• Try to make points that are not obvious.
• Find a connection between two or more different events, scenes, or passages
• Use more than one example for each point you make; and identify the distinctions between these examples
• Make sure every sentence you write is about the story/novel and your judgment of what it means, how it means what it means, and/or why it means what it means.
• Pay attention to minor details of scenery (clothing, furniture, nature, etc) and how it relates to the point you are making
• Pay attention to the narrator’s tone, or attitude toward the material being narrated.
• Give a good, short, descriptive title
• type, double-spaced
• keep quotations short
• Page Numbers on each page

Things to avoid when writing papers about literature:

• No plastic covers, please
• Do not say that the author is a great writer
• Do not make statements about general truths, life, or the world
• “Love is a very important thing to all people”
• “Of course, everyone hates being insulted”
• (but you can say: Dostoevsky emphasizes the importance of shame and insult in people’s lives)
• Do not speculate on what might have happened in the novel, if….
• Do not state the obvious
• Eugene is averse to commitment and marriage.
• Pechorin is cruel to Princess Mary
  • (but you can say: Pechorin’s cruelty to Princess Mary shows us that he is ….)
• Do not summarize or re-tell the action of the story.

Also: references and quotations must include page numbers in parentheses. References to texts or editions other than official texts should include a bibliography at the end.

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