Before you begin the Literary Exploration Assignment
Notice the key information in the question. You could highlight or underline the main ideas in your instructions. If you have been given a reading selection, read and think about it, even if you do not intend to discuss it in your writing. The theme will help you to understand and explore the literature you have studied and your own experience.
Read the instructions carefully. Decide how many paragraphs you are writing. Remember that you must discuss the character(s) and text(s) you have chosen from class and relate them to your own experience. Think about your own experience of life or what you have seen in the lives of others or in the world in general.
How to Proceed
- Introduction—presents your thesis and introduces the areas of development: the main literary work, the literary tie-in, and your personal experience/observation
- Motivator
- General Narrowing Statement(s)
- Theme/thesis—You must answer the question from the assignment, or demonstrate that you understand how it relates to a controlling idea.
- Literary Selection
Topic sentence should include author and title of work.
- Main Idea #1 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Main Idea #2 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Main Idea #3 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Concluding Sentence ties your ideas together with the theme or controlling idea. Remember that this paragraph is optional. You may also write a four-paragraph Literary Exploration that does not discuss the literary selection.
- Literary Text(s)
Topic sentence should include author and title of work. It should also include the character(s) you will discuss.
- Main Idea #1 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Main Idea #2 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Main Idea #3 . Supporting detail/example/quote 2. Supporting detail/example/quote
- Concluding Sentence ties your ideas together with the theme or controlling idea.
- Your Experience—This paragraph may be less formally structured, but it should still have a topic sentence and a concluding sentence. Hook your new paragraph to the previous paragraph so that the unity of your ideas is apparent. It may be a narrative paragraph or a personal reflection on life. You may take a creative approach to communicating your ideas. If your paragraph is narrative, confine yourself to one incident and be sure that the point of your story in some way reinforces the theme you have identified through the character(s) you have discussed in your literary text(s).
- Conclusion—Begin with a concluding transition.
- Restate Theme
- Summarize Main Points (briefly)
