fictional self through Surrealist writing based on the book Dark Spring

Guidelines for Writing a Comparative Literature Paper
Preliminary:
1. Choose your topic and narrow it down by asking a question you have about it. The answer to
this question will be your thesis. A thesis must be debatable (it’s not a statement of fact).
Your thesis may change as a result of your writing process but you should try to stay focused
on it (and don’t change your topic because then you’ll have to start over again!).
2. Create a file with quotes in accordance with your topic and thesis. You probably will not use
all of the quotes you select, but it helps to isolate them.
3. Make yourself an outline: What are the points you want to make in support of your central
thesis? – You do not absolutely have to stick to this outline but it helps to organize your
thoughts.
Writing:
1. Your introduction tells your reader what you will be writing about. You need to clearly state
what book you are discussing and what your thesis is, as well as any relevant background
information (biographical, historical, etc.). Be sure to keep your introduction separate from
the body of your paper. The introduction should be short and informative. The body of the
paper will go into more detail (in the introduction, you say what you’re “going to do”; in the
body of your paper, you “do it”). Sometimes it can be helpful to wait with the introduction
until after you have written the body of the text.
2. Signposts: It isn’t enough to state your thesis in the beginning, then hope that your reader
will remember what it was. You need to keep reminding the reader why you’re saying what
you’re saying – you need to reiterate your thesis throughout the paper, using phrases such as
“this is another instance of…” or “once again, this shows how….” You don’t want your
reader to wonder: Why is he/she telling me all of this?
3. In your analysis of the words and sentences in the quotations, please make sure that your
statements about the quotes are at least as long as the quotes. If you give your reader a long
quote, do not expect that the quote will speak for itself – it is your task to tell the reader what
is important in the quote, and how to make sense of it. Analysis is the nitty-gritty work that
will make your paper successful. And if you don’t discuss part of a quote use ellipses […].
Editing:
1. Put aside the paper for a while (a few days) once you think you’ve completed it. No thesis
works without proof. Your task is to furnish proof that your interpretation of the text makes
sense. Make sure everything is directly related to your thesis. If a passage you wanted to
quote does not work for what you want to say, take it out. If you want to say something but
do not have an example from the text to back it up with, look for one (or just don’t say it).
2. Your style of writing should be formal and scholarly. Do not write the way you think or
speak. Write for an educated, intelligent audience. And do not assume that people “know
what you mean” – it is your task to facilitate understanding for your reader. It never hurts to
clarify things once more, you can always delete it later if it seems redundant. You can always
have a friend read your paper and see whether they understand what you’re trying to say.
(That said, please do not just restate the obvious or repeat yourself needlessly.)
3. Your paper should follow the conventional format: double or 1 ½ – spaced, 12 point font, 1 or
1.25 margins; pages should be numbered; and you should have a title. Also note that titles of
books need to be italicized or underlined. Be sure to proofread!