Literature is a kind of science that offers anyone who writes about it nearly limitless freedom – even when you deal with such a subjective discipline as history, you have to take facts into account.
When you write on literature, you work with people and events that have never existed in reality and you are free to make any assumptions that don’t contradict with what is written in the book you deal with.
The features, peculiar for this kind of writing, are as follows:
- You have a rather limited or, at least, limitable subject material: the text itself, its author and his/her life and views, critical works on the text, your own opinion. What you will use most of all is based on your choice and the topic you are given.
- If you say something, you should prove it by referencing to the text or one of the critical works; if it is possible, use a quote. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity as to where you did get information.
- The style is supposed to be formal, but not overly so. If you may put some clever turn of speech into it, do so, but remember that the text shouldn’t be colloquial.
If you want to write a good literature essay, you should be ready to read and analyze a lot before beginning to write – that is, if you have enough time. You will achieve the best results if you are actually interested in what you are writing; otherwise, you will have to depend on thoughts and ideas expressed by other people, and it never has a good influence on the overall result.
Don’t try to read all the critical works on the text you are working with, for it will only cloud your vision and waste your time. Try to think about something original instead. Here are some additional tips:
- Reread your essay in the process of writing and after you’ve finished. If you are bored with it, everyone else will be.
- Watch over the length of paragraphs and sentences. If you lose the line of thought half-way to the end of one of them, it is a bad sign – try to break them up, yet don’t overdo. Interpose long and short sentences.
- Do not retell the contents of the text – a couple of words when it is necessary, no more.
In conclusion, we may add that your essay should show your love and interest in the English language. Watch out for any appearances of such stylistic devices as anaphora, epiphora, onomatopoeia, assonance and others and analyze them.