What Makes a Good Literature Paper

 

One word, your “argument”. Before you generate your topic for the paper, it is vital for you to do  thorough research to get a general idea about the direction or perspective you intend to write your paper on. Only reading one text is not going to help matters. You need to read about the author’s background, his other work and critical essays previously published on his work. This gives you a more clear idea whether you are going in the right direction or not.

Say you are writing your paper keeping D.H.Lawrence’s novel ‘Sons and Lovers’ in mind. Just reading that novel will not be enough.  You will have to do your background reading. Read about the social and political scenario of the time in order to better understand the author’s point of view and how justifiable his perspective is.

When you are writing a literary research paper you are essentially making an argument and then providing evidence from the text or otherwise to prove your statement.

Choose your thesis statement wisely as it reflects your whole paper. A vague or incomplete thesis statement will result in losing marks and makes for an unimpressive piece of writing.

Read your text carefully and build three or four strong elements to base your paper on. Comparisons and contrast with other text of the same author also results in a strong paper. Each element of your paper should be given equal coverage and be presented systematically.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with an overdose of reading material. One keyword can show numerous links. Key is to choose a selective few and stick with them.

TIP:  Don’t stress, take a step back and skim through the context and introduction of each text .This will give you a basic idea of what that text contains, which makes choosing your reference article easier. 

Keep an eye out for footnotes, they can very well be your helping hands as they provide you with additional research material. 

Lastly do not stray away from your topic; you can surely be a bit distracted by a scholar’s amazingly polished expertise and his way with words. Make a note of disagreement and press on!