EN 1110
Essay #2, the Critical/Interpretive Essay
Dr. L. Thiel
This assignment is one that asks you to read and write about short stories or poems. The essay that you write is called a critical essay (a critique), or an interpretive essay (what can you say is going on in literary works and what is your proof/evidence from these works?). This kind of writing provides you with the opportunity to enable us, the readers, to appreciate the short stories or poems in the way that you do. What is your idea? Is your thesis and the support for it strong enough? Can you convince us of your interpretation and critique?
In this type of essay, you should not write about your own experiences. Stay focused on the text. To help you with this focus, avoid the use of “I” in the paper. Let any influencing experiences of your own help you indirectly (these experiences can help you to understand the experiences of which the author or poet writes) and not directly (avoid references to your personal experiences in the essay. See the sample essay that I have handed out in class.
First, we will be focusing on the following four elements of FICTION—plot, setting, characterization, and theme. Here is a brief definition of each element that is found in fiction:
plot –the sequence of major events in a story, a series of causally related events or episodes
that occur in a narrative or play; the actions; the plot helps to determine the structure.
setting-the place and time in which a story’s action takes place; how do time and place affect
the story? Does the setting in some way add to the meaning of the work? Sometimes setting conveys atmosphere, or mood.
character—Characters are those about whom a story is told and sometimes, too, the ones
telling the story. Consider what characters look like and what they think, say, and do.
There are major characters and minor characters.
theme–the central truth or dominating idea put forth in/by a literary work, usually containing
some insight into the human condition. Theme can also be seen as the meaning of the
story. An appreciation of all of the elements in a work of fiction leads to an under-
standing of the theme. There can be a major/main theme and minor themes.
Thus you cannot really say that you will be writing about a short story; you must choose and write about something within that short story—not the entire short story.
In the case of POEMS as a possible choice for the basis of this essay, you may write about
theme only, unless you have some background in poetry in the classroom and you would like to explore
another element (see me first!). For theme, see above description.
Which genre appeals to you as the basis for this essay? Which element appeals to you? Remember that we are reading three short stories and three poems. You are to choose either the short stories OR the poems for this assignment. Then choose at least two of the poems or short stories. You could work with three poems OR three short stories, but you must choose at least two.
Next decide on which (ONE) element you will focus on—plot or setting or character or theme for fiction, and theme only for poetry. At some point you must formulate an idea/thesis about the element of your choice as it relates to the works of your choice; this idea/thesis will be the central idea/point of your essay. Put this idea/thesis to work in your essay—throughout your essay. Avoid the obvious or the simplistic, for example, “The narrator in “An Ounce of Cure” writes abaout the time that she started to drink,” or “The narrator in “A and P” decides to quit his job at the A and P.”
As a paper about a literary work, you will need to quote passages from either the short stories or the poems. This is the evidence that you offer in support of the points that you make in the essay, including, of course, the thesis. See the sample paper (handout) and also the handbook, pp. 655+ (“Quotation Marks”). Stay with the MLA style of documentation when using sources. Relevant words and lines from the short stories or the poems are required as the support for your ideas. Use parenthetical citations after the quotations: page numbers within parentheses for short stories, and line numbers in poems for poetry.
This paper should contain NO secondary research (that will come in the fourth paper). Stay away from critical sources about the short stories or the poems—online or in print! Work only from your own interests and ability, that is, what you know about life in relation to what could be occurring in the short stories and the poems.
Another thing to know is that you need to write your essay in the present tense throughout the paper. Here are examples: “At this point the narrator admits (not “admitted”) that she has a problem” OR “”The girls leave (not “left”) the store and the young man must accept the fact that his action does
not (not “did” not) win him any favors with the girls” OR “The narrator, a young man of _?___ years, decides (not “decided”) to attend the bazaar and buy something for the young lady.” Notice that these sentences that describe the actions of the characters contain the use of the present tense. We use the present tense when we write about literature or film because these works of art that we analyze exist
still and probably always will. They are ongoing for present and future readers. The same is true for poems.
When you write about a short story or a poem, you must use quotation marks around the titles of either (only book titles or magazine or journal titles or newspaper titles or film titles receive italics.
The critical/interpretive essay should be 3-4 pp. in length (with a Works Cited after at least three pages), typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, with a header and title. See syllabus for specific dates.
You may consider the freshmen in this course and in similar courses (other colleges?) as your audience. Your purpose is to convince these students of composition and literature of the soundness of your interpretation (this can also be considered an argument with a claim, your thesis).
