Writing an Essay in the Literary Field

Introduction

For a number of years of teaching the literature module at university, a set of challenging obstacles students struggle with in td evaluation and exams are due not to the misunderstanding or deficiency in grasping the meaning of the lectures but how to analyse the questions and how to develop a literary essay. Most of the time, students follow a typical form of answering question whether it is linguistics, civilisation, human sciences, or literature. They also read the exam questions in the same manner not paying attention to differences between the modules and their nature. For that reason, a session for question study and essay writing is elementary before exams.

What is the Purpose of Exams?

 Students find difficulties dealing with exams in general for they feel the pressure of not being able to respond even if they have been preparing for them. Answering in the foreign language worsens this psychological pressure. The stress makes them forget the real purpose of the exam, which is assessing their understanding next to their language. Instead of focusing on question analysis and the proper way to answer to it; their attention is distracted by many aspects: what spelling is proper for what word? Which tense to use? How to include everything without forgetting anything? Neglecting that a question most of the time limits their answer and hence gives them more time to answer the specific; not the general. For that reason, they have to be aware of the aspects which lead to the rejection of their answers. These are the most important features that interfere in the acceptance or refusal of an exam answer:

-Does the answer tackle the given question?

-Are the provided arguments supporting the general answer?

-Are the provided ideas coherently organised?

-Are there any relevant resources to tackle the subject?

How to Analyse a Question?

Generally exam questions contain three types of terms: limiting terms, content terms, and directive terms. For example:

Discuss gender in Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The content term is Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf,

The limiting term is gender,

The directive term is discuss.

If the directive term was analyse, compare, or synthesise; the content and the form of the answer would change for there is a difference between writing informative, comparative, analytical, or descriptive essays.

How to write an essay?

Essays are formed of words, sentences, paragraphs, and sections. Each part has its own importance in the formation of the overall text. An essay has three eminent parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. For literary essays, the limiting, content, and directive terms decide what to include/exclude. For example, answering the question above does not require a discussion of the narration aspect or themes or characterisation. Themes can be part of the answer only if they serve the gender aspect in the novel.

a- Introduction: it introduces the topic to the reader not only begins it. It also guides the reader about the ideas that will be discussed in the body. It is generally formed by an introductory statement and a summary of the coming arguments in general.

b- The Body:  It is the part where your statement and your arguments are developed. Reasoning and good command of resources will enrich your argumentation. Coherence is another important aspect where ideas are not only presented but also well connected building logical transition between one idea and another, one paragraph and another.

c- Conclusion: it is used for recapitulation of what has been discussed in the introduction and the body of your essay. Inserting contradictory ideas to the previously developed arguments will not only weaken your essay but also questions the credibility of the whole answer. Conclusions may suggest further inquiries but mostly in very long essays or chapters not for exam essays.  

Conclusion

Literature module in particular requires a lot of reading. Not only students are required to read the text under study but also further studies about the topic of discussion and different arguments provided so far. Moreover, a good command of quoting and referencing will reinforce the credibility of the essay under evaluation.

Further Readings

Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. The St. Martin's guide to writing. Macmillan, 2010.

Brown, John Russell. A Short Guide to Modern British Drama, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London, 1982.

Esslin, Martin. The  Theatre  of  the  Absurd.  Revised  Updated Edition, The Overlook Press, New York,  1973.

Raby, Peter, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter. Cambridge University Press, 2009.