LETTER TO THE CLASS

Summer Reading Essay

Dear Class,
In class we will review several student writing models to prompt further discussion of the texts as well as discussions about
writing and literary analysis. In order to get as much out of the session as possible, please take chances: make comments,
ask for clarification, and suggest possibilities. Ive listed some of the common writing errors that appeared repeatedly in the
essays. Please feel free to add notes to the list. *** Remember, the tone of our class discussion during the writing
workshop should be supportive, not demeaning. Choose your words accordingly.
Please note that the summer reading essay is diagnostic in nature and will only count as a .5 grade.
-Ms. Britton
GENERAL PHRASING:
1. ***Use domain specific vocabulary (literary and rhetorical devices) when possible; this will help to increase word
choice sophistication. Do not announce the use of rhetorical devices; integrate them into your writing. Remember, it is
the language of literature. This will also help avoid writing a mere plot summary. Your writing should be vertical,
not horizontal.
2. Do not state that the author proves something or that something is a fact. Avoid listing evidence as examples.
Avoid for example. Utilize the following words: conveys, signifies, illustrates, etc.
3. Context (setting; background; framework; situation)
This scene is important in the context of the novel
4. Avoid using the word very. - So avoid using the word very because its lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Dont
use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will
not do. It also wont do in your essays.
N.H. Kleinbaum, Dead Poets Society

5. Avoid using the words things and a lot. Your word choices should be specific. Word choices should not be
ambiguous (unclear).
6. Avoid using you. When you use you, you are directly addressing the audience. Avoid writing I think and I
believe. This is redundant. Avoid the use of I in a literary analysis. Wrong tone.
7. Avoid being verbose for clarity: Immediately the reader is to depict an ambience because of the diction of these
lines, and the words with the greatest symbolic significance are the savage lair of the sea and Pip, described as
being a small bundle of shivers in the dark enclosing world. However, the juxtaposition of the darkness through the
only two black things in all the prospect that seemed to be standing upright; one of these was the beacon by which
the sailors steered (4). The beacon evidently is a symbolic representation of the positive aspects of the future
though it is visibly distant and dim to the human eye; its (its) presence is still witnessed by Pip and the reader.
OTHER SUGGETIONS/COMMON ERRORS:
8. Know the genre of the text. A Dolls House is a play or drama, not a novel or book.
9. Address all aspects of the prompt. Use the prompt to organize your essay. Suggestion, break down the prompt but
pulling out all of the verbs.
10. Make sure your thesis is clear, accurate, and specific.

11. Write about literature in the present tense. If you are addressing a past historical event or a scene from the past in
the novel, write about that in the past tense.
12. Do not evaluate the literature; this is not a book review. Do not preach to the reader. This is a literary analysis; stick to
the text.
13. Avoid empty statements: All literature contains significant passages. Authors often use symbolism in their writing.
14. Suggestions for conclusion: Identify emerging theme.
Theme Formula: Topic + Comment = Theme
A theme is a general statement; it should not mention specifics from the text.
15. When possible, read your writing aloud, so you can hear how it sounds and catch mistakes. Make sure you avoid
being verbose and repetitive. You want to be concise and clear.
EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT: INSERTING QUOTATIONS
16. Avoid plot summary. Develop your ideas using specific accurate evidence from the text.
17. Quotes should be used to support your ideas. They should not dominate a response, nor should they be presented
as a list of evidence. See Quote Integration Quick Sheet.
18. Punctuation goes inside the quotes unless you are using a citation. (Comma or period goes inside quotation marks. If
quote ends in a question mark or an exclamation point, you don't need to then add a period.)
19. Review the various methods for quote integration.
GRAMMAR
20. Use apostrophes to show possession and for contractions:
Mrs. Joes harsh treatment of Pip.
Its not understood why Miss Havisham is depicted as the living dead. (only use an apostrophe with its if
you are making a contraction; do not use it for the pronoun.)
21. Who = People and That = Things
22. P-A-C: In the description, Pip depicts the man walking towards the gibbet rather than the beacon. This foreshadows
that he will not yet be guided and that his character will be involved in more negative occurrences.
23. Use commas to separate an appositive if the sentence would be clear and complete without it. (An appositive is a
noun or pronoun often with modifiers set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it.)
Example: Ruth Harris, a prominent lawyer, became a judge.