Writing about literature Tips on writing about literature Read and reread the work closely and carefully. As you read, interact with the work by posing questions and looking for clues to possible answers. Annotate the work to focus your reading; take notes to try out ideas and develop your perspective. Write a thesis sentence that addresses the central question that you have asked about the work. Aim for a strong, assertive summary of your interpretation. Support your interpretation with quotations and specific details from the work (and, if you’re using secondary sources, from critical material). Avoid merely summarizing the plot; focus instead on your interpretation of the work, which may or may not require discussion of the plot. Use the present tense to describe fictional events. Say Octavia demands blind obedience from James . . . , not Octavia demanded blind obedience from James. . . . When introducing quotations from the work, do not confuse the work’s author with the narrator of a story or the speaker of a poem. Use MLA style to cite and format passages quoted from the work. See pages 421-22 in Rules for Writers. Avoid plagiarism when using secondary sources. If an interpretation was suggested to you by a critic’s work, you must cite the source. In addition, if you use exact language from a secondary source, you must enclose it in quotation marks and provide a citation. Sample paper (without secondary sources): Margaret Peel Sample paper (with secondary sources): Dan Larson Back to the assignment Assignments list