How to write a good essay on literature

Everyone had or have classmates who write beautiful compositions, whose work is always cited as an example. It seems that they are not doing anything special, they are not making any supernatural effort, and the stream of their thoughts is lining up in orderly sentences. Well, someone scrupulously collecting quotes from other people's works, somehow writes a work, getting "satisfactory." So how to write an essay on literature?

Instruction manual

one

Read the topic of the essay. As soon as you read, you should have ideas, images. Write down on paper the first thing that comes to your mind: for example, whole sentences, phrases or words. This does not have to be an introduction or conclusion. So far, these are just your thoughts.

2

Now that you have thrown out all your thoughts on paper, it's time to think about building an essay. The standard essay-discussion on literature (not the exam format or passing exam) implies an introduction, a main part and a conclusion, which will be different paragraphs.

3

To write an introduction for an essay on literature, you need to think not so much about revealing a topic (this should be done in the main part), but about introducing a person reading an essay into the course of things. By introduction, it should become clear what will be discussed in the work. After writing the introduction, ask yourself questions:

- What kind of work are we talking about?

- who is the author of the work?

- what kind of work (drama, comedy, tragedy, novel, etc.)?

- What aspect will be discussed in the essay?

4

If you wrote an introduction, then a lot has already been done! The main thing is to start. You should not start the main part if it is really difficult for you to put your thoughts together. Better think about the conclusion. Although this violates the usual order, but writing a conclusion will help you gather your thoughts. In conclusion, you must give a clear answer to the question or give a value judgment to the statement - it all depends on the wording of the theme of the composition. For example: what role does Kukshina play in the novel "Fathers and Sons" - there must be an answer to the question. Pavel Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov in the novel by I.S. Turgenev - we see a comparison. Think about why these two heroes were put in comparison to compose? Maybe they are similar or, conversely, different? Write about this in the conclusion. Images / characteristics of the old Bazarovs - in images / characteristics you usually just briefly retell the main part. What characters: maybe incomprehensible geniuses, or maybe inveterate conservatives or other characteristics.

5

When you write the conclusion, it will already be clear what you should talk about in the main part. It should be an explanation of everything that is said later in the conclusion. This is like a huge proof of the theorem, in order to come to a short statement afterwards.

6

To write the main part, you will need to parse each part of your conclusion made in the conclusion, separately, backing up with information from the text. For example, if you claim that the characters have different ideologies in comparison, then you need to talk about their views, while simultaneously giving the composition a somewhat evaluative connotation.

7

Remember that in the main part of the essay-reasoning in literature, it is necessary to go on exactly the reasoning. You should not express the end of the thought, but begin to explain from the very beginning. After all, you concluded that a character, for example, a conservative, is not just that? At first you thought about something, evaluated his actions. Use those notes that you made at the very beginning, just by reading the topic. They will help you find the words. Having finished with the main part, line up everything written in order (introduction, main part, conclusion).

note

Pay attention to speech. Read the essay aloud if possible. So you will immediately become clear all speech errors.

Useful advice

Extra points can be obtained using quotes from the text.

Particular harmony and usefulness to the composition is given by soft transitions or “bridges” from part to part. At the end of the introduction, you can ask a question that you will answer in the main part. The conclusion begins with phrased phrases, like "in this way..", "based on the foregoing, …", etc.

You can first read the work of critics in the work. Do not rewrite the whole work, pulling out whole sentences, but use this material as an additional help.