This critical essay should be 4-5 pages of content along with a Works Cited page. It should be an interpretation of literary text(s) that establishes the author’s intent by analyzing characters, imagery, and/or themes/main ideas. Each paper should contain a clear, analytical thesis statement. Develop your argument through close reading and textual analysis using the SIEL method – State, Illustrate, Explain, Link — that you have been practicing in journal entries.
Your papers should follow MLA formatting; they must be double-spaced using 12-point font; and they must meet the minimum page length requirement. I will not accept papers that do not meet these requirements.
A strong critical essay contains the following:
A crafted introduction and conclusion:
Introduce your essay. Do not assume that your reader has read the work you are analyzing. A strong introduction identifies the work(s) you will analyze; defines the topic of your essay; states why your argument is important; provides appropriate background/context; and concludes with a thesis statement that you will develop, expand, and/or explore in the paper. Your thesis is the Statement or assertion about the text. EVERYTHING that you include must be clearly Linked to your thesis.
A strong conclusion makes an assessment/judgment about your original question/topic, but does not simply restate your thesis statement. The conclusion makes a point that ties the points you have made together; and gives the reader a “send-off” or parting statement.
A clear thesis statement that is developed throughout the paper
A thesis statement is a clear, concise Statement of your argument – what you want your essay to illustrate or prove. It should appear at or near the end of your introduction.
Thesis development relies on effective and logical organization and close reading(s) of the text(s) you have selected. Your paper should evolve as a development and exploration of your thesis statement through discussion and analysis of the text(s). Support your assertions about the text with paraphrases, examples and/or brief quotations from the text, as you have been doing in journal entries.
Support analytical claims with textual evidence — ILLUSTRATE
Analytical claims are interpretations or ideas regarding the creative text (story, poem, example, novel, etc.). Examples, quotes, paraphrases, etc. provide the textual evidence that supports the specific claims you make. This means that your analysis relies on close reading in which you link your ideas and statements about the text(s) to specific words, phrases, lines, images, paragraphs in the the text itself.
Logical structure and organization — EXPLAIN
Coherent paragraphs have strong topic sentences that develop systematically throughout the paper. Each paragraph should have a clear main point as well as effective transitions that provide a sense of coherence.
At the sentence level, you should demonstrate clear phrasing and thoughtful word choice. You should also clearly understand and avoid common sentence errors: fragments, run-on or fused sentences, comma splices.
Establish clear transitions between paragraphs – LINK
Clearly establish the connection between the point you just made in the previous paragraph and the point you are making in this next paragraph. There should be a flow, in other words. You must establish the connections that you see.
1.) Your literary analysis must be based on your close reading of the novel or short story ONLY. If you use outside sources, your essay will FAIL automatically.
2.) Don’t forget your Works Cited page, on which you will cite the primary text — novel or short story – that you have analyzed.
3.) After every quote, include a parenthetical citation indicating the number of the page from which the quote was taken.
4.) Go to the MLA citation site and be sure the format of your citations is accurate. If you are writing on “Sonny’s Blues” or “No Name Woman,” use the format for “A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection.”
You can find a link to the MLA Formatting and Style Guide at:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
Once you get to that page, there is a sidebar on the left. Click on “MLA Works Cited Page: Books.” Scroll down to the citation format for “A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection.”
Remember that you must have a Works Cited page listing the works you are analyzing and any information you got from the Introduction sections in your anthology. Include a parenthetical citation providing the page number every time you quote from a source.
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I AM WRITING ABOUT SONNY’S BLUES BY JAMES BALDWIN

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