Literature, in its broadest sense, is any single body of written works. More restrictively, literature is writing considered to be an art form, or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.
Its Latin root literatura / litteratura (derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting) was used to refer to all written accounts, though contemporary definitions extend the term to include texts that are spoken or sung (oral literature). The concept has changed meaning over time: nowadays it can broaden to have non-written verbal art forms, and thus it is difficult to agree on its origin, which can be paired with that of language or writing itself. Developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature.
Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction, and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).
There have been various attempts to define "literature". Simon and Delyse Ryan begin their attempt to answer the question "What is Literature?" with the observation:
The quest to discover a definition for "literature" is a road that is much travelled, though the point of arrival, if ever reached, is seldom satisfactory. Most attempted definitions are broad and vague, and they inevitably change over time. In fact, the only thing that is certain about defining literature is that the definition will change. Concepts of what is literature change over time as well.
Definitions of literature have varied over time: it is a "culturally relative definition". In Western Europe prior to the 18th century, literature denoted all books and writing. A more restricted sense of the term emerged during the Romantic period, in which it began to demarcate "imaginative" writing. Contemporary debates over what constitutes literature can be seen as returning to older, more inclusive notions; Cultural studies, for instance, takes as its subject of analysis both popular and minority genres, in addition to canonical works.
The value judgment definition of literature considers it to cover exclusively those writings that possess high quality or distinction, forming part of the so-called belles-lettres ('fine writing') tradition. This sort of definition is that used in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–11) when it classifies literature as "the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing." Problematic in this view is that there is no objective definition of what constitutes "literature": anything can be literature, and anything which is universally regarded as literature has the potential to be excluded, since value judgments can change over time.
The formalist definition is that "literature" foregrounds poetic effects; it is the "literariness" or "poetic" of literature that distinguishes it from ordinary speech or other kinds of writing (e.g., journalism). Jim Meyer considers this a useful characteristic in explaining the use of the term to mean published material in a particular field (e.g., " scientific literature "), as such writing must use language according to particular standards. The problem with the formalist definition is that in order to say that literature deviates from ordinary uses of language, those uses must first be identified; this is difficult because " ordinary language " is an unstable category, differing according to social categories and across history.
Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "letter".  In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts.
Poetry is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, prosaic ostensible meaning.  Poetry has traditionally been distinguished from prose by its being set in verse; prose is cast in sentences, poetry in lines; the syntax of prose is dictated by meaning, whereas that of poetry is held across meter or the visual aspects of the poem. Prior to the 19th century, poetry was commonly understood to be something set in metrical lines; accordingly, in 1658 a definition of poetry is "any kind of subject consisting of Rhythm or Verses".  Possibly as a result of Aristotle's influence (his Poetics ), "poetry" before the 19th century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art. As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and sustained by an oral tradition;  hence it constitutes the earliest example of literature.
Prose is a form of language that possesses ordinary syntax and natural speech rather than rhythmic structure; in which regard, along with its measurement in sentences rather than lines, it differs from poetry.  On the historical development of prose, Richard Graff notes that "[In the case of Ancient Greece ] recent scholarship has emphasized the fact that formal prose was a comparatively late development, an "invention" properly associated with the classical period ".
- Novel: a long fictional prose narrative. It was the form's close relation to real life that differentiated it from the chivalric romance;  in most European languages the equivalent term is roman, indicating the proximity of the forms.  In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the late 15th century, with the meaning of "news"; it came to indicate something new, without a distinction between fact or fiction. Although there are many historical prototypes, so-called "novels before the novel", the modern novel form emerges late in cultural history—roughly during the eighteenth century. Initially subject to much criticism, the novel has acquired a dominant position amongst literary forms, both popularly and critically.
- Novella: in purely quantitative terms, the novella exists between the novel and short story; the publisher Melville House classifies it as "too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story".  There is no precise definition in terms of word or page count. Literary prizes and publishing houses often have their own arbitrary limits,  which vary according to their particular intentions. Summarizing the variable definitions of the novella, William Giraldi concludes "[it is a form] whose identity seems destined to be disputed into perpetuity". It has been suggested that the size restriction of the form produces various stylistic results, both some that are shared with the novel or short story,  and others unique to the form.
- Short story: a dilemma in defining the "short story" as a literary form is how to, or whether one should, distinguish it from any short narrative; hence it also has a contested origin,  variably suggested as the earliest short narratives (e.g. the Bible), early short story writers (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe), or the clearly modern short story writers (e.g. Anton Chekhov).  Apart from its distinct size, various theorists have suggested that the short story has a characteristic subject matter or structure; these discussions often position the form in some relation to the novel.
Drama is literature intended for performance. The form is often combined with music and dance, as in opera and musical theater. A play is a subset of this form, referring to the written dramatic work of a playwright that is intended for performance in a theater; it comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic or theatrical performance rather than at reading. A closet drama, by contrast, refers to a play written to be read rather than to be performed; hence, it is intended that the meaning of such a work can be realized fully on the page. Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently.
Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge. Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical or mythological themes. Tragedies generally presented very serious themes. With the advent of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form. War of the Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advent of literature written for radio broadcast, and many works of Drama have been adapted for film or television. Conversely, television, film, and radio literature have been adapted to printed or electronic media.
The history of literature follows closely the development of civilization. When defined exclusively as written work, Ancient Egyptian literature, along with Sumerian literature, are considered the world's oldest literatures. The primary genres of the literature of Ancient Egypt — didactic texts, hymns and prayers, and tales—were written almost entirely in verse; while use of poetic devices is clearly recognizable, the prosody of the verse is unknown. The question of whether Sumerian literature was poetry or prose remains unanswered. It did contain at least one feature of poetry (left-justified lines), but the style of writing precludes the detection of certain other identifying features.
Different historical periods are reflected in literature. National and tribal sagas, accounts of the origin of the world and of customs, and myths which sometimes carry moral or spiritual messages predominate in the pre-urban eras. The epics of Homer, dating from the early to middle Iron age, and the great Indian epics of a slightly later period, have more evidence of deliberate literary authorship, surviving like the older myths through oral tradition for long periods before being written down.
Literature in all its forms can be seen as written records, whether the literature itself be factual or fictional, it is still quite possible to decipher facts through things like characters' actions and words or the authors' style of writing and the intent behind the words. The plot is for more than just entertainment purposes; within it lies information about economics, psychology, science, religions, politics, cultures, and social depth. Studying and analyzing literature becomes very important in terms of learning about our history. Through the study of past literature we are able to learn about how society has evolved and about the societal norms during each of the different periods all throughout history. This can even help us to understand references made in more modern literature because authors often make references to Greek mythology and other old religious texts or historical moments. Not only is there literature written on each of the aforementioned topics themselves, and how they have evolved throughout history (like a book about the history of economics or a book about evolution and science, for example) but one can also learn about these things in fictional works. Authors often include historical moments in their works, like when Lord Byron talks about the Spanish and the French in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: Canto I" and expresses his opinions through his character Childe Harold. Through literature we are able to continuously uncover new information about history. It is easy to see how all academic fields have roots in literature.  Information became easier to pass down from generation to generation once we began to write it down. Eventually everything was written down, from things like home remedies and cures for illness, or how to build shelter to traditions and religious practices. From there people were able to study literature, improve on ideas, further our knowledge, and academic fields such as the medical field or trades could be started. In much the same way as the literature that we study today continue to be updated as we continue to evolve and learn more and more.
As a more urban culture developed, academies provided a means of transmission for speculative and philosophical literature in early civilizations, resulting in the prevalence of literature in Ancient China, Ancient India, Persia and Ancient Greece and Rome. Many works of earlier periods, even in narrative form, had a covert moral or didactic purpose, such as the Sanskrit Panchatantra or the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Drama and satire also developed as urban culture provided a larger public audience, and later readership, for literary production. Lyric poetry (as opposed to epic poetry) was often the speciality of courts and aristocratic circles, particularly in East Asia where songs were collected by the Chinese aristocracy as poems, the most notable being the Shijing or Book of Songs. Over a long period, the poetry of popular pre-literate balladry and song interpenetrated and eventually influenced poetry in the literary medium.
In ancient China, early literature was primarily focused on philosophy, historiography, military science, agriculture, and poetry. China, the origin of modern paper making and woodblock printing, produced the world's first print cultures. Much of Chinese literature originates with the Hundred Schools of Thought period that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (769‒269 BCE). The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of military science (e.g. Sun Tzu's The Art of War) and Chinese history (e.g. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian ). Ancient Chinese literature had a heavy emphasis on historiography, with often very detailed court records. An exemplary piece of narrative history of ancient China was the Zuo Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BCE, and attributed to the blind 5th-century BCE historian Zuo Qiuming.
In ancient India, literature originated from stories that were originally orally transmitted. Early genres included drama, fables, sutras and epic poetry. Sanskrit literature begins with the Vedas, dating back to 1500–1000 BCE, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India. The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas (vedic collections) date to roughly 1500–1000 BCE, and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000‒500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid-2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The period between approximately the 6th to 1st centuries BC saw the composition and redaction of the two most influential Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, with subsequent redaction progressing down to the 4th century AD. Other major literary works are Ramcharitmanas & Krishnacharitmanas.
In ancient Greece, the epics of Homer, who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, and Hesiod, who wrote Works and Days and Theogony, are some of the earliest, and most influential, of Ancient Greek literature. Classical Greek genres included philosophy, poetry, historiography, comedies and dramas. Plato and Aristotle authored philosophical texts that are the foundation of Western philosophy, Sappho and Pindar were influential lyric poets, and Herodotus and Thucydides were early Greek historians. Although drama was popular in Ancient Greece, of the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays by three authors still exist: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The plays of Aristophanes provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, the earliest form of Greek Comedy, and are in fact used to define the genre.
Roman histories and biographies anticipated the extensive mediaeval literature of lives of saints and miraculous chronicles, but the most characteristic form of the Middle Ages was the romance, an adventurous and sometimes magical narrative with strong popular appeal. Controversial, religious, political and instructional literature proliferated during the Renaissance as a result of the invention of printing, while the mediaeval romance developed into a more character-based and psychological form of narrative, the novel, of which early and important examples are the Chinese Monkey and the German Faust books.
In the Age of Reason philosophical tracts and speculations on history and human nature integrated literature with social and political developments. The inevitable reaction was the explosion of Romanticism in the later 18th century which reclaimed the imaginative and fantastical bias of old romances and folk-literature and asserted the primacy of individual experience and emotion. But as the 19th century went on, European fiction evolved towards realism and naturalism, the meticulous documentation of real life and social trends. Much of the output of naturalism was implicitly polemical, and influenced social and political change, but 20th century fiction and drama moved back towards the subjective, emphasizing unconscious motivations and social and environmental pressures on the individual. Writers such as Proust, Eliot, Joyce, Kafka and Pirandello exemplify the trend of documenting internal rather than external realities.
Genre fiction also showed it could question reality in its 20th century forms, in spite of its fixed formulas, through the enquiries of the skeptical detective and the alternative realities of science fiction. The separation of "mainstream" and "genre" forms (including journalism) continued to blur during the period up to our own times. William Burroughs, in his early works, and Hunter S. Thompson expanded documentary reporting into strong subjective statements after the second World War, and post-modern critics have disparaged the idea of objective realism in general.
There are numerous awards recognizing achievement and contribution in literature. Given the diversity of the field, awards are typically limited in scope, usually on: form, genre, language, nationality and output (e.g. for first-time writers or debut novels).
The Nobel Prize in Literature was one of the six Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895,  and is awarded to an author on the basis of their body of work, rather than to, or for, a particular work itself. Other literary prizes for which all nationalities are eligible include: the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Man Booker International Prize and the Franz Kafka Prize.
Other prose literature
Philosophical, historical, journalistic, and scientific writings are traditionally ranked as literature. They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names " fiction " to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers historically have crafted in prose.
As advances and specialization have made new scientific research inaccessible to most audiences, the "literary" nature of science writing has become less pronounced over the last two centuries. Now, science appears mostly in journals. Scientific works of Aristotle, Copernicus, and Newton still exhibit great value, but since the science in them has largely become outdated, they no longer serve for scientific instruction. Yet, they remain too technical to sit well in most programs of literary study. Outside of " history of science " programs, students rarely read such works.
Philosophy has become an increasingly academic discipline. More of its practitioners lament this situation than occurs with the sciences; nonetheless most new philosophical work appears in academic journals. Major philosophers through history— Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Augustine, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche —have become as canonical as any writers. Some recent philosophy works are argued to merit the title "literature", but much of it does not, and some areas, such as logic, have become extremely technical to a degree similar to that of mathematics.
Literature allows readers to access intimate emotional aspects of a person's character that would not be obvious otherwise. It benefits the psychological development and understanding of the reader. For example, it allows a person to access emotional states from which the person has distanced himself or herself. An entry written by D. Mitchell featured in The English Journal explains how the author used young adult literature in order to re-experience the emotional psychology she experienced as a child which she describes as a state of "wonder".
Hogan also explains that the temporal and emotional amount which a person devotes to understanding a character's situation in literature allows literature to be considered "ecological[ly] valid in the study of emotion". This can be understood in the sense that literature unites a large community by provoking universal emotions. It also allows readers to access cultural aspects that they are not exposed to thus provoking new emotional experiences. Authors choose literary device according to what psychological emotion he or she is attempting to describe, thus certain literary devices are more emotionally effective than others.
Furthermore, literature is being more popularly regarded as a psychologically effective research tool. It can be considered a research tool because it allows psychologists to discover new psychological aspects and it also allows psychologists to promote their theories. For example, the print capacity available for literature distribution has allowed psychological theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to be universally recognized.
Maslow's "Third Force Psychology Theory" even allows literary analysts to critically understand how characters reflect the culture and the history in which they are contextualized. It also allows analysts to understand the author's intended message and to understand the author's psychology. The theory suggests that human beings possess a nature within them that demonstrates their true "self" and it suggests that the fulfillment of this nature is the reason for living. It also suggests that neurological development hinders actualizing the nature because a person becomes estranged from his or her true self. Therefore, literary devices reflect a character's and an author's natural self.  In his "Third Force Psychology and the Study of Literature", Paris argues " D.H. Lawrence's 'pristine unconscious' is a metaphor for the real self". Thus Literature is a reputable tool that allows readers to develop and apply critical reasoning to the nature of emotions.
A significant portion of historical writing ranks as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction, as can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism. However, these areas have become extremely large, and often have a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record data or convey immediate information. As a result, the writing in these fields often lacks a literary quality, although it often(and in its better moments)has that quality. Major "literary" historians include Herodotus, Thucydides and Procopius, all of whom count as canonical literary figures.
Law offers more ambiguity. Some writings of Plato and Aristotle, the law tables of Hammurabi of Babylon, or even the early parts of the Bible could be seen as legal literature. Roman civil law as codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis during the reign of Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire has a reputation as significant literature. The founding documents of many countries, including Constitutions and Law Codes, can count as literature.
Other narrative forms
- Electronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works that originate in digital environments.
- Films, videos and broadcast soap operas have carved out a niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction.
- Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of sequential artwork, dialogue and text.
Genres of literature
Literary genre is a mode of categorizing literature. The term originates from French, designating a proposed type or class. However, such classes are subject to change, and have been used in different ways in different periods and traditions.
A literary technique or literary device can be used by authors in order to enhance the written framework of a piece of literature, and produce specific effects. Literary techniques encompass a wide range of approaches to crafting a work: whether a work is narrated in first-person or from another perspective, whether to use a traditional linear narrative or a nonlinear narrative, or the choice of literary genre, are all examples of literary technique. They may indicate to a reader that there is a familiar structure and presentation to a work, such as a conventional murder-mystery novel; or, the author may choose to experiment with their technique to surprise the reader.
In this way, use of a technique can lead to the development of a new genre, as was the case with one of the first modern novels, Pamela by Samuel Richardson. Pamela is written as a collection of letter-writing correspondence, called "epistolary technique"; by using this technique, Pamela strengthened the tradition of the epistolary novel, a genre which had been practiced for some time already but without the same acclaim.
Literary technique is distinguished from literary device, as military strategy is distinguished from military tactics. Devices are specific constructions within the narrative that make it effective. Examples include metaphor, simile, ellipsis, narrative motifs, and allegory. Even simple word play functions as a literary device. The narrative mode may be considered a literary device, such as the use of stream-of-consciousness narrative.
Literary criticism implies a critique and evaluation of a piece of literature and, in some cases, it is used to improve a work in progress or a classical piece, as with an ongoing theater production. Literary editors can serve a similar purpose for the authors with whom they work. There are many types of literary criticism and each can be used to critique a piece in a different way or critique a different aspect of a piece.
Literary works have been protected by copyright law from unauthorized reproduction since at least 1710. Literary works are defined by copyright law to mean any work, other than a dramatic or musical work, which is written, spoken or sung, and accordingly includes (a) a table or compilation (other than a database), (b) a computer program, (c) preparatory design material for a computer program, and (d) a database.
Literary works are not limited to works of literature, but include all works expressed in print or writing (other than dramatic or musical works).
- List of authors
- List of books
- List of literary magazines
- List of literary terms
- List of women writers
- List of writers
- Related topics
- Asemic writing
- Children's literature
- Cultural movement for literary movements.
- English studies
- Ergodic literature
- Erotic literature
- Hinman collator
- Literature basic topics
- Literary agent
- Literature cycle
- Literary element
- Literary magazine
- Modern Language Association
- Postcolonial literature
- Popular fiction
- Rabbinic literature
- Rhetorical modes
- Vernacular literature
- World literature
- This distinction is complicated by various hybrid forms such as the prose poemand prosimetrum, and more generally by the fact that prose possesses rhythm. Abram Lipsky refers to it as an "open secret" that "prose is not distinguished from poetry by lack of rhythm".
- However, in some instances a work has been cited in the explanation of why the award was given.


Nothing has been taught unless it has been learned.
Real learning is a transformative process. It’s a magic combination of motivation, inspiration, understanding, and assimilating. I link it to alchemy, the medieval forerunner of chemistry based on the idea of transformation, change so dramatic that the final product is something entirely different from the original. Learning not only changes the way we think and see the world, it actually rewires the brain.
There is more than one way to achieve learning. Which ingredients will work depends on the personality of a teacher, the personality of a student, context, and many other factors. Through ten years of researching learning and testing what I’ve learned, I’ve discovered many science-backed strategies that can help to learn better.
I don’t try to list everything known about learning in this short article. My focus is on five crucial ingredients that are often overlooked and five ingredients that often get in the way of good learning. I’m confident that if you consider these ten ingredients in putting together your teaching stew, you’ll be a more effective teacher and your kids will learn more.
“We teachers—perhaps all human beings—are in the grip of an astonishing delusion. We think that we can take a picture, a structure, a working model of something, constructed in our minds out of long experience and familiarity, and by turning that model into a string of words, transplant it whole into a mind of someone else.” —John Holt
When it comes to effective teaching, the place to start is a mind shift. Your job is not to fill the kids’ heads with knowledge but to spark curiosity. According to recent research by the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, once participants’ curiosity was aroused, they demonstrated better learning and retention of incidental and even boring material presented simultaneously.
It appears that being in a curious state of mind changes the brain’s chemistry and also helps us learn and retain information we come across while in that state. So would it promote learning if we somehow linked multiplication tables to Star Wars starfighters? No. According to learning researcher Daniel Willingham, it doesn’t work. When teachers make study material relevant to student interests, it makes students think about their interests and not pay attention to the lesson.
So how do we activate that curious state of mind?
The answer from cognitive science is straightforward: start with a question. Daniel Willingham puts it this way: “The material I want students to learn is actually the answer to a question. On its own, the answer is almost never interesting. But if you know the question, the answer may be quite interesting.”
Yet there is a catch: how you deliver that answer is important. In his book Why Don’t Students Like School, Willingham states that the human mind seems to have a clear proclivity to understand and remember stories. Therefore, wise teachers structure lessons to include four elements of a good story: causality, conflict, character, and complications.
Although most of us intuitively know that stories work, we are so concerned with getting to the answers that we don’t allow sufficient time to plan and tell a good story. “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education,” lamented Albert Einstein, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
- Start with a question to open the information loop. Scientists call it the Completion principle: we seek to complete what is incomplete. When we close the information loop, we feel rewarded. According to Paul Jones-Howard, professor of neuroscience and education at the University of Bristol who leads The Science of Learning class at Future Learn, brain imaging demonstrates that we learn best when the reward centers of the brain are activated.
- Since our brains are hardwired for storytelling, think of your lesson as an opportunity to tell a story. Pick a character (e., fraction, bacteria, 2nd law of motion, country, person, etc.) and then add conflict and complications to move the story forward. For example, the character can be a fraction or a numerical quantity that is not a whole number. The fraction has a goal that propels the events forward. It wants to be whole again or as whole as it can be. The tension can be calculations one needs to perform to solve the problem at hand.
- End the lesson by employing the finer tactics of the Closure Principle. Ending the lesson with closure activities helps kids remember the meaning. My favorite one is to ask Why Do I Care? It pushes my kids to look for a bite-size piece of wisdom that they can carry away from our time together.
“If you listen for the teacher’s reasons why the students should perform these tasks [study assignments, exams, and lots of drill and practice], you will hear a host of narrow, instrumental goals, such as doing well in the class, getting good grades and avoiding failure, or perhaps—if the students are lucky—the value of learning a specific skill for its own sake. But rarely (if ever) will you hear the teacher discuss with students the broader purpose that any of these goals might lead to.” —William Damon
“A powerful purpose is a force unbeatable by anything else in this world.” —Jeff Boss
One of the greatest mysteries of the human mind is its need for purpose. You can have a sizable paycheck, a house, a car, a family, and still grapple with the big questions. Why am I doing this, for what purpose, and how does it matter to anyone?
Kids are no different.
Research among elementary age children shows that kids’ level of meaning in their daily activities was positively associated with their life satisfaction and positive emotions. Having a sense of purpose serves as a long-term motivator for learning and achieving.
So it’s no surprise that kids who find purpose in learning study harder and persevere when the going gets tough. They even voluntarily chose math drills over entertaining games and video. According to Jeff Boss,“Purpose is like a freight train in that its momentum is too difficult to stop after it’s started; it’s too appealing not to continue its pursuit after that journey has begun. Why? Because the allure of attaining purpose (whatever that means) is a powerful force.”
Yet, it seems that a sense of purpose is on the decline among young people. A ten-year study, which looked at over 1,000 school kids, discovered that only one-fifth of them had a sense of purpose.
“When it comes to drawing connections between the two—that is, showing students why and how a math formula or a history lesson could be important for some purpose that a student may wish to pursue—schools too often fall far short.” —William Damon
That’s not to say to say it’s all on the teacher. Kids are responsible for creating a sense of purpose in their lives. But they often need the adults in their lives to guide them. Part of our role, then, as parents/teachers is to help kids see how studying can be relevant to their long-term goals and understanding of the world.
- Encourage self-exploration by asking good questions: What does it mean to have a good life? What does it mean to be a good person? How do you want to be remembered after you are dead? What do you want to be remembered for? For more questions, read The Path to Purpose by William Damon.
- Create opportunities to be inspired, model purpose (what inspires you and why), read inspirational biographies together and look for good mentors (people who emanate a sense of purpose) for your kids.
- Watch carefully and identify the sparks that are already there (What are their interests right now?). Then use your experience to blow the sparks into the flames of passion.
- Passion creates energy and resilience, but it’s not going to last without forward movement. Teach your kids how to make goals and formulate plans to pursue them.
- Teach the unavoidability and even desirability of mistakes. As Dostoevsky said, “You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen.”
“Students who believe that intelligence can be improved with hard work get higher grades than students who believe that intelligence is an immutable trait.” —Daniel Willingham
“Even if [the students with the growth mindset] thought the textbook was boring or the instructor was a stiff, they didn’t let their motivation evaporate. That just made it all the more important to motivate themselves.” —Carol Dweck
A meta-analytic review of over 100 studies found that internal attitude is predictive of performance and that everyone is capable of great things with the right mindset. What’s the right mindset for learning? Carol Dweck calls it the growth mindset, or a belief that you can grow through hard work and use of effective strategies.
The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, a belief that our capacity for learning and development is fixed.
Some fixed mindset beliefs are:
- Everything is a direct measure of your competence and worth.
- The most important part of who you are can’t be changed.
- If you have to work hard, re-do your work, or ask for help you aren’t that smart.
- If you fail, you’re a failure.
- Success in life means proving that you are smart.
When it comes to learning, a fixed mindset creates a dichotomy: everyone is either dumb or smart. If you are dumb, then there’s not much point in putting effort into learning. And if you’re smart, then you better avoid all challenges that might expose you as incompetent.
Carol Dweck’s research and its implications have been fundamental in understanding how growth mindset improves learning capacity. But how do we convince kids that their attitude matters, that every time they learn something, they become smarter, and, most importantly, that growth mindset is worth it?
If you have ever tried to change the mind of fixed-mindset thinkers, you know how hard it can be. You tell them, “You can learn anything,” and they say, “No, we can’t.” You tell them, “You should try harder,” and they say, “It doesn’t work.”
But there’s a way to teach that abilities can be cultivated and we all can change and grow. It simply takes time.
- You might be tempted to start by printing some growth-mindset worksheets, but don’t do it! Most (if not all) children are bored by worksheets, and they begin to associate growth mindset with boredom. They convince themselves that growth mindset is not for them. They close their mind to it before they even get started!
- The best way to start is with your own mindset. Take a quiz. Do you believe that anyone can learn (even your most difficult kid)? Are you judgmental of your own mistakes? If you say, “I can’t believe I forgot to bring x. What’s wrong with me?” and then tell kids it’s okay to make mistakes, they won’t believe you. Kids do what you do, and not what you say.
- Explain what is meant by brain growth and the difference between growth and fixed mindsets. Sometimes just having this knowledge is enough to inspire kids’ interest in learning more about growth mindset.
- Do frequent 5-10 minute lessons instead of longer sessions once in a while. For example, play You can Learn Anything video and discuss it. Or read a growth-mindset book, like The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes, and talk about it. The Growth Mindset Coach has lots of practical ideas.
- Fixed-mindset people believe that effort is for those who don’t have the ability, and if you fail at something, you must not be that good. Teach your kids to admire effort and failure by reading inspirational biographies. Find some names here: 16 people who worked incredibly hard to succeed and 15 highly successful people who failed on their way to success.
- A growing body of research shows that praising intelligence and ability often backfires. You don’t have to avoid praising kids but do it differently.
- If you are completely at a loss on how to teach a growth mindset, consider investing in a growth-mindset training. Brainology for home and for a classroom.
“People always tell me that their important teacher [in life] set high standards and believed that the student could meet those standards.” —Daniel Willingham
“Sometimes those who challenge you most teach you best.” —Pravinee Hurbungs
If kids don’t learn what you are teaching them, then the material is too advanced, right? You need to go back, make it simpler, break it into smaller units, practice more.
The research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from the University of Chicago, shows that human beings don’t like it easy. “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times…. The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”
How do you get kids to stretch?
The Pygmalion effect is an aspect of learning that often gets overlooked. All people, but especially kids, are influenced by expectations placed upon them. “When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.”
We are constantly sending unconscious messages to our kids. An eye roll, a smile, a frown, a pat on the back, a sigh, an involuntary bristling—these are all different ways we involuntary communicate our feelings. It means our internal attitude has the potential to promote or inhibit learning in our kids.
- When you expect kids to do well, you will be leading them toward that goal irrespective of other factors. If you believe that kids are capable of intellectual growth, you will be encouraging it in a variety of ways. The opposite also holds true. If you don’t expect much, your attitude is not likely to be encouraging and may even be discouraging.
- What behaviors do you want to occur? Responsible behavior? Enthusiasm for learning? Growth mindset? Start acting like it’s already true.
- Forecast success. Tell kids you believe that they have the ability to do well. Your belief in them will inspire their success. Say, “This is going to challenge you in a big way, but you know what? You can do it.” Or, “I know this task is difficult, but I’m confident you can do well if you work hard.”
- Kids’ behavior depends on expectations but beware of the nature of your expectations. If your expectations of success are result-oriented, they actually do more harm. “I won because I’m so smart” can quickly turn into “ I lost because I’m so stupid.” To avoid black and white thinking, and to inspire learning and growing, stress effort over results and establish process-oriented expectations.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
“Over the years, however, the research evidence keeps piling up, and it points strongly to the conclusion that a high degree of empathy in a relationship is possibly the most potent and certainly one of the most potent factors in bringing about change and learning.” —Carl Rogers
Think of the best teachers you ever had. What is one thing they all had in common? Were they kind? Were they generous with encouraging words and actions? Did they have a genuine interest in seeing you succeed? Did they want to understand your perspective? At the core of all those things is empathy, an accurate understanding of another’s world and validating it without judgment.
Most people confuse empathy with sympathy. Sympathy is a concern for someone, accompanied by a wish to see that person better off. When we sympathize, we are communicating “ I wish I could make it better.” Empathy, on the other hand, is feeling the emotions of another person, sharing in the misfortune. When we empathize, we are communicating “I’m here with you. We are in it together.”
Empathy is a requirement for a well-adjusted, stable relationship. Children of highly empathic parents thrive. The patients of empathic health care providers show better outcomes. And empathic teachers cultivate better relationships with their students, reduce behavior problems, and increase their motivation to perform better.
This makes sense.
In any relationship when we feel connected to someone, we are more open to that person’s influence, more willing to learn from him/her, and more interested in cooperating.
Is empathy natural or learned?
Empathy is an art, says Chris Beam, the author of I Feel You: The Surprising Power of Extreme Empathy. It can be genius and inborn, but it can also be refined and improved. An American psychologist, Carl Rogers, claimed that empathy could be developed through training. Recent research published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology supports that claim.
So how can therapists, parents, and teachers be helped to become more empathic?
- Start by understanding the difference between sympathy and empathy. Watch this short video by Brene Brown.
- Look through the learner’s eyes. As Harper Lee wrote, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
- Trying to fix someone’s problems is not the meaning of empathy. Empathy starts with listening.
- Empathy = no judgment. Kids don’t need someone to analyze them and point out areas of improvement. They want someone to care about them as they are now.
- Be nonreactive. Trust them, and they will learn to trust themselves to know all they need to be successful in life.
- Get a self-paced training course. In The Art of Empathy: A Training Course in Life’s Most Essential Skill Karla McLaren built on modern brain research, spiritual wisdom, and social psychology to create step-by-step instructions to help you connect with people empathically.
What you shouldn’t do for successful learning.
1. Ditch Memorization Guilt
Memorization got a bad reputation in the modern education, but it’s beneficial. Studies show that a certain amount of knowledge is a prerequisite for more advanced learning. One can’t learn to write without first memorizing letters. One can’t become proficient in math without memorizing some basic math facts.
2. Learning Styles
Don’t worry about matching your lessons to your students learning styles. Even though 82% of teachers believe in learning styles, there is no scientific evidence that teaching to preferred learning style works. In fact, the whole concept of learning styles is a neuromyth. Learning is all about integration. Therefore, the best learning happens through the integration of varied modalities (linguistic, visual, kinesthetic, etc.).
Don’t feel like you need to correct every mistake. Humans come with a built-in corrective system that gets better with use. “The more a child uses his sense of consistency, of things fitting together and making sense, to find and correct his own mistakes, the more he will feel that his way of using his mind works, and the better he will get at it. He will feel more and more that he can figure out for himself, at least much of the time, which answers make sense and which do not. But if, as usually happens, we point out all his mistakes as soon as he makes them, and even worse, correct them for him, his self-checking and self-correcting skill will not develop, but will die out.”
4. Trust the process
“I can’t believe you finished the whole book!” Or “Wow, you got 100% of the questions correct!” It’s so easy and tempting to celebrate results. And of course, you don’t have to minimize achievement, but often effort is more important than results. The process itself is often the best teacher. Children intuitively understand it. Some adults say, “Hurry up and finish” while looking at a child who is seemingly wasting time. Or a frustrated parent may lament, “I am sure he can get this done in half the time.” But that shouldn’t be the goal. Children are naturally process oriented. They don’t want to use your garden shovel in order to dig faster, more effectively. They’re perfectly happy with a dinner fork. The hole might be smaller, but they are learning something new.
5. Learning Opportunities
Don’t turn everything into a learning opportunity. The problem with learning opportunities is that they create a relationship of dependency. There’s suddenly a pressure to deliver results. The kids wonder, am I doing it right? What is supposed to happen? Am I missing something? What is my mom’s/dad’s/ teacher’s expectation here? Not everything has to be educational.
How do kids learn best? We can say that they learn by observing, questioning, exploring, and experimenting, and it would be true. But that’s not the whole story. Every valuable mixture has a few secret ingredients. To supercharge your learning adventure and give it a boost, sprinkle some secret ingredients into your teaching and communicating.
Curiosity motivates kids to inquire and sustains motivation. Purpose gives kids the why for learning and perseverance. Growth mindset helps kids to reach for challenges. The Pygmalion effect gives confidence. And empathy gives them wings.
The above five ingredients came to me through a gradual awakening over the course of the last ten years. I am not a learning expert or a child development therapist. I share my opinions first as a parent and observer and second as a dedicated researcher and deep thinker.
What secret ingredient would you use today?
Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. For more information, please, read my full policy.


NARRATIVE/DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS: When writing a descriptive narrative, students must learn to fully convey an experience. In order to effectively convey that experience, students must learn to employ sensory details (known as imagery) and figurative language (such as personification, metaphors, and similes.) Students must also be conscious of how they convey the sequence of events – or time.
PARAGRAPHS: Paragraphs are still the central unit of organization in a descriptive essay. While topic sentences in a descriptive narrative may not convey the “claim” of the story, they are still vital in establishing the tone, mood, action, or setting of the paragraph. Each paragraph must have a specific function within the whole of your narrative. Are you conveying action? Are you reflecting?
SENSORY DETAILS: Sensory details put the “descriptive” in descriptive narrative. As you brainstorm and draft your essay, try to develop as many sensory details as you possibly can, engaging each of the senses:
Tactile: touch Visual: sight
Olfactory: smell Auditory: sound
Gustatory: taste Kinesthetic: movement
Organic: internal bodily sensations
Then, select only the best or most unique descriptions—the descriptions you’ve only ever seen in your essay. The way you describe the concrete setting of your narrative can help communicate how you felt about the experience. Avoid clichés, or descriptions you’ve heard a thousand times, but also know you may have to write a few clichés in order to get to a special description.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Develop figurative language to make your narrative rich and layered in meaning. As you brainstorm and draft your essay, try to develop as many unexpected comparisons as you can. Then, select the descriptions which best fit the tone and mood of the experience you’re trying to convey.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS & TIME: The “sequence of events” is essentially the plot of your narrative. While you do not need to present the events in the order in which they took place, you should map out the sequence well before you begin to draft your essay.
Thesis/Idea-Driven Essays: When writing an essay, students must present and defend an IDEA (thesis, claim or hypothesis). Everything in the essay, its organization and content, must relate back to this central IDEA. If it does not, then the idea is lost and the essay is less effective.
Structure: Essays are comprised of 3 types of paragraphs: (1) thesis or introductory paragraph; (2) body paragraphs; and (3) conclusion paragraph.
See below for more information on the components of a strong essay.
Formal Lab Report Guidelines
Typed Document Report
Cover Page Must include your name, experiment/laboratory title, partners’ names, instructor, date of report, and graphic or picture relevant to experiment (optional).
Abstract This section provides a very brief look at your lab and its results. Briefly summarize the purpose of your experiment and your results. Do not provide any explanation for your procedures or results.
Introduction/Background This section will include two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, you will include background information about the topics (and related material) used in the experiment. You are to complete some type of research to find this information. Please use your research to construct at least eight sentences describing your topic(s). In addition, the information should help explain your results in the Conclusion paragraph; thus, don’t just pick random information about your topic(s). You are to use a minimum of three sources (at least one database) to complete this section. In the second paragraph, you are to include your hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, and a description of your control group.
Procedure A narrative description (paragraph form) of the steps you took to set up, conduct the experiment and clean up. You should use past tense to describe your procedure It should be specific – “we added 10.3 mL of water to the 5.2 grams of sodium chloride.” It should not be a numbered list or a bulleted list. It should not be a rewriting of the original laboratory handout.
Data Table that reflects the raw data that you collected in lab. Be certain to provide all of the proper parts to a data table.
Graphs and Calculations This section should all graphs. Graphs should only be constructed on Microsoft Excel ® or any other graphing software. In addition, if you had to complete any type of calculation (sums, averages, differences, etc.), you must provide a sample of your work indicating how you completed the calculation.
Questions & Answers If there are associated questions in the laboratory handout, the answers to these questions should be included at this point. This section may not always be used. Please be certain to answer all questions in complete sentences.
Discussion Three paragraphs
1) Conclusion paragraph. In this paragraph, describe the results for all of the experimental groups, provide data for all of the groups, and provide an explanation as to why the results occurred. In addition, address whether or not your data supports your hypothesis.
2) Errors paragraph. In this paragraph, describe two errors (or possible errors) that your group made during the experiment. Then, specifically describe how these errors affected your results.
3) Improvement paragraph. This paragraph should state appropriate suggestions for conducting the experiment with greater accuracy and precision in the future. How would you improve it or make it better? (This is not personal i.e., I will learn to read the graduated cylinder more accurately but things related to the experiment itself. Different equipment or better layout, added features…). Please make at least two suggestions. DON’T MENTION THAT YOU WILL CORRECT THE ERRORS from the above paragraph. Your improvements should not be the same as your corrections to your errors. In addition, with each improvement, describe how it will improve the lab.
Works Cited/Bibliography—Use MLA format for all sources (including pictures), Wikipedia may be consulted but it does not count as one of your required sources.
Blog posts: Blogging can serve a variety of purposes so be sure to know your specific audience. It is important to remember that the rules of academic writing still apply: Appropriate grammar, sophisticated sentence structure and subject-specific language are expected. One of the benefits to blogging is the ability to hyperlink. A hyperlink is an embedded reference that allows your reader to travel to a different site to gather new information, either as an explanation of something you have referenced or an elaboration you do not have time or space to provide. Be sure to select these hyperlinks with a discerning eye: there is no reason to hyperlink to Wikipedia as your reader can easily search there himself. Also, if you include quotations, you may cite them using MLA in-text citations or you may hyperlink to the source. Make sure your reader understands if the information provided is not yours. If you embed images cite those images from the website and not simply by using the Google search address. To be clear, blog posts are one of your most public forms of writing. Be sure that you present you best self in both writing and thought.
Blog comments: Oftentimes you will be asked to comment on your classmates’ blog posts. This is not meant for you to provide an evaluation of their work, so comments like “Good work” or “Great idea” are not appropriate. Rather, your task is to expand the discussion that your classmate has begun. It is an online debate so you can offer evidence the supports or challenges the ideas presented in the post. You can also expand the discussion by bringing up other topics that are related to the original topic. Throughout your comment writing process please remember that what you say is public and show be respectful both of the author of the post as well as to the audience of the blog.
Objectives: Writing is a tremendously valuable skill and a major focus in high school and beyond. To do it well, students must be able to clearly present and defend an idea. This requires students to differentiate between evidence and ideas, as well as explain how the evidence supports or refutes the larger concept. To become a good writer, students must orient themselves and think analytically.
What is the purpose of the writing in terms of subject, topic, and/or audience?
How can I best present and defend my idea(s)?
How can I break down this writing assignment into manageable tasks?
What larger idea am I presenting? (Thesis, Claim, Argument, or Hypothesis)
What evidence do I need to support my idea? (Facts, Data, or Details)
Why does this evidence support my idea? (Relevance or Analysis)
Habits for Success:
Use the writing process!
Understand the Task: Good students will prepare by reading carefully assigned reading. The reading will provide the working knowledge needed to better understand the prompt. Good students will mark up the prompt and create a checklist to help with the phases below.
Students must understand what the assignment is asking the student to do
What is the central question being asked?
Generate: Good students will generate a NUMBER of ideas through a reliable method like powerwrite, mindmapping, directed powerwrite, or focused discussion. Good students will also begin researching at this stage--gathering evidence from readings and other sources--to narrow their idea and take a position.
Plan: Good students will rely on their understanding of the assigned task and the research to begin organizing a logical answer to the question. This can be done through outlining, notecards etc. but should identify what the students argument is (thesis, hypothesis, claim, etc.) as well as the supporting information that has been collected to prove this claim.
Write: Good students will rely on their plan for the writing phase and transfer their plan into a well written paper that incorporates appropriate grammar, spelling, tone, transitions etc.
Proof: Good students will always reread their written work and edit accordingly to ensure that he/she has effectively answered the questions and has avoided grammatical errors. Some examples of proofing can include spell check, grammar check, individual editing, or peer editing.
Thesis or introductory paragraphs present the argument of the essay and explain how that argument will be defended. To accomplish this, the paragraph must contain the following elements:
Contextualization or hook: You should have one or two sentences that give the essay context. For a History paper, this can involve historical context. For an English paper, this can be a hook designed to grab the reader’s interest.
Tip: This should be very short, one or two sentences at most. The point of the paragraph is to present your idea, not distract the reader with unnecessary facts or concepts.
Essay map: Essay maps tell the reader how you will defend the thesis (without actually doing the defense in the intro paragraph). Essentially, the map breaks the thesis into logical sub-parts. Each sub-part will then have its own body paragraph. Unlike the thesis sentence, the essay map may contain a list, but the separate items in the list must be connected in some way.
Tip: The essay map will likely be more than one sentence. Usually, an essay map will have one sentence per body paragraph.
Tip: Read each part of your essay map separately, followed by your thesis. Make sure that each part of your essay map connects to your thesis.
Thesis statement: Your paragraph must include a statement that addresses the question asked. Answering the question is not the same as restating the question; the key is to demonstrate understanding of the big picture by connecting ideas in interesting and sophisticated ways. Put simply, your thesis should do more than simply make an observation or list possible explanations; you must make an argument.
Tip: This is the hardest and also most important part of your paper. Because everything else flows from your central thesis, most of your time and energy should be spent here.
Tip: When first learning how to develop a thesis statement, limit the statement to one sentence. Occasionally, the thesis can be developed over the course of 2 or 3 sentences. This is only necessary when the idea is particularly nuanced.
Tip: The thesis should NOT be a list, and it should NOT re-state your essay map. Instead, it should be the overarching idea that ties the parts of your essay map together.
While there is much to do in this paragraph, it should be done relatively quickly and efficiently. Thesis paragraphs should be between five and seven sentences. If you exceed seven sentences, you should spend time thinking about cutting unnecessary information. While many students are reluctant to cut content, it is an important skill to develop. Remember, the point of this paragraph is to present your idea and explain how you will defend them. The point of the body paragraphs is to defend your ideas.
Since your essays must focus on a central idea or thesis, developing a sophisticated thesis or introductory sentence is critical. The organization of your body paragraphs and the evidence which you select to incorporate into your body paragraphs must all relate back to your thesis or introductory statement. Therefore, it makes sense to explore the elements of a good thesis / introductory statement.
1. THINK FIRST. Formulating a thesis or introductory statement is not the first thing that you do. You can only develop your ideas after you understand the question, review what you know and organize your thoughts.
2. Understand the question. Since the purpose of your essay is to answer a question, you must understand the prompt before you do anything else. To help you understand what you are being asked to do, please see the following chart.
3. Review. Once you have a general idea of what you are trying to accomplish, review your notes, readings, etc.. As you review, look for significant patterns that will help you answer the question asked.
4. Organize your thoughts. After looking over all of your material and identifying potential patterns or sub-topics, consider your options and narrow your thoughts onto a manageable amount of material.
5. Develop your thesis. Once you have organized your thoughts; turn your idea into a sentence. You should then critically review your sentence and test its strength. Some good questions for you to consider as you review your thesis are:
The follow examples and explanations are taken from the UNC Writing Center
Suppose you are taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War. You turn on the computer and type out the following:
The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different.
This weak thesis restates the question without providing any additional information. You will expand on this new information in the body of the essay, but it is important that the reader know where you are heading. A reader of this weak thesis might think, “What reasons? How are they the same? How are they different?” Ask yourself these same questions and begin to compare Northern and Southern attitudes (perhaps you first think, “The South believed slavery was right, and the North thought slavery was wrong”). Now, push your comparison toward an interpretation—why did one side think slavery was right and the other side think it was wrong? You look again at the evidence, and you decide that you are going to argue that the North believed slavery was immoral while the South believed it upheld the Southern way of life. You write:
While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions.
Now you have a working thesis! Included in this working thesis is a reason for the war and some idea of how the two sides disagreed over this reason. As you write the essay, you will probably begin to characterize these differences more precisely, and your working thesis may start to seem too vague. Maybe you decide that both sides fought for moral reasons, and that they just focused on different moral issues. You end up revising the working thesis into a final thesis that really captures the argument in your paper:
While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government.
Compare this to the original weak thesis. This final thesis presents a way of interpreting evidence that illuminates the significance of the question. Keep in mind that this is one of many possible interpretations of the Civil War—it is not the one and only right answer to the question. There isn’t one right answer; there are only strong and weak thesis statements and strong and weak uses of evidence.
Let’s look at another example. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:
Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
Why is this thesis weak? Think about what the reader would expect from the essay that follows: you will most likely provide a general, appreciative summary of Twain’s novel. The question did not ask you to summarize; it asked you to analyze. Your professor is probably not interested in your opinion of the novel; instead, she wants you to think about why it’s such a great novel—what do Huck’s adventures tell us about life, about America, about coming of age, about race relations, etc.? First, the question asks you to pick an aspect of the novel that you think is important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:
In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.
Here’s a working thesis with potential: you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation; however, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal. Your reader is intrigued, but is still thinking, “So what? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?” Perhaps you are not sure yet, either. That’s fine—begin to work on comparing scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions. Eventually you will be able to clarify for yourself, and then for the reader, why this contrast matters. After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:
Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.
This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.
According to William Strunk and E.B. White:
"The paragraph is a convenient unit; it serves all forms of literary work. As long as it holds together, a paragraph may be of any length—a single, short sentence or a passage of great duration."
The paragraph, essentially, is a unit which conveys an idea. The secret to constructing strong paragraphs lies in recognizing that each paragraph must perform a specific function. Determine through brainstorming and outlining your central ideas. Then decide which ideas deserve their own paragraphs.
In general, paragraph structure is as follows:
1. Intro Sentence: You must communicate the central idea of the paragraph. If the assignment is for a single paragraph this will be your thesis statement. If the paragraph is part of a larger essay, the intro sentence should introduce the idea of the paragraph while also connecting to the thesis.
Tip: The topic sentence must be broad enough to cover all the material in the paragraph, but specific enough to present an idea.
Tip: Avoid beginning paragraphs with context or evidence. First, establishing the purpose of the paragraph.
Ex: Too Broad: The Silk Road was an important historical trade route.
Too Narrow: The Silk Road, created during the Han Dynasty, allowed for the trade of silk between China and Europe, brought Christianity and Buddhism to new parts of the world, and allowed for new types of dance, dress, and art to spread.
Just Right: The Silk Road not only connected different regions of the world, but also helped to spread people, goods, and ideas.
Ex: Just Right: The tragic downfall of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart begins with the death of Ikemefuna.
2. Presentation of Evidence: Introduce the evidence (details, quotations, facts, and data) you have selected that best supports or informs your central idea. After you clearly present the purpose of the paragraph, introduce the evidence.
Tip: Supporting evidence is not the same as supporting ideas. Evidence cannot be refuted, while ideas are conclusions drawn from evidence.
Tip: There is no set requirement for how many pieces of evidence per paragraph. Two to four pieces of evidence is a good starting point. Remember the point of the paragraph is to present a strong argument.
Tip: Just because you know a fact does not mean that you should use it. Do not list everything that you know on the topic. Teachers are not impressed by students who fact-dump, and fact-dumping will lower your grade. It shows that you have not thought deeply about the topic and identified which pieces of evidence are the best to use for the point you are making.
Tip: For English, always refer to the prompt or your teacher for guidance as to how many text quotations you should include and how long they should be. Don’t forget to integrate your quotation properly.
Ex: The Buddhist religion originated in northern India and was adopted by many Chinese people as they were introduced to it through travelers along the Silk Road.
Ex: Okonkwo is afraid of his emotions getting in the way of fulfilling his duty, and he becomes “dazed with fear” as Ikemefuna runs to him yelling “My father, they have killed me” (Achebe 61).
3. Analysis/Explanation of Evidence: Explain what your evidence shows and how this evidence relates to your central idea (topic sentence for the paragraph and thesis for the entire essay).
Tip: The discussion of evidence usually takes up at least as much space as the evidence itself. A common error is to assume your reader will understand the significance of the evidence. Always take care to explain exactly what you think the evidence shows, its significance in proving your idea.
Tip: Re-read your paragraph’s intro sentence, as well as your essay’s thesis, after each piece of evidence, and ask yourself if that fact actually proves your ideas/argument. If it doesn’t, remove it.
4. A summation OR a transition: Know if you intend for the paragraph to stand alone or if you intend to incorporate the paragraph in a larger piece. This will dictate how you end the paragraph.
Tip: If the paragraph is part of a larger piece, consider using transition phrases to frame the function of the following paragraph.
Tip: If this paragraph is the final piece, consider ending with a statement which shows deep reflection of the idea you’ve just discussed in detail (what is the greater significance of your main idea) or with an image or metaphor for your reader to consider.
This arrangement may alter slightly depending on the function of the paragraph. What matters most is that each idea you present is directly related to the topic of the paragraph, and that each sentence builds into the subsequent sentence.
Use Key Phrases to help you highlight important ideas, make comparisons clear, and transition between ideas. These transitions may occur both within a paragraph and between paragraphs.
Before you use a key phrase, ask yourself about the nature of the relationship you are trying to describe. Are you showing similarities? Are you showing differences? Are you changing subjects? Are you about to present your first example to support your claim, or are you presenting an additional example to support your claim?
Here are some useful key phrases to get you started:
Having just explained and defended individual parts of your thesis, the conclusion paragraph refocuses the reader’s attention on the paper’s central idea. It should therefore restate the thesis or main topic (but not verbatim), as well as how the idea was defended. Strong conclusion paragraphs will also include two to three sentence that synthesize – that is, they try to connect the point you made in the essay into something broader or make a wider application. Essentially, you should answer the question “So What?”
Tip: Often times, students will not start the writing process with a clear focus, but will develop it as they write their essay. Since your goal is to write a thesis or idea-driven essay, failing to clearly present your thesis/idea until the final paragraph of your paper will negatively impact your grade. To avoid this, always reread your thesis after completing your essay and edit if necessary.
Tip: When possible, make a reference back to your attention grabber in the introduction. This ties up an essay nicely.
Tip: Conclusions should rarely be longer than four to five sentences.
Step 1: Mark up the prompt
What is the assignment? What facts or data are necessary to write this assignment? What questions do you still have about the data? Are you being asked to reflect, analyze, or argue? Where do you have freedom to think for yourself in the assignment? Where are you being asked to demonstrate your understanding of the subject?
Step 2: Create the Checklist
The checklist is to be used in the planning, revising and editing phases of the writing process. The checklist should contain the essential elements of the assignment, along with possible subcategories (e.g. not just the assigned Sentence patterns, but have separate checks for correct punctuation in them, and perhaps that it is used purposefully --not just correctly--and finally, if required that you have marked it as asked for). Check the prompt and established class expectations to make a complete and useful checklist. Keep the purpose of the checklist--making sure you have the essential aspects of the assignment in the final copy-- in mind when composing it. You might also make a "to do" list, but that is a separate document from the editing checklist.
Sample Checklist for English Analytical Essay:
Hooks the reader, mentions genre, title, author, brief summary of the plot, and a strong thesis.
Ends the introductory paragraph with the thesis which encapsulates the argument you want to make about the text.
Cites the source of the quote by section and line number (i.e. III.4-5) in parenthetical format. Preserve line breaks in your quotation of poetry either by simply including them or by using the slash mark / to indicate where the lines break
Quotes no more in the re-quoting of the block quote than is necessary to make your point.
Includes no plot summary; assume your reader has read the literature you're examining.
Includes correct in-text citation and a Work Cited page. See Hacker’s guide for details.
Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence
Identify and analyze at least two elements of the poem not discussed in class. Highlight them in a different color than the sentence patterns.
Analyze function of metaphor, diction, images, symbols, etc and tie them to lessons/themes:
Be attentive to transitions between each idea and especially between paragraphs.
Uses four sentences following patterns 1-10 from The Art of Styling Sentences. Highlight and identify the pattern number [in brackets] after each appropriate sentence.
Is consistent with verb tense. Stay in present verb tense if writing about fiction (what we call the “literary present”).
No clichés and colloquialisms, such as in the nick of time, or the calm before a storm.
No common errors in punctuation, usage, mechanics, etc.
Conclusion: Use a 4-6 sentence concluding paragraph to present a forceful statement about what the audience can learn from this poem.
Title: Create an abstract, original title with a subtitle that acts as a scholarly explanation. Follow this model for the complete title: Bloody Tyrant: The Destructive Effects of Ambition in Macbeth
Format: Double space, 12 point font, Times New Roman
MLA Format for Heading: In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. (for reference: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/pdf/Hacker-Orlov-MLA.pdf )
Before you write, you must GENERATE a number of ideas. Think of this step of the process as a kind of brainstorm. Effective students spend a great deal of time in this phase of the writing process, and use many different techniques to stimulate and generate their thinking. Here are a few techniques we recommend:
1. POWERWRITE. Set a timer, write continuously, don't use periods, and don't backspace. You don't need to have specifics in order to make this exercise effective. Your goal is to use the powerwrite to clear your mind and center your thinking on the topic. Then, hopefully, you will be able to generate some thoughts or ideas regarding the topic toward the end of the exercise. This exercise will allow you to write close to the speed at which you think, and is a very powerful tool for understanding your own thinking.
2. MINDMAPPING. Sometimes called a "brainstorm tree," this technique can help you visualize connections between ideas. Start with a topic or question, write it out, and put it in a bubble. Then write out everything you associate with that topic, putting each of those in bubbles. Fill in details as they come to you, see gaps in your understanding, and see where your understanding is strongest.
3. DIRECTED POWERWRITE. In a directed powerwrite, you begin with a focus or a specific question, then write continuously in response to that specific idea. Directed powerwrites are particularly useful in the drafting and revision phases of the writing process.
4. FOCUSED CONVERSATION. In a focused conversation, you broadly discuss the topic with others who are knowledgeable about the subject. This may take place in class during discussion, or begin casually outside of class.
5. NOTE TAKING. Sometimes, we just need to quickly write down our thoughts in note-taking form. If you know the topic in advance, pay close attention in class; you may arrive at good ideas that will help with your paper, so write them down immediately!
6. NOTE CHECKING. Reviewing class and reading notes before you write can help you to distinguish between what you already know and what you need to know in order to complete the assignment.
7. RESEARCHING & REREADING. You may need to look up definitions, or return to previous reading assignments in order to have a deep understanding of the writing assignment. Take the time to do this EARLY. Warning: Most assignments will not require research outside of the assigned reading, so be careful. Research is NOT the equivalent of reading other people's essays online or reviewing Sparknotes, (which is a big no-no!) If you want to do additional research to gain a better understanding of the material, always consult your instructor first.
Once you have adequately prepared by completing the reading, understanding the prompt, and generating a number of ideas in response to the prompt, you are ready to plan your paper. You have three central goals in this phase:
1. Decide on a direction.
Review the material from the GENERATION phase. Decide which idea is the strongest, or has the most potential. This will become your Central Idea.
You should not include everything you created in the generation phase, but instead, select the ideas which best support your central idea.
2. Organize your ideas.
This can be formal or informal. You may find it useful to make a complete outline, and include topic sentences and quotations. You may also find it best to simply make a list of the ideas you have, or write numbers on your MindMap so you know how to put your brainstorm in order.
Decide on the BASIC order in which you will present your ideas. What comes first? What comes in the middle? How do you want to end?
Consider how you will transition from one idea to the next.
3. Collect supporting evidence.
Now that you have decided on your central idea, begin to collect details which directly support your central idea. If you are collecting quotations, be sure to keep track of the sources and page numbers.
When outlining, always include full intro sentences for each body paragraph. Remember that each intro sentence should 1) lay out a clear idea – not a fact – that sums up the paragraph as a whole and proves your thesis and 2) mimic that part of your essay map, without repeating it verbatim.
For your individual facts, use bullets or abbreviated sentences. While you may be tempted to include quotes as your facts, be careful – remember that you do not want to extensively quote in your essay. Quotes should generally be limited to 5-7 words, and emphasis should be on paraphrasing as much as possible, rather than quoting. Remember to include a citation or each fact, so that you can easily cite your facts when it’s time to write your essay. Underneath each fact, include analysis – that is, make sure that you show how that fact relates to your intro sentence, and your thesis as a whole.
Body Paragraph #1 Intro Sentence
Fact #1 & citation
Analysis of Fact #1. (Connect Back to Intro Sentence & Thesis)
Fact #2 & citation
Analysis of Fact #2
Fact #3 & citation (if needed)
Analysis of Fact #3
Body Paragraph #2 Intro Sentence
Fact #1 & citation
Analysis of Fact #1. (Connect Back to Intro Sentence & Thesis)
Fact #2 & citation
Analysis of Fact #2
Fact #3 & citation (if needed)
Analysis of Fact #3
Body Paragraph #3 Intro Sentence
Fact #1 & citation
Analysis of Fact #1. (Connect Back to Intro Sentence & Thesis)
Fact #2 & citation
Analysis of Fact #2
Fact #3 & citation (if needed)
Analysis of Fact #3
You've read the materials. You've taken good notes on the reading and during class. You've read the prompt, and asked questions so you understand the task before you. You've spent a good deal of time using your favorite generation activity, and have a couple of powerwrites and a mindmap. You've decided which of your ideas are strongest, and you've collected quotations and facts and put all of this into an outline. Now, you're ready to draft.
DRAFTING A PAPER
Open your two blank word documents - the "working draft" and the "junk" document. Copy your outline into the "junk" document. Then, set a series of small goals. Here is an example:
Goal 1: I am going to write three sentences about X.
Goal 2: I am going write a topic sentence for idea X, then write about the quotation I've chosen which supports idea X.
Goal 3: I am going to take these sentences, and fit them together in a paragraph, and see what it looks like. If I have time, I will try to make these sentences flow smoothly.
Goal 4: I am going to set a timer for 15 minutes, and move onto the next paragraph as soon as my time is up.
Begin typing. Strive to write one complete sentence at a time. After fifteen minutes, see how far you've gotten, and don't worry too much about word choice right now. If you're close to completing a draft of the paragraph, go ahead and copy and paste what you have from your "junk" document into your "draft" document. Building your paragraphs in the "junk" document will help keep you from getting too attached to your first draft, and copying your work into a clean document will help motivate you as you see your paper begin to take shape.
Continue to move back and forth between setting small, concrete goals and writing out sentences. You may need to pause and "generate" again. Make space to complete this step if you need. Make sure to note any adjustments to your Plan.
Eventually, sentence by sentence, you will complete a first draft of your paper.
*Helpful hint: If you have time, put your writing away for a while. Take a break. Then, move on to the next step - Revision.
REVISING A DRAFT
Once you have completed a first draft, reread the Prompt. Then, copy and paste your essay into a fresh document, and title and save this document REVISION 1. Try printing out your essay, and read it with a pen. Before you begin to change words and phrases, read your paper for the Big Picture. Consider what you might "re-envision" as you read your paper.
Your focus here is on EXAMINING YOUR IDEAS, THE EVIDENCE, AND THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR PAPER.
If you are not satisfied with your ideas or evidence, return to the GENERATION phase of the process.
Effective writers employ generation at multiple stages of the process in order to challenge their own thinking.
With pen in hand, make notes on the draft. Resist making changes right away until you have read and marked your entire paper, focusing on the structure and content of your writing. Then, make these Big Picture adjustments.
EDITING A DRAFT
Next, consider your writing on a Sentence Level:
Make these sentence level changes, then reread your entire draft.
If your draft is organized, complete, revised, and edited, you are ready to proof.
Finally, consider you sentences on a grammatical level.
CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE NOW READY TO PUBLISH YOUR WORK!