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Rules for Responding to LiteratureEnglish 10Second Quarter 2014

+Titles and Authors

Titles are always in title case

Short stories, chapter titles, song titles, etc. are in quotes Ex: “To Build a Fire”

Books, movies, albums, etc. are in italics OR underlined Ex: As Simple as Snow / As Simple as Snow Ex: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Author names are always capitalized

Use the author’s full name first, then just use the LAST name Ex: In the novel by Gregory Galloway…Galloway’s

characters…

+Verb Tense and Point of View

When responding to literature, always use PRESENT tense Ex: In the novel, the narrator MEETS one of the girls from

the “Goth” clique in the library. She IS new to town, and IS a bit mysterious.

NEVER use first person point of view (“I”) when referring to yourself, the author of the paper.

NEVER use second person point of view (“you”) to refer to your reader.

+The introductory paragraph

Hook Use something creative and original – NOT a cliché

DO: Start with a compelling quote Begin with a vivid description Offer interesting information or anecdotes

DO NOT: Ask a hypothetical question of your reader Use a clichéd phrase or statement

+The introductory paragraph

Background information Include the title or titles of the literature you are responding

to Give the name of the author Give a brief synopsis of the piece or pieces – tell briefly

what the novel is about

+Writing a Thesis/Claim Statement

Be SPECIFIC about what you are claiming

Include your REASONS within your claim statement

Structure your essay based on the order of your reasons in your thesis statement

Avoid using the “be” verbs in your thesis be, am, is, are, was, were, will

+Including Evidence

When you include direct evidence from the novel, you must:

I ntroduce your quote. Explain what is happening in the story, who is talking, etc. before you include the quote. Make sure you lead into the quote with your own words so it doesn’t just hang there along. Ex: According to the narrator, he was boring and

“bland, like milk. Worse, water” (56).

+Including Evidence

When you include direct evidence from the novel, you must:

Cite your source. In this instance, you do not need to include the author’s name, as I know which source you are using. However, you must include the page number. Include the page number…NUMBER ONLY in parenthesis. Make sure the parenthesis comes after/outside the quotes. Put the punctuation AFTER the parenthetical citation.

Ex:

According to the narrator, he was boring and “bland, like milk. Worse, water” (56).

+Including Evidence

When you include direct evidence from the novel, you must:

Explain your evidence and how it supports your argument. You can do this by using a warrant or common sense conclusion drawn by the evidence.

Ex:According to the narrator, he was boring and “bland, like milk. Worse, water” (56). The narrator does not have many friends, and does not think he is interesting or that his life is interesting.