J4. Interpretive Thesis about Literature

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A. DEFINITION

We can more fully appreciate and understand literature if we examine it and share this examination with others. The most common method of examination is an argumentative literary paper: an interpretive thesis. Sometimes an interpretive thesis also is called an "interpretive literary thesis." Note that an interpretive literary thesis differs from the simple literary analysis discussed in an earlier chapter in this textbook: an interpretive thesis or analysis argues; a simple literary analysis does not argue but rather just points out the elements of literature in a literary work.

Group Exercises

1. As a group, make an unusual interpretation of a literary work you have all read; then support your interpretation. Break into groups of three to five people and choose group roles: coordinator/timer, writer, reader (and minutes keeper). Then, as a group, pick a very unusual, strange, unique, or wild interpretation of a literary work or part of it. Provide reasons and detailed proofs from the literary work. (If there is time, you may pass this interpretive literary thesis to another group. Then you may criticize the literary thesis passed to you in turn: explain why and how it is wrong by offering your own reasons and details from the literary work which refute the literary thesis.) Read the results aloud.

2. Practice the divisions of a literary thesis by using circle sentencing. Do this as a whole class. First, everyone should get out a sheet of lined paper, write "1. I would argue that the literary work we have just read is like ___________________," and fill in the blank with an interesting, unusual, silly, or strong word or phrase. Second, everyone should pass this paper to the next person clockwise or in his/her row, read the new paper in front of her, then write "2. The first reason the above argument is true is because ____________________," and fill in the blank. Third, everyone should pass the paper to the next person again, read the new paper before him or her, and then write "3. This reason is illustrated in the work by ______________." The papers should continue to be passed around so that one sentence at a time is added. #4 will be "A second reason the above argument is true is because...." #5 will be "This reason is illustrated in the work by...." #6 will be a third reason, #7 will be an illustration of it, etc. Read the more interesting results aloud.

3. Practice proper citation and punctuation of quotations using circle sentencing. Start by using the same exercise as above in #5, and by beginning with the same #1 sentence. Pass the papers as above, then for the #2 sentence and each sentence after that, write a quote with the author first, the quote in quotation marks, and the page number afterward, which helps prove the #1 sentence. Pass the papers after each sentence has been written. Read the more interesting results.

4. Evaluate each other's papers in groups before grading. Number off into groups of four to five people. Using the grading guidelines below or others given to you by your teacher, evaluate whether each other's papers are ready for grading or need revising in each of the grading-guideline categories. Each person's paper should be read two to three times by other people in the group, and readers should make written comments and/or check a checklist of guidelines.

5. Writing an Interpretive Thesis about an Imaginary Novel:

(1) Break into groups. Select a coordinator, writer, and reader (and a timer if there are four of you). Timers and/or coordinators, watch the time, and pace your people.

(2) Make up a really strange, unusual, different, or weird novel (a book of fiction): write the author's name, the title, and a sentence summarizing the book's story.

(3) Describe in a sentence each the (a) main character, (b) secondary character, (c) any other characters; the setting including (d) the general time and place and (e) the specific main spots/locations where the novel's action happens; (f) the main problem and (g) its solution or resolution in the end; and (h) the general style, tone, or format of the novel (e.g., rich, lush description"; "spare, taut prose"; "long on action but short on thought"; etc.).

(4) Next, make up a serious or silly argument sentence--a debating position, belief, or idea--you can use to show or prove that the novel can be seen or understood in a certain way. Examples of such argument sentences are as follows. Make up your own and write it down. The more inventive and creative you are, the better.

(a) "This novel demonstrates feminist (or racist or fascist, etc.) beliefs."
(b) "The secret or hidden meaning of this novel is that ___ ___ ___ ___."
(c) "Paranoid (or crazy or psychopathic-killer, etc.) people might interpret this novel to mean ___ ___ ___ ___."
(d) "The most important meaning to life (or love or hate or fun, etc.) is ___ ___ ___ ___. We can see a great amount of evidence of this meaning in this novel."

(5) Now write down three methods, proofs, or places in the novel that you can use to prove your argument sentence. Write them as follows: 

"This argument is true because of (a) ______, (b) ______, and (c) ______."

(6) Next, use each of these three items (a, b, and c in #5) as complete topic sentences (e.g., "The first reason our argument is true is that [a]").  After the topic sentence for each, write 50+ words proving your point, using plenty of quotations. The quotations will show exactly where and how in the novel your point is proven. (Write at least 150 words total.)

(7) If you have time, write a stirring conclusion that restates your main argument, and add one last, excellent quotation from the novel that does an excellent job of proving your overall argument.

(8) Read your results to the class.

Individual Exercises

1. Journaling/Prewriting: An excellent way to improve both your writing and your thinking is to journal about your reading process. Writing about your reading is a form of thinking. Journaling is an informal or beginning process of thinking for you, before you go on to more formal methods of thinking by writing interpretive analyses. Here are some possible methods or subjects for journaling. If you must first write down what the literary work is about, summarizing the plot, you may do that separately. However, for journaling about--thinking about--the literary work, do not just summarize. Respond to one or more of these suggestions:

1. Explain what the best and worst parts were of the process of reading this literary work, and why (i.e., was this literary work difficult to read, easy, or what--and why?).

2. Explain what the best and worst parts are of the final result--how you feel afterward, what you know that is new, what you have always known that has been reinforced and why, and perhaps what you now know but perhaps wish you didn't. itself--and why.

3. If you had this work to read over again, what would you change, what would you keep the same, and why?

4. Name some people with whom you would share this book, and some with whom you would not, and in each case, why.

5. What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this literary work? Why do these strengths and weaknesses exist? How, possibly, could this work be written to get rid of the weaknesses?

6. Discuss how and why you think this literary reading was chosen to be part of the course and/or part of the college reader in which it is found. If you were to replace it with a different reading for this course, what reading would you choose and why?

2. Writing a Paper from This Chapter: Write a rough-draft paper using the instructions in this chapter and the major subtitles suggested in the directions (200-500+ w. as assigned).

An interpretive thesis usually is written for an academic audience. This audience probably already has read the same work of literature. Our role in writing this kind of paper is that of a serious student of literature speaking to other serious students of literature. Our need is to argue in favor of our own interpretation of the literary work or some part of it, and offer the reasons why we have chosen this interpretation. This kind of examination may be easier to write well if we choose a literary work we like.

Choose an interesting, new, or unusual way of interpreting some part of a literary work you find especially enjoyable or meaningful to you. You may choose something to do with larger meanings sweeping through the whole work, or some particular meaning for a more limited part such as some smaller aspect of character, setting, or symbol. Then give a variety of reasons for why your interpretation is true. Assume your audience already has read the same work. Use several or more body divisions, one for each reason. In each body division, support your reason with one or more quotes or paraphrases.

The final draft of the paper also should have an introduction and a conclusion that summarizes and should be printed in standard essay form.

Here are three major steps of focusing during the writing process. Each is further divided (in most chapters) into two sub-steps. Remember that you may rearrange or otherwise change the steps shown here to suit your individual writing needs.

1. FOCUS ON A FIRST DRAFT (Brainstorm Ideas & Create a Rough Draft):

Brainstorm: Skim this chapter and its samples. Choose a literary work you like; then imagine an interesting argument to make about it. Start with a list of ideas or images.

Create a Rough Draft: Quickly write a rough draft. Do not organize unless doing so makes the writing easier.

2. FOCUS ON ORGANIZING (Evaluate Your Needs and Organize):

Evaluate: Read the chapter and samples. Then evaluate how best to organize your rough draft.

Organize: Develop organizational parts:

Your Interpretation
Reason why #1
Reason why #2
Reason why #3
Reasons why #4-?

3. FOCUS ON A FINAL DRAFT (Revise and Edit):

Revise: Consider audience knowledge of the literary work. Use lots of Q's and/or P's from the work to prove and explain your points. Develop a serious, formal tone and style.

Edit: When you are done with bigger changes, polish. Fix grammatical usage, spelling, and punctuation. Quote, paraphrase, and cite correctly.

Start brainstorming by feeding your brain: skim this chapter for several minutes or read this page. Skim the sample papers. Notice that the heart of an interpretive thesis is an argument with several supporting reasons why it is true.

When brainstorming your paper, here are some ways to start. If you wish, you may combine more than one:

(1) Write a list of ideas or images, and then narrow the choices.
(2) Make up a situation.
(3) Sit back, relax, breathe, clear your mind, and imagine a scene.
(4) Think of a person you know to whom you could write this paper.
(5) Think of a feeling or wish and how you could use it to write this paper.

To get started, you need to consider whether you can choose what you want to read. If you can make this choice, then you may want to choose a literary reading which you know you will enjoy: writing a thesis is much easier if we like what we've read. However, if your reading has been assigned to you, you may try to pick apart what you enjoyed about it by choosing a thesis that will help you do this. On the other hand, you certainly may be negative as well. However, whether you are negative, positive, or both, remember that every point you make should tie in with your interpretive thesis, helping to prove it is true.

To write about your literary work well, you will need to read it at least two to three times. Once you have read your assignment and skimmed this chapter and its samples, you may start rough drafting. There are several ways to rough draft.

Create a Draft

Then express your thinking on paper. Choose one idea and explore it: write quickly and spontaneously. Avoid worrying about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. You may entirely avoid organization, or you may use the organizational parts suggested either earlier in this chapter's introductory "Process" page, or in the "Organize" section later in this chapter. You may write using regular prose sentences and paragraphs, creating one giant paragraph, or developing a traditional or cluster outline. Try to write one-fourth to one-half or more of the final required length of the paper.

Be sure that you have skimmed the sample papers before proceeding. There are two separate ways given below for rough drafting. The first way, summarizing the elements, is a good way to start if you are unsure about the contents or meaning of the literary work you have just read, and you want to get to know it better before arguing about it. The second way, a rough-draft interpretive thesis, is better for getting the organization of your final paper started. Your teacher may ask you to use one specific method or another--or possibly a combination of them. If you are choosing, read the directions for both methods and select the one best suited to your needs.

Rough Drafting by Summarizing the Elements

One way to brainstorm a first-draft examination of literature is to summarize some of the basic elements of the literary work you have read. Some of the major elements to summarize are as follows. These are discussed in more detail in Chapter 8: "WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE--The Elements of Literature." Reading this earlier chapter is necessary for being able to use this chapter well.

PLOT (hero/heroine, villain/obstacles, and goal/solution)
CHARACTERS (three-, two- and one-dimensional characters)
SETTINGS (places)
VOICE (1st or 3rd person)
TONE (high, common, serious, humorous, sly, obvious, etc.)
LANGUAGE (use of words, phrases, sounds, rhythms, rhymes, etc.)
SYMBOLS (metaphors, similes, et al.)
THEMES (major and/or minor)

Rough Drafting by Interpretation

Another way to brainstorm a first-draft examination of literature is to begin interpreting--start making an interpretive thesis--immediately. Remember that your role is that of a serious student of literature writing to other serious students of literature, and that all of you have read the same literary work. When writing this type of paper, do not start with a summary of the plot, characters, or other elements. Instead, start by choosing an argument to make about how to interpret the literary work or some part of it. You are not trying to convince these other readers that your way is the only way or even the best way to view the literary work. All you have to do is convince your readers that your interpretation makes sense--that it is at least logical.

What is an "interpretation"? It is your assumption, based on your experience, knowledge, and point of view, of some kind of meaning in the story that is more than just a simple theme obvious to most casual readers. You need to start an interpretation--an interpretive thesis--with a clear thesis sentence that states your special or unusual point of view. Some interpretations are author-centered: they may be interpretations that the author intended. However, other interpretations are reader-centered: they are interpretations available to readers, even if the author of the reading never intended them. Here are some examples:

COMPARISON-CONTRAST: (1) "A comparison and a contrast of Romeo with Juliet shows that one of them typifies modern adolescents, but the other does not."

CAUSE-EFFECT: "From the moment they first spy each other, there is a fateful chain of cause and effect leading to Romeo and Juliet's deaths."

CLASSIFICATION: "There are five types of love demonstrated in Romeo and Juliet romantic, erotic, friendship, familial, and religious."

PSYCHOLOGY: "Romeo and Juliet typify teenagers who must deal with dysfunctional parents."

POLITICS: "The two clans in Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues and the Capulets, are symbols of opposing political parties such as the Democrats and the Republicans."

ANTHROPOLOGY: "Romeo and Juliet demonstrate many of the same mating rituals as do teenagers in aboriginal societies."

FEMINIST STUDIES: "Juliet demonstrates many of the modern traits of a contemporary feminist caught between traditional and modern gender values and roles."

PHILOSOPHY: "Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet demonstrate an unshakably positive acceptance of the philosopher Plato's world of the Ideal.

ETHICS: "The play Romeo and Juliet demonstrates why it is morally right [or wrong] to let teenagers fall in love with whomever they choose."

BUSINESS/ECONOMICS: "Romeo, Juliet, their family, and their friends exemplify a culture of both privilege and hard work in the class to which they belong."

How do you develop a thesis? Some people have ideas after reading a literary work once. Others cannot develop a solid, easily identifiable idea even after reading a literary work several times. Many people find that they start with a fuzzy idea that they can state only vaguely; then, as they investigate this idea by writing about it and examining it in the literary work, their idea takes on more clarity and depth. Sometimes the opposite happens, too: people discover their initial idea is not useful for analyzing the literary work, and they must choose a new idea. However, sometimes such "failures" really are necessary to success: without thinking of and experimenting with one or two poor ideas first, it might not be possible to discover an idea that works.

The more creative the idea or thesis you finally choose, the better. Just be sure that you can find adequate proof of your thesis in the literary work you are analyzing, and also be sure that there is not strong proof against your thesis in the literary work. It is good to have highly creative and unusual interpretations, provided you can support them by details. It also is acceptable to have a more usual or average interpretation; however, avoid having a thesis that is so obvious to the other readers of the literary work that they could choose your thesis and write your paper as easily as you. You want to have at least some originality in your choice of a thesis.

Sometimes the best way to develop a thesis is to brainstorm a list of several, then choose the one which you think is most unique and/or which grabs you the most, emotionally, as an interesting idea with which to work. Often it also helps to take your list of ideas to your teacher and ask him or her which one she would find the more interesting.

Once you have chosen your thesis, you may start writing in brainstorm fashion: write as much as you can as fast as you can about the different details in the literary work which help prove or illustrate your thesis. When brainstorming you may write about any of the details in any order you want. However, if you prefer a specific game plan, often you are better off starting with the smaller details such as descriptions and actions of setting and characters, then working your way to larger details such as symbols, plot, and theme. Be sure to stick to using details from the literary work itself: don't start discussing your own life or anything else outside of the work you are analyzing, except perhaps briefly in passing--and then only if doing so helps you prove or explain to your readers what you mean.

Why write interpretive theses? (Under Construction)

Evaluate 

Start thinking critically about your paper by reading the chapter and the sample papers carefully. Then ask yourself, "How well can my rough draft meet the needs of this paper?" Some rough drafts may fit closely while others may require shifting of tone or parts. Still other rough drafts may need partial or complete rewriting.

Use a set of criteria--a series of judgments--to help you evaluate whether and how your rough draft meets the assignment needs. Here are some possible criteria to consider:

a. Is the tone right--does the rough draft sound like this type of paper?

b. Can I organize my rough draft or its idea into the needed parts?

c. Who is my primary audience and are the contents right for it?

d. Do I like my rough draft? If not, could I rewrite it so I do?

e. Do I need to understand the subject any better than I already do?

f. Do I need to read all or parts of the literary work once or twice more?

g. Have I chosen the right type of paper for my purposes, needs, and abilities?

Rough drafts are helpful starters for your thinking. The next step, however, requires evaluation of what you need to do with your rough draft to make it work best for this writing assignment. Sometimes this evaluation is simple, but sometimes it can be more complex. If it is complex, using the criteria above can help break the evaluation down into easier steps.

The next step is to organize your paper. If you have done the brainstorming well--especially if you have chosen to start your brainstorming by writing the beginning of a literary thesis--then organizing should not be difficult. There are several ways to move from your rough draft to a more organized draft. If your rough draft is very rough, you may need to create divisions as described below by starting with a topic sentence for each, summarizing what you will say in that division. If your rough draft already is developed by divisions, then you will need to polish these divisions and be sure that each one starts with a strong topic sentence. If you have many proofs, you probably will not want or need subtitles. However, if you have just a few main proofs, each of which you will develop at length using several paragraphs, then you may also want to use subtitles or space breaks between divisions to show where each new division begins. It is not traditional to do so; however, if you were to look in professional literary journals, you would find that many modern literary scholars do use some kind of divisional dividers.

Organize by divisions. Remember that the most important part of your writing as you organize is to have large amounts of quotes and paraphrases detailing your divisions. The introductions, divisions, and conclusions themselves will have these elements:

- Introduction: THESIS/IDEA/ARGUMENT

- #1: SMALLER DETAILS PROVING IT'S TRUE
- #2: SMALL DETAILS PROVING IT'S TRUE
- #3: LARGE DETAILS PROVING IT'S TRUE
- #4-?: LARGER DETAILS PROVING IT'S TRUE

- Conclusion: restatement of ARGUMENT

Here is a more detailed discussion of these parts. The introduction and conclusion of both types of papers are discussed together. The divisions of a literary thesis and of a review are discussed separately:

(l) Introduction: Write an opening paragraph which summarizes in one sentence each or less the author and title of the literary work and your basic thesis. In longer or more fully developed papers, there may also be (c) a more formal detail, quotation, or example from the literary work, an example that typifies or best illustrates your thesis.

(2) Body: Then have a series of reasons why your thesis is true. If you to outline your thesis, you would have a thesis sentence and the reasons it is true, as follows:

____[Your idea]_____ is true because: ____[reason #1]____,
                                                                 ____[reason #2]____,
                                                                 ____[reason #3]____,
                                                                 ____[reason #4]____,
                                                                 _______[etc.]______,                

Most interpretive analyses offer at least three reasons--in three divisions--why their theses are true. Usually it is best to work from smaller details in the beginning of your paper to larger details in the end. This is because it is better to attend to the parts of the whole first, then the whole later, in order to be sure that all the parts are right, first, before passing judgment on the whole. It is too easy to make a snap judgment about the whole literary work, only to find, when the parts are examined more carefully, that the whole was judged incorrectly. "Smaller parts" means elements such as language, descriptions, such as major characters, plot, and theme. In a short thesis paper, each reason might be as little as one paragraph long (but could be longer). In a longer thesis, each reason might need several paragraphs to be properly developed. The discussion of each reason is a division, whether that discussion and division is one or many paragraphs. Divisions may vary in length. Whether you have a short paper or long, the structure of each division (whether one paragraph or many) is as follows. "Topic sentence" means, in this case, a sentence stating your next reason why your thesis is true:

Are you allowed to use details from biographical materials about the author? The answer is "sometimes." Some teachers allow or encourage this practice; others discourage it. If you do use biographical materials, do so sparingly: most of your details which prove your thesis should come from the literary work itself.

(3) Conclusion: Write a paragraph which summarizes in one sentence a closing restatement of your thesis. In longer or more fully developed papers, there may also be a final formal detail, quotation, or example from the literary work exemplifying your thesis.

Critical Thinking Activity: Explication of Text, Comparison/Contrast, and Opposing Thoughts

You can develop our metacognitive thinking skills (our skills in "thinking about thinking") better by working in several additional ways with literature. One of these ways is a method called "explication of text." A second way is to compare and contrast two differing literary works. A third is to add "opposing thoughts" sections to your interpretive analyses.

An "explication of text" is a particular type of interpretive thesis that, usually, starts with a poem, a very short story, or a very small section (perhaps as little as one page) of a long story or a novel. You analyze this short selection to find an overall pattern or purpose in it. Then, step by step, you guide your reader through an explication or explanation in great detail of how this pattern or purpose exists. This method often works better with poetry; however, you can choose 1/2 to two pages of a story or novel as well. If choosing a small part of a larger work, you should look for a significant turning point. (Often, but not always, such points come at the one-third and two-thirds points in stories and novels.) Whichever kind of work you choose, you then show the pattern or purpose as you argue a thesis in a interpretive thesis: you use the small details as proofs first, then the larger details.

If, for example, we were to explicate a selection from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Tale, we might choose the turning point when Mr. Scrooge watches with the Ghost of Christmas Present as Scrooge's relatives have fun at a Christmas party. Scrooge begins to lose his crusty attitude as he recalls how he used to dance and love like a normal human being. We might start our thesis by looking at the particular use of words--the rhythms, rhymes, symbols and descriptions--which occur at the beginning and the end of our page or two, showing how they change from words and symbols of Scrooge's crustiness to ones of emotional sensitivity. We might further describe how the characters around him change and how his own character changes. We might then relate this to how the plot and theme demonstrate at this turning point the change that Scrooge is going through, showing how the larger symbols demonstrate this change. Finally, we might make our point that a change of heart is implicit in almost every sentence, every image, that occurs in these one or two pages. In this way, we would prove our thesis--that the very structure of the writing of these two pages demonstrates a change of heart in Scrooge.

Comparison and/or contrast is another way to develop critical thinking skills when writing about literature. The basic idea is simple: instead of writing about one literary work, we write about two, comparing and contrasting them. If that is the only part of the assignment, then the paper is simple: it goes through the elements, comparing and contrasting each of them in the literary works. However, a better--and more difficult--comparison-contrast paper develops a single thesis or idea and shows how this idea is treated in both literary works, comparing and contrasting how the idea occurs in both. This type of interpretive literary thesis of two works also will often make a final judgment about which literary work does the better job of working with this idea.

For example, it is possible to compare and contrast the idea of justice in Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. If we start with small details, we find that justice is represented in Mockingbird in a small-town setting within the context of a family, racism, and language both loving and dark. In Mice, however, justice is represented in a country setting within the context of friends and fellow workers, prejudice against the developmentally disabled, and language that is usually very hopeful and almost innocent. There are many comparisons and contrasts we can make about how justice is illustrated and symbolized in these two novels. In the end, the moral in Mockingbird seems to be that laws can and must be upheld; but in Mice, that laws are relative to circumstance and need. Yet both novels have an underlying sense of justice as something absolutely necessary in life. Mice delivers this message in a more shocking way, Mockingbird in a more loving way; but perhaps Mockingbird, of the two, gives us a much better sense of both the need for and workings of human justice.

An "opposing thoughts" section also may be added to an interpretive literary thesis. Such a section offers one or more interpretations that differ from your own. In an opposing-thoughts section, you first would present the ideas of those who disagree with you, give supporting reasons and details for their ideas, and then show (sometimes with more details) why their ideas are wrong.

In an interpretive literary thesis, the more common way to include such a section is to have it as a whole, separately developed division, usually at the end of the paper, just before the conclusion. In this division, you would present one or more theses--literary interpretations--that directly oppose your own, give supporting reasons and details for these theses, and then explain why they are wrong--and your thesis is better. Some writers are able, on the other hand, to add opposing thoughts, a few sentences at a time, into many of the paragraphs of the various divisions. However, most writers find it simpler to add opposing thoughts in complete sections as described here.

Revise what you have done. Interpretive analyses contain many references to the literary works that they examine. These references are the proofs or examples of the points you make. You will need to know how to write these references smoothly and sensibly. In addition, as you rewrite, you should be sure that all your details are in the divisions where they best fit, and that you do not have anything in your divisions which does not fit there. Furthermore, be sure that you have a strong topic sentence at the beginning of each proof.

There are two ways to referring to a literary work or other source. One you know: it is the use of quotations. The other is called "paraphrasing." To paraphrase is to explain what someone has written or said, but in your own words. A quotation must always be in the person's own exact wording; a paraphrase always must be in your own wording:

QUOTATION: Martin Luther King said he had "been to the mountain top and seen the Promised Land" (258).

PARAPHRASE: Martin Luther King envisioned a perfect world (258).

Another important element of incorporating references is to do so smoothly with adequate explanations for the reader. This is especially true of quotations (and less so of paraphrases). Often it is best to introduce each quotation with a sentence of your own, and to close each quotation with another sentence of your own afterwards:

Your sentence. "Quotation." Your sentence.

The first sentence is a transition that may prepare the reader for the quote, summarize the idea of the quote, or simply introduce it. The last sentence may summarize the idea for the reader, conclude the paragraph, or simply provide a transition from that idea to the next one. Notice how the sentence with the quotation is enclosed like a sandwich by the introductory and closing sentences before and after it:

Another important concept is that of remaining free. According to Amelia Johnson, "We value freedom" (36). This means that people in our country consider freedom one of our most important values. For example, . . . .

Using this pattern insures not only smooth, easily read writing; it also insures that the author's point you are trying to emphasize is clearly made in exactly the way you intend.

Avoiding Plagiarism

One more thing needs to be said in this revising section, and that is the importance of avoiding plagiarism. You probably won't need to worry about plagiarism if you are simply analyzing or reviewing one literary work without using any other sources. However, if you are going to use other sources--or even ideas from the back cover, inside cover, or introduction to your literary work--you must be careful to avoid plagiarism.

What is plagiarism? It is the use of someone else's words or ideas without giving that person credit. If you use someone else's words, you must put quotation marks around the words and give the source (author, title, and sometimes the page number). If you use someone else's ideas, you still must give that person credit! You do so by giving the source of the idea just as you would with a quotation, as explained above:

- AUTHOR'S WORDS -- Give his/her name and use " ." Use the AUTHOR’S WORDS.

- AUTHOR'S IDEA -- Give author's name, but don't use " ." Write it in YOUR WORDS.

In academic writing especially, plagiarism is considered highly unethical. Very highly placed people in some of our top universities have been fired or forced to resign because of plagiarism, even in cases where the plagiarism was unintended or accidental. In the business world, too, it is considered unethical--and in some cases can lead to lawsuits and loss of jobs.

So, if you plan on using anyone's ideas, even if from only the back cover of your literary work, you must give full credit to this source.

Use an editing strategy: make a list of your major and minor editing problems and needs, and then fix them one at a time. Don't try to fix everything in one sentence or paragraph, everything in the next, and everything in the next: this is both tiring and inefficient. You will find editing less tiring and be more efficient if you take care of just one or two types of problems at a time throughout the whole paper.

In addition, as you edit, avoid reading your contents as much as possible. If you read your contents while you edit, you will become caught in what you are saying instead of checking how you are saying it. One good way to avoid reading contents while you edit is to edit backward: start with your last sentence in the paper, then your next to the last, then your third to the last, etc. In this way you are less likely to pay attention to contents and more likely to notice editing needs.

In using quotations and paraphrases correctly, there also are some editing requirements. Quotations--the direct words you quote from literary works--always should have quotation marks (" ") around them, and remember always to use the author's actual, unchanged words when quoting. You may start a quotation and end it anywhere in an author's sentence where it is convenient for you--beginning, middle, or end. You also may leave words out of the middle of a sentence or even leave out whole sentences or paragraphs; however, if you leave words out, you should signify this by typing three dots-- . . . --to signify that words are missing.

AN EASY RULE OF THUMB: An easy rule of thumb to follow when your literary work is your only source is this: the first place in your paper that you quote or paraphrase your source, be sure you name the author. After that, supply the name of the author or title at the beginning of most quotes and paraphrases.

Critical Thinking Activity: the rhetorical modes of argument, exemplification, and classification. Here is what each means:

Argumentation or argument is, simply, educated guessing or expressing of opinion--anything not very factual. "Men have walked on the moon" is a fact. However, "People will walk on Venus in the next ten years" is an opinion. Anything that reasonably can be debated is an argument. A simple argument paper usually presents a debatable opinion and then offers supports in favor of it, or sometimes an argument paper will discuss both sides of an issue and then give good reasons for choosing one side over the other.

Exemplification or example is the giving of a specific, detailed example. As structure, exemplification is most often obvious when it is long and developed. A reading might try, for example, to prove a point by developing three long examples of what it is saying--just to show, define, or prove something. Parables--little moral stories--from such sources as Aesop's fables, the B'rer Rabbit stories, or the Bible are examples of the use of exemplification to prove some kind of moral or point.

Classification means that a subject--a person, place, event, or object--is broken into parts and sub-parts. Sometimes classification is used in order to show us that something is much worse than, or much better than, we had imagined--just because its parts are worse or better than we had realized. This is called argument by association: for example, if 14-year-old Janie wants to hang out with friends on a dangerous street downtown, a caring adult might point out to her that this activity can be broken down into parts which include not only friendship and fun but also drugs and harassment. Therefore, by classifying the subject for her, Janie can see (hopefully) that her activity may lead to danger.

An interpretive literary thesis is simply an in-depth argument about one or more aspects of a literary work. This chapter has explained the steps for completing this assignment and has shown outlines of the final product. The best analyses are thoughtful explorations of how to view literary works, explorations that challenge and interest both the writers of these papers and their readers as well.

        In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, many religious undertones are present. The most predominant Judeo-Christian and Muslim biblical reference is in the setting, which the author describes as "the imagined but never fully realized place leaping into real life" (12). The isolated, tropical island setting, where a group of choirboys is stranded after their plane crashes, is most certainly a metaphor of the Garden of Eden. This interpretive literary thesis shows that the setting’s physical resemblance, absence of authority, relationship between characters and setting, and degradation of characters are all evidence of this metaphor to the Garden of Eden.

        In the story, a group of young choirboys is thrust upon an island after their plane crashes. Without adult supervision, they take it upon themselves to form a social structure of their own. Ralph, the protagonist, is elected chief of the boys and serves as their leader. He constantly strives for productivity and peace among the boys. He is hopeful and optimistic that they will eventually be rescued. However, he is tried and challenged by Jack, the antagonist. Jack strays from the common good of the boys in pursuit of self-serving motives of his own. As the story evolves, the boy’s regress, and chaos transpires.

        Like the Garden of Eden, the tropical island is portrayed as a perfect, Utopian setting upon which nothing could be improved. The mile-long white sand beach and the sun-warmed coral swimming bay of the boys’ island is a perfect match with the lush landscape and refreshing streams of the Garden of Eden.

        The temporary absence of authority is the second proof of this metaphor. Just as Adam and Eve are placed in the garden, the boys are thrust into their paradise, and just as God appears to be absent to Adam and Eve in the garden, no superior figures preside over the boys. Both parties know that they have their superiors, but they think they are temporarily free of them. This is evident in an early discussion between Piggy and Ralph: "'Aren’t there any grownups at all?' Piggy asks.  'I don’t think so,' [Ralph] said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy. 'No grownups'" (6)!  Ralph makes this even more evident later when he says, "This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun" (30).

        In the Bible Adam says to God, "I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked" (Genesis 3.10). This shows that prior to the meeting, Adam had been acting under the disposition that God was not present in the garden. As it does with Adam and Eve, this absence of authority influences the boys’ behavior. Therefore, it is another proof that the boys’ island is a metaphor for the Garden of Eden.

        The way the characters respond to their setting is more proof of the metaphor of the island to the Garden of Eden. In both settings, the characters feel free to be naked. The Bible says, "The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed" (Genesis 2.25). Golding parallels the freedom to be naked when he describes one of Ralph’s first actions: "He became conscious of the weight of clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement. . . . He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there naked, looking at the dazzling beach and water" (8). Ralph is not embarrassed, just as Adam and Eve are not.

        The naming of the surrounding creatures by the characters also is parallel. The Bible describes how God "formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and that is how they all got their names" (Genesis 2.19). The same happens on the boys’ island. Golding describes how, "[the boys] paused and examined the bushes round them curiously. Simon spoke first. ‘Like candles. Candle bushes. Candle buds.’ The bushes were . . . over them. ‘Candle buds’" (26). This is just one instance of the boys placing their own names upon creatures of the island.

        The final proof that the setting of Lord of the Flies represents the Garden of Eden is in the degradation of the characters. Both characters are placed into their settings with the knowledge of good and evil, and both disobey this knowledge. Adam and Eve do it by eating the forbidden fruit; the boys do it by committing murder.

        Both instances of disobedience are linked to a snake. Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent to eat fruit of the Tree of Life. Likewise in Lord of the Flies, Jack tells the panicked group about a snake-like creature on the island. "If there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it. We’re going to hunt pigs to get meat for everybody," he says, "And we’ll look for the snake too" (32). The boys decide the snake must be killed.

        The presence of the snake does influence their actions. In fact, both the boys and Adam and Eve blame their acts of disobedience on the presence of the snakes. When God asks why Eve ate the fruit of the tree that was forbidden, she replies, "The snake tricked me into eating it" (Genesis 3.13). Likewise, the boys pass off responsibility for Simon’s murder to the snake-like beast, for as they strike, beat, and tear him they chant, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in" (141).

        The same root problems are behind the two incidents. Both events are the result of the characters’ own flaws. Perhaps they both have a predetermined disposition to commit their actions, but they are still responsible. It is Adam and Eve’s tendency to fall prey to temptation that makes them sin; it is the boys’ desire to kill that lets them commit murder.

        The metaphor is present even after their corruption when both sets of characters are removed from their settings. God comes for Adam and Eve; a grownup retrieves the boys. When God comes for Adam and Eve, they know they have learned a lesson. God says, "Now the man has become like one of us and has knowledge of what is good and bad" (Genesis 3.22). Apparently, the boys learn the same lesson. On the beach in front of the grownup, they all begin to sob and shake. Golding says, "In the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart" (186). Now he, too, knows the difference between good and evil.

        In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, many religious undertones are present. The most predominant Biblical reference is in the setting. The isolated, tropical island setting where the choir of boys is stranded after their plane crashes is most certainly a metaphor of the Garden of Eden. Throughout the novel, the setting’s physical resemblance, absence of authority, relationship between characters and setting, and degradation of characters are all evidence of this metaphor. Golding says that "flower and fruit grew together on the same tree and everywhere was the scent of ripeness" (50). It is not only a description of the island setting but of the Garden of Eden as well.

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