Deciding What to Write about,

and Getting Started

by:
John Faisal
Yola Anggraini
1.1 The Purpose of Writing Essays

Essays' tasks

They invite you to show that you; arguing a case

Identifying a problem or issue

Establishing competing points
are familiar with the basic that of view associated with the
makes up the subject issue identified,
Presenting evidence in
support of and against various
positions
can manipulate that basic,
raw material to argue a case
Reaching a conclusion
 It is the fundamental skils of the problem-identification, analysis and
debate which are usually perceived by examiners and potential
employers as the main achievemnet of literary studies.

 The persuasive and analytic skills you develop are applied during your
course to literary works and issues; but y have the additional value that
they are potentially transferable to other problems and circumstances.

 once this basic way of talking literary studies is clear, many of the more
specific problems facing you as you answer an exam question of devise
an essay topic will begin to fall into place.
1.2 What Sorts of Topics You May Choose
 In deciding what question involves to identify where it fits intothe range of ESSAY
GENRE (or 'essay idioms') which are defined by the convention of literary studies as
a discipine.

 A literature essay always has a focus for its subject matter ( e.g. on the novels of
Angela Carter, the role of fool chcters in drama, or the origins of free verse),

 and its also uses a particular mode of argument (e.g. stylistic analysis, contrast and
comparison, or historical contextualisation)
 Different Kinds of Focus and Elements

1. Authors
e.g. 'The life and works of Edgar Allen
Poe' 'Woman Romantic Poets'
2. Texts
e.g. Coleridge's 'Kubl. Khan'; Ralph
Ellison's Invisible Man; poems by
Sylvia Plath.
3. Generic Grouping of Texts
e.g. The sonnet; eighteenth-century
pastoral poetry; kitchen-sink drama.

4. Historical issues relating to a selected text

or group of Texts

5. Theoritical issues relating to literary study

 Various Kinds of Arguments:

1. Revalue a reputation (assess relative

achievement)

2. Analyse style : comment on aspects

of the language of a text.

3. Relate a text to the historical circumstaces

which produce it, or in which it is read.
4. Place a text in a literary or
aesthetic context
5. Describe or interpret (or reinterpret) a
text.
.Take sides in an ongoing critical argument
between differing viewpoints.
7. Exemplify theories, terms or approaches,
or use a classificatory system to describe
a text.
1.3 Responding to Set Questions
Type of Question WORDS TO LOOK FOR / WHAT TO DO
1. comparison compare, contrast
2. debate comment on, write on, discuss (often following a
quotation, either attributed to an author-usually a
critic-or made up by the examiners)
3. exemplification illustrate, give examples
4. description outline, sketch, summarise
5. analysis explain, consider the implications of, analyse, do
you agree with the assertation that..., in what ways
does...,

classification differentiate, classify, describe the types of

7. evaluation assess, justify, to what extent?
1.4 Exam Questions

Questions on given passages

Questions which explicitlyinvite debate,

and the weighing of evidence (these might be
called 'to what extent' or discuss questions)

Other specific types of questions

General invitations-butto what?

Complex questions
1.5 Exam Techniques and Strategies

Exam answers' Strategies

look at to past questions

if you run outof tme for your first answer,
quickly sketch a conclusion and move on to
the next questions
keep your paper tidy, but don't use correcting fluid
to remove errors

prepare material in component prerabricated

'packages' before the exam itself.
when youcome to answer an exam qustion,
remember that it is probably asking you to carry out
a number of different tasks.
 Exam Questions

problems put into the formulation of the question -

words that need definition or explantion,
for example
established views on the issue raised by the
questiin, which you will have learned about
in the class or your own reading
examples which you can use to illustrate specific
points (lists the points which each example
illustrates)

crucial technical terms which you need to introduce

historical context which needs to be introduced

in order to answe a question about a writer
from an earlier period.
1. . Devising Your Own Title
enam

• A title is a statement encapsulating the main points of an argument; in most cases, it

could be rewritten in the form of a question that is being answered by your essay.
e.g:
Undervalued achievement the contribution of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man to the
development of African-American Fiction.

• Could be used for an essay which is an answer to the question

Assess the contribution made by Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man to the development of
African-American fiction.
or to the question
'The contribution made by Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man to the development of
African-American fiction is undervalued. 'Discuss
• Accordingly, your title is not only to indicate what the essay will be about, but also
the point of view it wil adopt concerning whatever it is about.
• There are certain typical characteristics of the form of essay and dissertation tittles
'which you can build on.
• Note, for examplethe common form 'title plus sub-title':
The Text and the Reader : Construction of meaning in advertising texts (title of a
Master's thesis).
Marx and Spenser : Elizabeth and problem of Imperial Power (draft title of a PhD
thesis).
1.7 Being Original
• Whatever you write, it should be in some sense original.

• But 'originality' presents a difficult problem because 9unless you are doing advanced
research) yo are unlikely to be in a position to advance new facts or radically new
interpretations,

• or even to have a wide enough knowledge of what other have written to be sure that
you are not duplicating it.
1.8 Planning An Essay : Format and Proportin
Number of words Project type number of..pages
1,200-1,500 coursework 3-4 handwritten
2000 essay 5-enam handwritten;
8-10 double-spaced :
typewritten
5000 undergraduate project 20-25 double-spaced
typewritten
10-15,000 more extended undergraduated 40-75, double-spaced
dissertation typewritten
40-50,000 MA thesis 150-200 double-spaced
typewritten;
70-90,000 PhD thesis 300-500 double-spaced
typewritten
.9 Getting Started : Outlines and Early Drafts

Break the illusion that writing preparation process of waiting

for inspiration untill the essay forms itself fully-fledged, in your mind
and just needs to be written down.

Break down the process of constructing an essay

into easy small steps.

Make a time-table
1.10 Some Question to Ask Yourself As you Construct an Essay
Whatare the questions I want to answer?

What is the main or central question that I wish to addres?

What kinds of answer I looking for?

What method will help me find answers?

What books or articles do I already know that address my main question

How can I draw boundaries round, or limit the scope of

my choosen field?
What is the relationship between my central question
and current work in this subject area

Am I sufficiently interested in my question or topic to keep me interested

over the necessary time period
How to write Essays, Dissertation, and Thesis in Literary Studies
What kinds of bnefits-personally and a student-are likely to result from
investigating my choosen topic?
1.11 Summary, Suggestion, and Exercises
• Exam and essay questions come in a range of identifieable idioms, and
there are established conventions for responding to them.

• essays need to be constructed, not just written; so ime spent on an initial

outline establishing an essay's structure prevents problems of shape and
proportion when the essay as a whole is written.