Concept BY destinyl 923 Writing about Literature Reading literature like Beowulf and Emerson’s “Heroism” is Just one stop along the way to becoming an English scholar. Writing about literature is a third essential element. In the assignment for this lesson, you will synthesize the texts you have read to write a short essay; this means you will combine details from Beowulf and “Heroism” to show your understanding. When writing about what youVe read, you need to consider the general idea of the text and the specific pieces of it that will support your ideas.
Asking yourself two uestions can help you locate supporting evidence in the text. Ask yourself Which words, phrases, and sentences did the author select to make me think or feel this way about the text? Why are those words, phrases, and sentences effective in making me think or feel the way I do about the text? The first question will help you identify examples, details, or facts to support your central idea. The second question will help you provide the explanation of how your examples and details prove your point.
Supporting Your Ideas When using supporting information from a text, you need to include: ?? examples ??? details ??? facts ??? explanations You can incorporate these items in your writing in three ways: Summarizing Putting the main, broad ideas of a text entirely in your own words Paraphrasing Putting a specific sentence or several sentences entirely in your own words Directly Quoting Using the exact words of another writer Take Note!
Paraphrased examples and direct quotations make the strongest support because Regardless of the form your examples take, each one needs to be: ??’specific ??? relevant to the topic ??? explained Using Quotations Quotations are a good way to support a point, but how do you use them effectively? Direct quotations cannot be in a sentence by themselves and cannot simply be “stuck” in a paragraph. They need your words to introduce and explain them.
Examples that are direct quotations should be: ??? introduced ??? embedded ??? documented Quotation Punctuation Quotation Punctuation Rules ??? Use a colon if you have a complete sentence that comes before your quotation. ??? Emerson’s description of heroism is motivational: “Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work. ??? Use a comma if you introduce your quotation with a signaling phrase. ?? Emerson uses motivational language when he says, “Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work. ” ??? If your quotation is more than three typed lines: ??’start the quotation on a new line ??? indent the entire quotation five spaces from the left margin ??? omit the quotation marks ??? If a quotation comes at the end of a sentence, place the end punctuation, usually a period, inside the quotation marks.
