Paper Writing Resources

From W100Wiki

Contents 1 Writing About Literature 2 Close Reading 3 Literary Terms 4 Primary vs. Secondary Sources 5 MLA Format 6 Grammar Resources 7 Plagiarism

Writing About Literature

• Steps for Planning and Writing a Paper About Literature (UNC-Chapel Hill)
  • Includes sections on "demystifying the process" and "Writing a Paper on Fiction in 9 Steps"

• Writing Papers of Literary Analysis: Some advice for student writers (Seamus Cooney, Western Michigan University)
  • Some nice reminders here, such as "focus on characterization rather than characters":
    • "In writing about fiction, you will find more interesting things to say if you focus on characterization rather than characters. Writing about characters too often means writing as though they were real people, speculating about what happened before or after the action of the book or story, and other imponderables like that. Characters in a work of fiction are not real people, but rather careful constructs that resemble real people. Focussing on characterization means studying how the writer presents the character -- what selection of detail is used, what mixture of direct "showing" to indirect "telling," what implied valuations are being made, and the like."

• Writing About Literature (The Owl at Purdue)
  • Examples of what makes a good literature paper; suggestions about how to get started

• Writing a Literature Paper: Guidelines, Suggestions, Strategies (Michigan)
  • Includes sections on the writing process and parts of the process

• Critical Reading: A Guide (John Lye, Brock University)
  • Includes a very nice series of questions to consider when analyzing poetry or fiction

• A Practical Guide to Writing About Literature (GMU)
  • This site is less comprehensive than the links above, but it contains a few valuable suggestions

Close Reading

• Close Reading

Literary Terms

• Please check The Bedford Glossary of Literary and Critical Terms

• Literary Terms (Brooklyn College)
  • A nice online glossary of important literary terms

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Identifying Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources (Auburn)
  • Issues to consider: Timing of the event recorded, Rhetorical aim of the written item, Context of the researching scholar
  • Example: Literary Critic
    • Primary Sources: Novels, poems, plays, diaries, correspondence.
    • Secondary Sources: Articles in scholarly journals analyzing the literature; books analyzing the literature; formal biographies of writers

• Primary Vs. Secondary Sources (Bowling Green)

• How to Use Secondary Literature Properly (Patrick Frierson, Whitman College)
  • This is geared towards philosophy students, but many points hold true for literature:
    • Use secondary sources to correct basic mistakes, highlight key issues, or to raise objections -- but do so only after you have figured out your own view on your topic.

MLA Format

• MLA Formatting and Style Guide (The Owl at Purdue)

Grammar Resources

• Quotation Marks (The Owl at Purdue)
  • A nice guide to quoting from literary works.

• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing (The Owl at Purdue)
  • Describes the differences between all three terms and provides examples of each.

• Temple Writing Center
  • The Temple Writing Center offers tutorials and other resources to help you with your papers.

• The Owl at Purdue
  • Purdue's site contains a wide range of grammar tips, explanations, and exercises. It's a vital resource.

• Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist
  • A list of common grammatical errors, along with tips on how to fix them, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Online Grammar Exercises
  • Test your grammar skills with these online quizzes from Diana Hacker.

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It

Use this source to help you differentiate between paraphrase and plagiarism.