If you have actively reread the work you plan to write about and have made notes or
annotations, you are already well on your way to writing your paper. Your mind has
already begun to work through some initial impressions and ideas. Now you need to
arrange those early notions into an organized and logical essay. Here is some advice
on how to manage the writing process:
® Leave yourself … Read the rest
Reading Actively
Most people read in a relaxed, almost passive way. They let the story or poem carry
them along without asking too many questions. To write about literature well, however,
you need to read actively, paying special attention to various aspects of the text.
This special sort of attention will not only deepen your enjoyment of the story, poem,
or play but will also help generate the information and ideas that … Read the rest
Writing About Literature
If one waits for the right time to come before writing,
the right time never comes.
—JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
Assigned to write an essay on Hamlet, a student might well wonder, “What can I say
that hasn’t been said a thousand times before?” Often the most difficult aspect of
writing about a story, poem, or play is feeling that we have nothing of interest to
contribute to the ongoing … Read the rest
Greek Literature
This dissertation surveys the representation of crowds in the two great epics of
Homer, the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the comedian
Aristophanes. It covers each of these authors in varying levels of detail, and has two
major goals: to identify the vocabulary with which they describe crowds, and to infer
from these descriptions certain underlying concepts of group behavior and collective
psychology.
As a preliminary question, I must … Read the rest
Catching Up with the Calamitys
Tulle-wrapped vases dazzled under the crisp light of the
chandelier. One lone rose dangled from each vase, extending
a lonely shadow on the surface of the mahogany table. Fluted glasses
accompanied porcelain plates, and scarlet-hued napkins were folded
neatly on the fine china. The faint aroma of nectarine and honey wafted
throughout the dining area, curling faintly from a tall, tapered candle
which was placed precisely in the center of … Read the rest
Returning
It’s three hours from Vegas to Barstow. Eileen made the drive in
two. She was just outside the city when her car began to blink
—a red light beneath a single bar of fuel. She slowed down. She held her
breath. She looked up—distant lights; dreary forms.
Far away.
She bit her nails. She hit her steering wheel. She scanned her
surroundings. A sign appeared: GAS – LODGING. She pulled … Read the rest
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Part 6
Dear Sidney,
Juliet says you’re sending a hand-writing fellow to look at Granny Pheen’s letters and decide if Mr. Oscar Wilde wrote them. I’ll bet he did, and even if he didn’t, I think you will admire Solange’s story. I did, Kit did, and I know Granny Pheen did. She would twirl, happy in her grave, to have so many others know about that nice man and his funny ideas.… Read the rest
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Part 5
Dear Sidney,
No diary, but the good news is she did draw while her paper and pencil lasted. I found some sketches stuffed into a large art folio on the bottom shelf of the sitting-room bookcase. Quick line drawings that seem marvelous portraits to me: Isola caught unaware, hitting at something with a wooden spoon; Dawsey digging in a garden; Eben and Amelia with their heads together, talking.
As I … Read the rest
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Part 4
From Juliet to Sidney
22nd May, 1946
Dear Sidney,
There’s so much to tell you. I’ve been in Guernsey only twenty hours, but each one has been so full of new faces and ideas that I’ve reams to write. You see how conducive to working island life is? Look at Victor Hugo—I may grow prolific if I stay here for any length of time.
The voyage from Weymouth was ghastly, … Read the rest
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Part 3
Dear Mrs. Maugery,
Yes, you may trust Juliet. I am unequivocal on this point. Her parents were my good friends as well as my parishioners at St. Hilda’s. Indeed, I was a guest at their home on the night she was born.
Juliet was a stubborn but, withal, a sweet, considerate, joyous child—with an unusual bent toward integrity for one so young.
I will tell you of one incident when … Read the rest