Lit essay structure

[m@tty]

Do you guys put introductions and conclusions? I've heard many different opinions on this and am unsure on what I should do.

What do you do?

My teacher instructed us to put a fairly general introduction which outlines the major themes of the text (I'm doing Hamlet and Frankenstein) and then, after this, get right into the passages. I understand this is very bad advise and will likely be quite detrimental to the overall quality / score of the essay.

So yeah, what do you guys recommend?

Thanks. =)

[samuch]

i do an intro(that is specific to the passages) and conclusion, makes it sound complete

[m@tty]

What do you put in them, samuch?

My teacher is an English teacher and has never taught Lit before, so he makes us write in a mainstream English style =S

[samuch]

What do you put in them, samuch?

My teacher is an English teacher and has never taught Lit before, so he makes us write in a mainstream English style =S

in the intro i analyse an example that sums up what my piece is going to be about
and my conclusion is sort of englishy - summing up all my ideas, sometimes with an example

edit: in my conclusion i also discuss the wider implications.. yea its a pretty big conclusion

[m@tty]

Ah, ok. So analysis is put throughout your piece, except the conclusion.

I've heard of some students having a single line for introduction and having only a sentence or two at the end of the final paragraph, analysing wider implications as their 'conclusion' . . .

Does anyone recommend having such a small amount of words for intro / conclusion, because it would certainly allow for much more analysis - basically another chunky paragraph, which will probably add more to your mark than detailed intro and conclusion, by my thinking.

[m@tty]

Oh, and what about 5-6 short(150 word) paragraphs vs. 3 long(300 word) paragraphs ?

And is passage-by-passage analysis alright?

Haha, I know I'm asking way too many questions, especially for this time of year, but up till now I've been concentrating on English and Spec ... Almost forgot about Lit =S

[samuch]

Oh, and what about 5-6 short(150 word) paragraphs vs. 3 long(300 word) paragraphs ?

And is passage-by-passage analysis alright?

Haha, I know I'm asking way too many questions, especially for this time of year, but up till now I've been concentrating on English and Spec ... Almost forgot about Lit =S

lol thats okay

i do 3 paras, keeps me from missing out on anything that belongs under that subtopic... but you can do any amount you like

passage by passage can work but its probably best if you mix and match according to the point you are trying to make in each paragraph

[EvangelionZeta]

Seriously speaking, in Lit there is no structure.  As long as it's meaningful and has a purpose, it's fair game.  I've seen people get 50s with five large 250+ word paragraphs, or with around ten 140 word or so ones.  I've seen people do well with pseudo-intros, with paragraphs that integrate all three passages, and others do well with analyses that waste no time with "introductions" and which deal with the passages in a turn-by-turn sort of fashion (although they make links between them).

[homao]

My teacher advises

Intro: Sum up main idea's covered in all the passages and lightly cross over what the essay is to entail (I find this helps me get my thoughts together instead of sitting there for 5 minutes writing a plan)

Conclusion: Brief summary finished with the "ta-dah" line that is meant to get the examiners nodding and smiling... i've practiced writing ta-dah lines for most of swatvac

[macaire]

evangelionZeta, are you like VCE god or something? cause ur awesome

[EvangelionZeta]

Ahahahaha, no.  Just passionate about English and Literature.  =)

(and Hamlet - I was in love with the play already before year 12)

[Ak47]

Seriously speaking, in Lit there is no structure.  As long as it's meaningful and has a purpose, it's fair game.  I've seen people get 50s with five large 250+ word paragraphs, or with around ten 140 word or so ones.  I've seen people do well with pseudo-intros, with paragraphs that integrate all three passages, and others do well with analyses that waste no time with "introductions" and which deal with the passages in a turn-by-turn sort of fashion (although they make links between them).

Agreed! Try to approach the text in a unique way to avoid you being 'categorized'. Intros are basically what you've discovered about the text in general from the passages. Conclusions are helpful, but not necessarily needed. Some people prefer to conclude in a paragraph, whilst others can conclude their contention in the last body paragraph.

[masonnnn]

we've been advised to avoid wasting time on an introduction, most of the high scoring essays you'll see don't have one either as it's more of an english than literature thing.
though if you do one make sure you relate it specifically to the passages. If you do a general introduction "*article* was written about blahblah in society in nineteen dickety two" without backup from the passages you're completely wasting time. Marks are allocated for working with, through and outside the passages so until you relate your essay to them you're just wasting time writing an introduction that gains you no marks.
hope that makes sense aha

[m@tty]

So you want a quote from the passages in the first sentence ?

How would you do that and not make too blunt a start ?

[Ak47]

Shakespeare's depiction of 'sorrow' reveals Claudius's idiosyncratic view of............... (rough example)

To avoid blunt starts, just get straight to the point/contention that your going to discuss. Quotes will become easier to include in your intro rather than....'in hamlet we see that' etc