How to write an essay reasoning about a book

Writing a reasoning is not easy, there is not enough good knowledge of the material, you need to systematize your own thoughts and try to coherently and conclusively state your position.

As a rule, the topic of essay-reasoning is a question on which it is proposed to think, reason and draw conclusions. But before moving on to reasoning, it is necessary to study the subject in detail, i.e. the literary work itself. It is very difficult to form an opinion about what you do not know.

Familiarity with the content, with the plot, as a rule, is not enough. Author's remarks, the language of the book, seemingly insignificant details can explain a lot in the behavior and character of the characters, in the logic of the plot development.

Watching a film adaptation, and especially a film version “based on” a literary work, is also not quite what you need: directorial vision, features of the cinematic presentation of the plot can greatly change the original author’s idea.

After the work is read, an opinion about it has developed, the general impression remains, you can go directly to the issue proposed as a topic for essay-discussion.

The time displayed in the work

Any cultural product, including a book, can be correctly considered only through the prism of the era in which it was created. After all, the author was a man of his time, and his worldview, character, aesthetic and ethical views were formed under the influence of historical, cultural, social realities in which he existed.

Even if the author is a rebel, protesting against social and cultural traditions, it’s good to study these traditions at least in general terms, in order to assess and understand what he, in fact, opposed and what did not suit him in modern society.

The position of the author of the work

It is logical to assume that the next step in writing an essay will be an attempt to understand the author’s position on a given problem. It can be difficult to do this on your own, and critical articles and reviews written by professionals can help. It’s nice to find several sources that cover the issue of interest. In this part of the essay, author's quotes confirming certain conclusions and quotes from critics' articles will be appropriate.