Essay and Research Essay Steps:

Step One: Determine a working thesis. This will be an argument that you intend to make about an author’s theme or message about a topic of your choice in the literary work.

Thesis writing steps:

What is the theme of the story? It might be helpful to ask these questions first:

What is the significance of the title?

What is the general “life” topic that the author seems to be exploring in the work?

How does the author accomplish the task of conveying the theme to the reader? For example, which of the following literary tools, or others not listed here, are used effectively by the author in the story?:

symbolism

irony

foreshadowing

characters (description, dialogue, and contrast)

significance of setting

descriptive and figurative language

tone and/or mood

Examine the textual evidence from your notes.

Which of the literary tools do you have the most examples of from the text?

Can you organize body paragraphs around those examples?

If so, will there be enough paragraphs to meet the length requirement for the assignment?

Formulate a thesis statement that includes your answers to steps one and two and fits the assignment length and the evidence that can be cited. Remember to include the author and the title of the work in your thesis statement.

Step Two: (Skip this step if secondary sources are not required.) Find and scan articles and excerpts from qualifying sources from the Literature resources and databases at the BPCC Library. These are the only sources that are acceptable to be used without being approved in advance. Plot summaries and study guides in the library should not be used as anything that is obvious and general about the literary work should be cited from it directly.

Step Three: Organize the materials into an outline when a sufficient amount of evidence, both primary (quotes, paraphrased quotes, and/or examples from the literary work) and secondary sources (journal and reference book articles from either or both hard copy or digital/database versions) has been gathered.

Note that the outline must be in the format that follows and the only complete sentences will be the thesis statement and the topic sentences.

I. Introduction paragraph: This is the place to provide general information and a background of the topic. This is not the place to provide evidence or detailed main points. In some rare cases where historical or biographical information is necessary to understand the relevance of the thesis that will follow, if the information is not common knowledge, it may need to be cited.

A. Make a few brief notes about the background

B. Give the thesis statement (see steps above). It should be one sentence and be the last thing in the intro paragraph.

II. Body Paragraphs (Note that all of part II is “Body Paragraphs”): The following is the structure that should be used for each body paragraph in the essay.

A. Briefly, in a few words, describe the main point of the paragraph to follow here.

1. Put a complete topic sentence here. It should not be a plot description only but should connect directly to the thesis.

2. Briefly describe the evidence or example here and put the citation in MLA format

3. Briefly describe how the supporting evidence provided fits into the argument or about a topic.

B. The same process will repeat as above.

C. The same process will repeat as above.

D. . . .

III. Conclusion: In the conclusion of the essay, you will summarize the argument that you have just made from the perspective of having presented the evidence and examples. You will address any loose ends and convince your reader that you have made a valid case for the theme that you believe the author intended to communicate to his or her readers.

Step Four: Write the essay! Once you are satisfied with that the minimum length and number of sources for the assignment will be met from the organization of the outline, write the essay. Don’t forget about the Works Cited page!

Step Five: Proofread the finished product. Make sure to proofread for errors before submitting any stage of a draft. You are responsible for finding these errors and correcting them yourself. Get some help if you need it! Here are some general things to check for:

Verb tense: Everything about the literary work’s events or characters should be in present verb tense and using the active voice (because the literary work is always “happening”).

Do not use contractions.

Spelling.

Punctuation: especially apostrophes for possessives and end of sentence punctuation for citations and quotes.

Citations: Double check with MLA resources. There are two parts to a citation: in-text and the Works Cited page.

Page formatting and MLA.