Book Excerpt
Here are the first six pages of my book, The Uncomplicated Essay.
CHAPTER ONE
FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHAT IS A LITERARY ESSAY?
A literary essay is one in which you read and analyse (examine in detail) a book, short story, or play, and tell your teacher something interesting about it. That is why it is also called a “literary analysis.” Now, keep in mind that an analysis isn’t a book report. You are not expected to write about everything that happens in the story. Instead, your teacher will give you a question about the material (often called an “essay prompt”) and you decide how to answer it. How you come up with your answer has everything to do with your feelings or opinions, but everything you say about your ideas is based on facts.
Always remember that when writing an essay, you are not going to simply summarize the book because you’d be telling your teachers things they could have easily read themselves. Instead, you are to say something that isn’t told directly to all readers. In other words, you must interpret elements of the story by figuring out the deeper significance of the action and dialogue. Trust me, we do it all the time; only now, it’s important to pay closer attention and put your thoughts onto paper. You can do this.
Great, So How Do I Begin?
How you begin is by looking for hidden meaning in the text, often called reading between the lines. To do this, know that there is a difference between what is explicitly said and implicitly said. New words right out of the gate! Don’t stress; they’re really not that complicated, but they sure are important. First up is the word, explicit.
Explicit
This term describes the words from the novel (or short story, play, etc.) that clearly tell the reader what is happening while leaving no room for doubt. They include all words on the page because they are considered factual, and guess what? You can use them as evidence (more on that later).
Think of it like this:
Say a character steals a pair of shoes from a store, and the author writes,
“Paddy looks around quickly before stuffing the sneakers under his hoodie and rushing out of the shop without paying.”
That he steals the shoes would be explicit information because it is stated as a fact. We may not know why Paddy does it, but we do know that he did it. Again, what is written as a fact is explicit information. Here’s another way to look at it:
If there was only one cookie on the plate, and I wanted it, I could say, “I want that cookie.”
That is explicit, as I have told exactly what I want. Consider it this way: any part of the story that is clear and verifiable is explicit. However, remember that it isn’t an author’s job to explain everything to you in terms of meaning. Even more than that, characters (like people) often lie to one another, so what they say explicitly may be interpreted differently. To interpret is to figure out the meaning of something when it isn’t necessarily obvious. Let’s go back to the cookie example:
If there was only one cookie on the plate and you asked me if I wanted it, I might say,
“Um, no…it’s okay. I love cookies, but I mean, if you really want the cookie, you should have it.”
That statement should be read as implicit because though I say, “you should have it”, anyone can tell that I want the cookie. I just never straight up say, “I want the cookie!!!” Let’s talk about this further…
Implicit
Anything implicit includes what is not said outright within the text but what is implied (suggested). We recognize implications all of the time without even realizing it. We’re just not always used to putting it into words.
Here’s an example: Say the novel reads,
“Mark walks in the door, and everyone takes three big steps backward and plugs their noses.”
What’s going on with Mark?
Yep…he stinks.
Notice that the text doesn’t explicitly tell you that Mark smells rotten. Instead, you are told implicitly. However, it wasn’t hard to figure out what I was saying. That is because we all know how to interpret; we just don’t notice half the time. Authors (the good ones, anyway) include a ton of implicit detail in their stories, as it would be a very boring read if they told you everything! When writing a literary essay, then, it is your new job to point out these implicit details.
Here’s another way to put it:
No story will ever read,
“This is our protagonist, Bertie. She acts aggressively because she has never gotten over her terrible childhood when she lost both of her loving parents in a tragic plane crash.”
That would be weird.
Instead, you, as an essayist, will read about what kind of explicitly aggressive actions Bertie takes, learn about the explicit events of her past and put two and two together as to why she’s acting the way she does. In other words, Bertie’s actions make it implicitly clear that she has unresolved feelings about the death of her parents.
Basically, you are a detective who figures out the hidden meanings behind the characters’ actions and feelings. Always remember that the author will never underestimate you. Instead, she or he will give you hints, and it is your job to make an argument out of what is not said, i.e., the implicit meaning.
When your teacher gives a topic to write about, you will base your essay around your interpretation of events. As such, it is important that you begin with your feelings, move to ideas, and follow them up with facts to back up your argument.
Say, for example, your teacher asks you how a character changes throughout the book — this topic is very common. Your first response comes from your feelings. In other words, you will be subjective. You have to think: Did she change? Did she not? Your answer will be based on your own opinions. Once you’ve made up your mind, however, you go on to more specific questions. These do not have anything to do with how you feel, but with what is true. This is called being objective. Ask yourself: If she changed, how? Did she become nicer or more knowledgeable? Did she learn to accept others? Did she become brave instead of staying a coward? Say the character became more mature or grown-up, how would you argue that she did?
I have to pause for a moment because I have another very important word for you to learn: Argue.
What Does it Mean “to Argue?”
To argue is to, well, make an argument. It doesn’t mean that you’re angry about something. It means you have an idea, and you want to prove it. In writing essays, your argument is also known as your thesis, and creating one is the main task of constructing an essay.
Important: Arguments are always based on what is implicitly told to you within the text (your interpretations) but they are backed up by explicit facts.
When writing an essay, you will come up with what I call your BIG ARGUMENT. Some teachers call it the main argument or a controlling idea, but the meaning is the same. A Big Argument serves as your main point of reasoning and works to answer your teacher’s question.
Let’s take a real-life scenario: say you are trying to convince your friend that a girl named Michelle is the best musician in your school band. It isn’t enough to say,
“She is the best because she sounds good.”
That kind of argument sounds weak and subjective. Remember that to be subjective just means you’re using your feelings. If, on the other hand, you said,
“Michelle is more skilled as a musician than the others in the band.”
That’s different. Just as in life, when drafting an argument for your essay, talk about things you’ve noticed that are objective observations. To be objective is to use facts instead of feelings. As such, your argument must be something that is both true and something you can prove. You only need to come up with one Big Argument for your essay, but it’s important to know that a Big Argument alone isn’t enough; it needs helpers in the form of support.
What is Support?
In order to back up your Big Argument, you need reasons for your claim. In other words, you need to support your argument with something other than your opinions, namely, with other implicit details. Essentially, finding your support requires the same process as finding your Big Argument. Just remember, it is up to you to convince the reader that your argument is correct.
Think of it like this: the author may not tell you a character is depressed, doesn’t like a certain person, or that they are enjoying a new activity, but the author will give you clues about the character through their actions and dialogue. In this way, you can recognize things about a character without the author explicitly telling you.
I feel that now would be a great time for an example!
Let’s go back to Bertie, our protagonist (the main character in the story). Recall that she has had a hard life since her parents passed away in a plane crash. Say your teacher asks you to write an essay about how their deaths affected her life. First, you’d check in with your own feelings to decide whether or not they did. Chances are that you said yes, their passing made an impact. Cool. You’re already on your way to discovering an argument!
Now, you have to think about ways in which their deaths changed her life. Maybe in the story, Bertie goes from being an A student to a C student, or she begins to be mean to people, or she may even break the law. Notice how when collecting support, you don’t point out exact instances, like if she yells at her Grandma, or skips school. These are explicit details from the story. Instead, you interpret her actions to find the deeper, implicit meaning of her behaviour in order to make an argument as to why, what, or how.
These are your magic words: WHY, WHAT, HOW.
With these, you are in charge of analyzing the story. In other words, you look at events and dialogue and figure out why they happen, what they mean, or how they impact the character or story. These questions will lead you naturally into an implicit argument: Why? What? How? Note that you only need to focus on one in order to come up with a Big Argument.
Taking this into consideration, let’s look at Bertie and get more specific.
If I were to argue whether or not Bertie’s trauma made a change in her, I would absolutely say, “Yes!” For this instance, I’ve chosen to focus on how her parents’ deaths changed her. Let’s see my Big Argument: The trauma Bertie experiences from the death of her
parents make a negative impact on her life.
That sounds great!
Pro-tip: If I turn my argument into a question using why, what, or how, I can see whether or not my argument will work. My question is,
How does the trauma Bertie experiences from the death of her parents make a negative impact on her life?
That seems like a reasonable question! It looks like my argument is sound, so let’s go with it.
Now I need some support, and here is where I have to brainstorm. Brainstorming means writing down all of the ways you can back up your argument with implicit details that you’ve taken from the story. When brainstorming, don’t worry about being perfect; no ideas are written in stone. Instead, write down as many as you can. You may even surprise yourself with what you come up with!
Here’s my list of how the deaths of Bertie’s parents impact her life negatively:
Bertie’s grades begin to slip.
She gets angry easily.
She loses weight.
She ignores her friends.
Her grandparents notice a change in her. She breaks the law.
She surrounds herself with a tough crowd. She spends a lot of time sleeping.
Okay! Lots to choose from there, but notice that not one of those would be something the author would explicitly write, as it would sound super weird if a book were written like this:
“Bertie is clearly not dealing well with the death of her parents, as she has just broken the law, and that’s not like her.”
“Ever since the death of her parents, Bertie has begun spending time with a tough group of teenagers.”
Doesn’t it sound strange when you think of a book written like that?
Well, here’s the fun news: it sounds perfect for an essay!
In books and other stories, however, authors will offer little clues, so you can fill in the blanks and put the story together. I’m repeating myself here, but imagine how boring a book would be if the author told you everything?
In fact, this is the main rule for authors everywhere: SHOW, DON’T TELL.
To explain, authors show you information through plot, character, action, and dialogue, but they will never tell you what any of it means. Then you, as essayists, pick up what is shown and then tell about it. It’s a perfect relationship!
Not so tough, eh? All right, so what you need to be sure to do now, is find three pieces of support to back up your Big Argument.
Pro Tip: I find it helps to imagine that my teacher is coming up with reasons to disagree with me. That way, by anticipating an argument I actually make mine stronger.
Speaking of stronger arguments, as I mentioned, you can’t rely on one piece of support; you need three. This brings me to my next important detail:
The Rule of Three
You wouldn’t be convinced of something major based on one simple occurrence.
That just doesn’t make sense.
Say I have a rug in my bedroom, and one day I trip on it. It could have been for many reasons; maybe I wasn’t paying attention, or I was dragging my feet. Do I toss the rug? No! However, the next day, I trip again. I hadn’t ever had a problem with this rug before, so it’s weird that I trip two days in a row.
Once is an incident.
Twice is a coincidence. Three times shows a pattern.
Still, I’m not sure it’s a problem; it could have been a coincidence. On the third day, however, I trip again. “That’s enough,” I’d say. “It’s time to move this dumb rug.” That is because a pattern has been established, and chances are pretty good that the rug is the problem, not me.
Keep this in mind when your teacher gives you an assignment because before you do anything, you have to know if you have an idea that can be proven using three pieces of support. If not, your argument won’t feel like a strong, recognizable pattern and may even fail to convince your reader. Even if your Big Argument is awesome, if you can’t prove it with the Rule of Three, you need to go back to the drawing board. With that being said, it is obviously important that you know the structure of a five-paragraph literary essay as well. We’ll start with the introduction and take it from there. Don’t freak out. It’s so, so much easier than you think. Let’s start from the beginning…
Literary Analysis Example
This is a literary essay I use for my students in order for them to understand the ordering of “ingredients” in their essays. I’ve made the story up, but that fact does not matter, as I’ve provided context throughout. Note that the formatting isn’t in proper MLA style, as WordPress doesn’t let me do certain things, unfortunately.
Your last name and the page number
Your name
Your teacher’s name
The class name
The date
So Much Drama: Once a Bully, not Always a Bully
Are people really capable of changing their ways? That is the question being asked in So Much Drama, by Erin Sharman Cousins. It is about a bully named Franko who gets into trouble one too many times and is punished by having to join the drama club. Though he hates it at first, by the end, he enjoys it, and his behaviour becomes different both in and out of school. As Franko starts to show his teachers respect, is nicer to his mom, and, eventually, is able to make friends, his treatment of others changes for the better because of the drama club.
One change that comes from the drama club is that Franko starts to be polite to his teachers in school. To clarify, at the start of the book, Franko doesn’t care about his teachers’ feelings and can be mean. In contrast, after a month of the drama club, Franko is in History class when his teacher, Mrs. Kayley, drops her chalk on the ground, but rather than laugh at her, Franko helps. Mrs. Kayley, confused, looks down at him and stammers, “Why…thank you, F-F-Franko” (45). As his teacher’s reaction shows, Franko’s behaviour toward her changes in a positive way after his time in the drama club.
Another way Franko is different is that he treats his mom with more consideration than before. When the story begins, he doesn’t speak to his mom very much, and he never does chores – not without a fight, anyway. Only a short while after being in the drama club, however, he surprises his mom, Lindsay, by cleaning the house before she comes home: “Lindsay [walks] in the house, [stops], and [smiles], before her, the unexpected sight of her son with a broom in his hands” (87). Such a change makes it clear that the positive influence of a creative outlook has an impact on the way Franko treats his mom.
Most noticeable is the effect that drama club has on Franko’s conduct toward his fellow students. As made clear, Franko isn’t nice to people at the beginning of the story, but he is especially cruel to other students at his school. Nevertheless, though it takes some time, he eventually makes friends with some of the other children from the drama club: even one who is a former victim of his, Thomas. When working on a play together, the two are paired up to construct the set, and though both are uncomfortable, Franko gives an awkward apology, and the two end the day by sharing a laugh (132-134). By saying that he’s sorry to one of the people whom he hurt most, Franko makes the important leap of changing his behaviour toward his peers, and this is a clear and direct result of his time in the drama club.
From surprising his teacher with his manners to cleaning the house without being asked, to even offering an apology to a new friend, Franko’s behaviour is certainly different than before. As a result of being in the drama club, Franko’s attitude toward other people changes, especially toward his mom, his teachers, and the other students. Because of this, he gets along better with others and in the end, even makes dear friends. As luck would have it, people really are capable of changing their ways.
Writer’s Workshop Excerpt
The following writing samples are from a workshop I wrote and conducted for a group of engineers. The goal was to achieve uniformity among their representatives regarding grammar and punctuation. Let’s just say they were pretty rusty.
Lesson Two
Parallelism
To explain, parallelism is the practice of listing your points using the same parts of speech. Parts of speech refer to nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and (for the purposes of this lesson) infinitives. There are technically others, but we’ll place our focus here.
To offer a clear example of what I’m talking about, here’s an obvious mistake:
I like swimming, reading, to play music, and dancing.
I’m sure you can see what the error is in the above sentence. That sentence is not parallel. When listing, it is imperative that you pay attention to the “head” of your phrase.
What I mean by the head is the predominant part of speech in which you are listing.
Unfortunately, when a sentence isn’t parallel, it can cause confusion in the reader. Let’s take an example from one of your proposals to illustrate my point:
Now, we collaborate across disciplines and industries to bring buildings, energy and resources, environmental, and infrastructure projects to life.
Let’s break this down:
The list includes buildings (noun), energy and resources (nouns), environmental (adjective), and projects (noun).
This may simply be a case of a misplaced “and” and comma. Nonetheless, its lack of parallelism causes confusion, so I’ve fixed it.
Now, we collaborate across disciplines and industries to bring buildings, energy and resources, and both environmental and infrastructure projects to life.
Subordinating Conjunctions
I have another term to use: subordinating conjunctions.
There are two main ways to use subordinating conjunctions, but only one involves the use of commas. Here is a brief, non-inclusive list of them for clarity:
After / Because / If when / Supposing / Where
Although / Before / Now / That / Whereas
As / Even though / Now that / Though / Whether
As long as / If / Once / Till / Which
As soon as / If when / Provided / Unless / While
Here is the rule:
When beginning a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, you place a comma after the phrase. There will be an independent clause afterward.
Here are a few examples:
Before we begin planning the budget, we should do some research in the area.
Now that I know the rules of the game, I’m clearly going to win.
Unless she gets a formal invite, she’s not going to the wedding.
Easy, right? Well, it’s important that you all know that when you invert these sentences, the comma is omitted:
We should do some research in the area before we begin planning the budget.
I’m clearly going to win now that I know the rules of the game.
She’s not going to the wedding unless she gets a formal invite.
Unfortunately, I’ve got a slight curveball to throw because there is an exception (it’s the English language; there are always exceptions).
The exception is in the word “as”. I want you to read this sentence and tell me what it means:
I played the guitar as Julie was playing the piano.
How about this?
I played the guitar, as Julie was playing the piano.
The absence of the comma in the first example is because the word “as” is being used to mean “while”.
The reason for the comma in the second example is because the word “as” is being used to mean “because”.
The Oxford Comma V. The American Serial Comma
I’ve only one last thing to mention about commas, and it’s by way of advice, really. In writing, there is something called the American serial comma and the Oxford comma. Both are technically correct, but the Oxford comma is preferred.
The main reason for its superiority is that it frees your writing from ambiguity. I imagine that ambiguity would be a giant error in engineering.
To explain, when listing three or more items, one can choose to put a comma before the final “and”. Doing so is the American serial way. It looks like this:
We specialize in industrial, institutional and commercial structures.
(acceptable)
Or,
We specialize in industrial, institutional, and commercial structures.
(preferred)
But what if I wrote this?
We specialize in industrial, water and wastewater, institutional and commercial structures.
I mention this because I see this type of listing happen frequently, and it gives the impression that the sentence isn’t over because of the missing comma.
The Oxford comma signals to the reader that what you’ve just listed is in fact, final. This becomes increasingly important as your lists become longer. Additionally, you have to use it when listing using semicolons anyway, so it would be inconsistent not to apply this practice throughout.
Speaking of semicolons…
Short Script Example
The following is a short excerpt of an episode I wrote for the television series, YooHoo and Friends: The New Adventures. Enjoy!
YooHoo and Friends: The New Adventures
"The Moustached Ghost"
By
Erin Cousins (née Lockhart)
EXT. FOREST FLOOR – DAY
The Solomon Islands. Lemmee and Pammee amble through a dense tropical forest full of ferns, vines, and the occasional jumbo palm tree.
Pammee is in the lead as Lemmee drags his feet.
PAMMEE
Let’s try to go back that way again. I’m super sure this time!
LEMMEE
Admit it Pammee, we’re lost!
PAMMEE
What are you complaining about? The Solomon Islands are paradise!
THUNDER rolls and the pair look at each other with worry.
LEMMEE
Doesn’t sound like paradise.
PAMMEE
Maybe I should call YooHoo.
EXT. SKY ABOVE RAIN FOREST – DAY
The Rover flies through blue skies above the top of the tropical rain forest. Scary black clouds begin to roll in.
INT. ROVER – DAY
YOOHOO
I hope that Lemmee and Pammee are having fun exploring, but that thunder sounded kinda close.
ROODEE
They have been gone a long time.
CHEWOO
And those dark clouds don’t look too friendly.
YooHoo’s wrist device signals and lights up.
YOOHOO It’s Pammee!
He answers:
YOOHOO (CONT)
A storm is coming! Where are you??
PAMMEE (ON THE DEVICE) YooHoo, we need help, we’re…
The device scrambles up. Pammee is inaudible.
YOOHOO Pammee!?
He looks at his friends as thunder ROLLS again.
EXT. FOREST FLOOR – DAY
Pammee, to her device:
PAMMEE
YooHoo!? Did you hear me? We’re lost, and need your help!
Pammee smacks her watch and looks at Lemmee.
PAMMEE (CONT)
Oh no! The signal’s scrambled eggs!
LEMMEE Then we’re toast!
PAMMEE And now, I’m hungry!
EXT. SKY ABOVE RAIN FOREST – DAY Rain begins to pelt the Rover.
INT. ROVER – DAY
YOOHOO
Pammee and Lemmee are in trouble!
CHEWOO
We will be too if we don’t land.
YOOHOO
Roodee, can you find us somewhere to park?
ROODEE Roger Dodger!
Roodee takes the controls and the Rover spirals downward.
ALL Whooooah!
EXT. SKY ABOVE RAIN FOREST – DAY
The Rover dives, then hovers a moment before landing safely on top of the dense forest’s canopy.
EXT. FOREST FLOOR – DAY
LEMMEE
Now, what are we going to do? My tablet isn’t working; I don’t know their coordinates; I can’t even…
Lemmee is interrupted by a STRANGE CALL in the distance: