In these papers, youre looking at a specific aspect of a novel/play/poetry book (a feature of its style, its structure, its characterization, or its plot) and telling me how to interpret it. So youre telling me, first, what aspect of the book youre talking about, and, second, how you think I should understand it. Your interpretation should be interestingit should be something thats worth your writing it down and worth my reading it. You synopsize all that in your introduction.

In these papers, youre looking at a specific aspect of a novel/play/poetry book (a feature of its style, its structure, its characterization, or its plot) and telling me how to interpret it. So youre telling me, first, what aspect of the book youre talking about, and, second, how you think I should understand it. Your interpretation should be interestingit should be something thats worth your writing it down and worth my reading it. You synopsize all that in your introduction. Then, in the bulk of your paperits body paragraphsyou mount an argument in favor of this interpretation. That is, having told me how you understand that aspect of the book, you work to persuade me that I, too, should understand that aspect in your way. The formatting of the essays must follow these guidelines: Use one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, and include a header on the first page which lists your name, course number, my name, date, and a word count for the essay. When youve finished your essay, run Word Count under the Tools option in Word to figure this out. At 325 to 350 words per page, a four-page essay should be a minimum of 1,300 to 1,400 words. Essays below the word count will be downgraded. Its okay if essays run longer.