Papers for
Literature Courses
In general, papers must--
1. --have a recognizable thesis
that identifies
a subject and takes a stand on that subject.
2. --have recognizable topic sentences
that show, through appropriate transitional terms, the progress
of an argument and not the continuation
of
plot.
3. --include quotations from primary texts
, each preceded by an explanation of the work it
comes
from and followed by an analysis of its
importance
.
4. --include references to secondary
sources
, each preceded by an identification of the
source and followed by a page number(s)
or other sign
that the reference is concluded.
(Sample
outline: "Campus Love")
We all know about
puppy love, mother love, and tough
love,
but recent trends in literary expression also reveal a growing body of
contemporary
American plays, novels, and poems about the joy of union with a
beautiful
campus. . . .
For instance, in "Sonnet
to
Longwood" Horatio Bounderby uses academic images to show that study at
the right
college
will
set you free.
A first use
of campus imagery to initiate a special kind of love involves brick
buildings with red tile roofs.
Indeed, the
setting of this poem is Grainger Hall,
which features
. . . guardian columns row by row,
A portico that
protects
from snow
The eager
aspirants
crowding in,
The dons
both
fat and thin. (223)
The author personifies
the building to emphasize
its parental role in sheltering all who enter. That Grainger's
columns
are balanced in a perfect pattern emphasizes the orderliness and
stability
of this structure. This technique
has
been noted by Cormier, who
states: "Longwood's
grand academic
buildings deserve noble names to acknowledge their enduring legacies"
(15).
Later,
Bounderby
employs
graphic pictures of sidewalks connecting the different buildings at a
university, again underscoring the affection one can feel for an alma
mater.
. . . .
Finally,
"Sonnet to
Longwood"
subtly presents the speaker's fondness for "the best six years of life"
through the
indirect
suggestion that the flower borders represent graves in which, he hopes,
he
and all he cares for can be buried. The speaker sings: "the beds of loam and of compost /
transform the body; it is not lost / But become the seed of more
tuition." . . . .
In conclusion,
America is now blessed with a new
kind
of love . . .