Revising to Elaborate Details

Your research paper should be more than just a list of details: First of all . . . Second of all . . . Thirdly . . . Fourthly . . . . Instead, you should elaborate ideas. You can do so by introducing a concept, looking more carefully at it, defining the terms you are using, giving examples, telling an anecdote, providing historical context, and so on. Note how each of these types of details further "unpacks" the concept, allowing readers to understand it more fully.

In the following paragraph from "The Mind Behind Middle-earth," note how the topic sentences introduce two main points, and the writer explores each point separately, using a variety of details to unfold the picture for the reader. Click on the callouts to view each part.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

If you're having trouble deciding how to start, you can experiment with different strategies for catching your reader's interest. (If you'd rather just plunge in to writing your middle paragraphs, go ahead, and circle back to this step later.) Your lead sentence will begin your first paragraph and help to introduce your thesis statement.

Reading a Literary Research Paper

Before you start work on your own literary research paper, you should read a paper created by another student. As you read, note how the writer analyzes his topic with a breadth of ideas and a depth of details. He draws evidence from multiple sources, including the fiction and nonfiction of the author as well as historical references. He also connects the literature to larger thematic questions about life itself. Click on the side notes to study these features.

Reading a Student Model

This research paper explores the meaning of the term fantasy, specifically in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The overall structure includes a beginning paragraph, multiple body paragraphs, an ending paragraph, and a works-cited page. The writer uses source citations as well as historical context and discussions of theme in the analysis.

Writing for Literature Assessment

When you respond to a writing prompt, you should start by carefully reading and analyzing the prompt using the PAST questions. Then you should jot down a quick outline of your response. Do these activities in the first five minutes or so of the time you have. (If the prompt includes a reading, take more time with this step.) You'll spend the bulk of your time creating a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Afterward, you'll want to review your answers to the PAST questions and read your response, making sure it is on target. In the last five minutes or so, revise and edit your work. This abbreviated version of the writing process needs to fit into the total time you are given (often between 30 and 90 minutes).

Viewing a Sample Prompt and Response

Read the following prompt, and view one student's PAST analysis, outline, and beginning, middle, and ending. Then you'll get a chance to read and respond to a prompt of your own.

Sample Writing Prompt

Understanding Vocabulary

When you read an unfamiliar word, you need to figure out its meaning based on how it is used. You can use the following context clues to guess a meaning.

Revising to Connect Characters to Themes

An effective character analysis should show how the words and actions of the characters demonstrate larger themes. Often themes express life lessons, social or cultural realities, or moral dilemmas. Answering questions about the literature can help you identify themes:

1. Why is this character so interesting?

   George Wilson is interesting because he seems so powerless all the way through but does the one action that changes everything.

2. What is the most critical moment for this character?

   After his wife is killed by Gatsby's car, Wilson shoots Gatsby in his pool.

3. If this character could do one thing over, what would it be?

   Wilson would not let his wife go with Tom Buchanan, which would save her life and Gatsby's as well.

4. What emotion best defines this character?

   Wilson goes through a number of emotions, from blissful ignorance to growing suspicion, then grief and desperation, and finally fury. He feels that he has been wronged and will work to right it.

5. What does this character's life say about life in general?

   Rich, powerful people often take away the little that poor, powerless people have. However, if the rich ignore this injustice, the poor often rise up to take revenge.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

Start your essay with a lead that gets readers' attention and orients them to the piece of literature you will analyze. After your lead sentence, you will develop a paragraph that ends with your thesis statement.

1. Name the work and author and summarize its importance.

   Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton unflinchingly portrays the deep societal divisions in 1948 South Africa, divisions that would lead to apartheid.

2. Ask a compelling question about the work.

   Why do most people consider The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to be the quintessential "Great American Novel?"

3. Provide a powerful quotation from the author.

   “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.”
   —F. Scott Fitzgerald

4. Share a historical reference that provides a context for the work.

   Nelson Mandela spent his youth as a political dissident, his middle age as a political prisoner, and his old age as president of a post-apartheid South Africa.

Reading a Character Analysis

Before you begin your own character analysis, you should read a paper created by another student. As you read, note how the writer describes characters, explores themes, cites evidence from the literature, connects to the larger context, and combines the whole with transitions. Click on the side notes to study these features.

Reading a Student Model

This reading analyzes multiple characters from Cry, the Beloved Country, showing how they help express the main themes of the work. The overall structure includes a beginning paragraph, multiple body paragraphs, and an ending paragraph. The writer uses source citations as well as historical context and discussions of theme to show the significance of the characters in the novel.

Sample Character Analysis