraph to the next? Are paragraphs unified? Is the essay unified?

Aside from conceptual issues, you also need to revise and proofread to make sure that your sentences do not contain errors. Sentence-level errors do not just affect sentences. They affect the impact of your entire paper. Thus, you might have the best thesis in the world, but if you cannot craft the sentences to communicate and defend that thesis, it will never get the credit it deserves.

In an essay, you want to write your ideas so that your reader gets the same message out of your work as you put in. Like this:




Here's what you don't want:




In Practice: Fixing sentence errors

Fix these common, sentence-level errors.

• It is interesting that Milton went blind, it certainly informs the symbolism in Paradise Lost.
• Wordsworth often repeats patterns in his work, although the reader should not be surprised, since the poet was so adamant about trying to reform poetic style and so interested in the "common" man. This makes Wordsworth interesting to read.
• Holden Caulfield is a liar because he says he doesn't read, but then lists the books he's just read.