Recuperación/ subida de nota. 2 Bachillerato. Colegio Altair.

Inglés.

Maria José Natera y Verónica de Quevedo

Literature essay.

1. Choose one of the authors we have dealt with during this term

2. Do research and provide personal opinions about the author

and his/her work

3. Follow the following structure:

a. Introduction

b. Short biography

c. Context

d. Work and themes

e. Further information about the work read in class.

Example:

i.Genre?

ii.Who is the narrator? Setting?

iii.Characters and plot? What function do characters

perform? How are they described?

iv.Are there any flashbacks?

v.Imagery: similes (comparisons), metaphors,

symbols, allegory, irony…

f. Your personal opinion about it. You can also compare it

with a novel, film, poem, play… you have read or seen: (i)
the language used, (ii) the ideas they contain, (iii) how
they are presented

g. Conclusion

h. References (include web pages if any and the date they

were accessed)

4. The essay should be about 2-3 pages long

5. Hand in the essay in January (Do not type it!))

How to plan, start and write your literature essay

1. Planning: decide what to say before you start. Write your

points down on paper (do not just talk about something
aimlessly. Make a point!)

2. Start with a good introduction to grab the reader´s attention

at the start. Use strong emotive language, say something
controversial or start with a short statement:

3. Start a new paragraph every time something changes

(paragraphs should not be about less than 3 lines long though).
Each paragraph needs a clear topic. Use linking words such
as “however”, “furthermore”, “moreover”, “nevertheless”,
“consequently”, “as a consequence”…

4. Use formal language. Do not use vague words like “nice” or

“weird” or “thing”.

5. Give examples, if any. “for instance”, “such as”, “or example”,

“to set an example”.

6. Quoting:

a. Use exactly the same words as the person you are

quoting using quotation marks “…” ‘…’ and say where
you got the quote from (Author, date: page)

b. You do not need quotation marks if you rephrase someone

else´s words (but include the reference, where you got
the information from) i.e. “According to Andrew Sanders,
“Jane Austen is far too subtle, challenging and inventive a
novelist to be usefully defined by negatives” (Sanders,
1994: 369)

7. Concluding: Use sentences such as: “To conclude”, “to sum

up”, “summing up”, “in conclusion”… “personally”, “I believe”,
“I think…”, “in my opinion”, “from my point of view”….

8. Read through your essay and check that it makes sense

9. Include a list of references. Citation rules:

Books
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name and Middle
Name/Initial. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publishing
Company Name, Year of Publishing.
Encyclopedias
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name and Middle
Name/Initial. “Article Name.” Title of Encyclopedia. Year of
Edition or Edition Number ed.

Websites
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name and Middle
Name/Initial. “Title of Article/Document.” Title of Site. Ed. Name
of Editor (First Name Last Name). Date of publication or most
recent update. Name of organization associated with site. Date
of when you accessed the document.
<http://www.websiteaddress.com>