Literature

All books are available from Books, Books, Books in Lausanne; please come prepared to the first classes on literature at the beginning of September:

The literary essay

Read the sample essays (below) and use the following questions to evaluate them 

Overview 

• Is the essay question clearly stated? 

• What is the thesis or main idea? 

• Is the conclusion clear? 

• Does the conclusion match the thesis? 

Structure 

• Are the paragraphs too long to short? 

• What are the main ideas or topic sentences of each paragraph? 

• Is there a clear logical progression of ideas? 

Paragraphs: (Point, Example, Explanation) 

• Is there evidence to back up each topic sentence? 

• Are there clear explanations of the evidence? 

• Are quotes (when needed) used properly? 

Sentences 

• Is the essay written in an appropriate style? 

• Is the meaning of the sentence clear? 

• Are the tenses correct (present tense to discuss literature)? 

• Are sentences too long or too short? 

• Are the sentences clearly linked with cohesive devices and discourse markers such as: however, nevertheless, in addition, therefore? 

Vocabulary 

• Is there much unnecessary repetition of vocabulary? 

• Has the writer used the correct vocabulary for the topic?