Philology

Essay 2
Here are just a few reminders and/or tips about your Essay 2.
• This should be objective so avoid personal pronouns “I,” “me,” and “we.”
• Use present tense verbs (King writes not King wrote).
• This is NOT a research paper so there should be no outside source
information at all.
• There should be a healthy mix of your own writing, noting what you
observed and a few select, appropriate, effective, short quotes. The
quotes shouldn’t overpower your own words.
• Always give credit to the authors of the quotes.
• Read your essay aloud to catch repetition in your sentence structure. Vary
your sentences so that they don’t all read the same.
• Use solid topic sentences that act as your transitions too. Avoid
introducing the new point as the ending sentence in the previous
paragraph. Closing sentences for paragraphs should be on the same
topic—not a new one.
• Include the story title and full author name in your introduction (Stephen
King, Edgar Allan Poe, etc.). Once you have introduced him or her use
only the last name throughout (King, Poe, etc.).
• Short story titles are ALWAYS set off in quotation marks—“The Tell-Tale
Heart.” (Novels and books are italicized—The Horror Readers’ Advisory).
• Commas and periods are ALWAYS inside quotation marks regardless of
the use (i.e. the narrator could hear the beating of the “heart.”)
• Your task does NOT include: WHAT HAPPENED.
• Remember to STICK to three literary devices.
o Suspense is NOT an element. Suspense is like atmosphere and
you achieve it through using literary devices.
o Mood is NOT an element—it’s just another word for atmosphere.
o Style and tone are also NOT elements—these are the effects of
certain devices.

• This is not a straight analysis essay where you can analyze anything:
o It doesn’t matter why the narrator killed the old man or that Father
Palmieri displayed such cowardice and Mary Margaret was a
troubled teen and Bern was naive and Carole was a mother figure.
This is character analysis.

• Additionally, do not include a definition or explanation of the device (Point
of view is the vantage point that each author uses to tell his or her story).
The definitions are givens.
As always, if you have questions, post them on the board or email me.