Literary+Paragraphs

English 12: Guidelines for Writing the **Literary Paragraph**


 * 1) Include reference to the author and title of the work in your paragraph.
 * Titles of poems and short stories are put in quotation marks.
 * Titles of novels, plays, and epic poems are italicized (or underlined if hand-writing)
 * 1) Rephrase the question or prompt as a way of leading up to the thesis.
 * 2) State the thesis—the general answer to the question or prompt.
 * 3) Use quotations from the text to support reasons or inferences.
 * 4) Provide context for each quotation - - when, in what situation, by whom and to whom spoken.
 * 5) Cite each quotation.
 * For a novel or short story, use page number(s).
 * For a poem, use line number(s).
 * For a play, use act, scene, and line number(s).
 * 1) Paraphrase and/or explain each quote so it is clear how it relates to the thesis.
 * 2) Provide a closing sentence that reiterates the main point.
 * 3) Follow these conventions:
 * No personal pronouns - - //I, me, my, we, us, our// - - except in quotations.
 * No //you, your// - - except in quotations.
 * No slang - - except in quotations.
 * Present tense verbs.


 * Sample**

Prompt: Explain the paradox, or the apparently contradictory nature, of the witches’ greeting to Banquo in Act I, scene 3 of //Macbeth//: “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.” How is this paradox true?

In William Shakespeare’s //The Tragedy of Macbeth//, the three witches greet Banquo, Macbeth’s fellow soldier, by telling him he will be “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater” (Act I, scene 3, line 65). This paradoxical statement, which sounds impossible, can be true if their prophecies come true. Macbeth has been promised by the witches that he “shalt be king hereafter” (I, 3, 50). Banquo is promised no such reward for himself, which would make him “lesser” than Macbeth. However, the witches’ third prophecy for Banquo is that he “shalt get kings, though [he] be none” (I, 3, 67). Since to “get” in Elizabethan English means to be the father of, this prophecy means that Banquo’s children will be kings after Macbeth is dead. In this sense, Banquo will be “greater” because the kingship will continue in his family line longer than in Macbeth’s. So, as the witches said, Banquo will indeed be “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.” As with so many other things in //Macbeth//, what readers (or characters) believe at first often turns out to be mistaken.

Note how the conclusion restates and comments on the thesis rather than sim
 * Note how author and title and a rephrasing of the prompt are incorporated into the first two sentences.
 * Note how the second sentence states a thesis.
 * Note how quotes are incorporated and cited.
 * Note how quotes are paraphrased and explained to help prove the thesis.