Your essay should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. 

The introduction should do the following: 

Interest the reader with an effective opener 

Identify the subject, work, and author (give author's full name) 

Introduce essay’s topic 

Define key words, if necessary 

Present a thesis statement 

The Body should do the following: 

Have logical organization 

Have unity - present one central idea 

Be coherent 

Provide sufficient information to explain thesis statement 

Have paragraphs that are unified, coherent, and adequately developed with details and evidence (quotations from the literary work) properly incorporated and documented. 

Restate the thesis 

Summarize the main points 

Grammatically correct - have no run-ons, comma splices, fragments, errors in subject/verb agreement or pronoun reference

Varied in structure and length 

Clear in structure and meaning 

Appropriate 

Definite, specific, and concrete 

Accurate 

Punctuation marks should be used correctly. 

When writing about literature, remember to do the following: 

Place quotation marks around the titles of poems, short stories, essays or chapters of a book. 

Underline or italicize the titles of novels or plays.

Use the present tense. For example, when explaining what Frederick Douglass writes in his autobiography, you would write this: Douglass writes, "This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave" (343). Notice that the verb writes is in the present tense. 

Incorporate quotes into your writing by introducing the quote as I did above or by blending the quote into your sentence like this: Phillis Wheatley describes Africa as "my Pagan land" (line 1). 

Document quotes from the literary works by placing the page number from the prose work in parenthesis and the line number from a poem in parenthesis. Then write the source cited on a works cited page like this example: 

Give your essay a title which reflects the content of your essay. 

Your essay should be double-spaced, with name and page numbers in the upper right corner.

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