Writing the literary response essay

So how do you transform your burning desire to say something about an important theme in Wharton's The House of Mirth into a finely wrought essay?

You will need the following ingredients:

1) Organization. Essays need to be tightly focused and make an argument in an incisive way. That means you'll need a THESIS STATEMENT in your first paragraph. The thesis statement is a succinct telling of the main argument you intend to make in the essay. (More on the opening paragraph later.)

2) You'll need the body paragraphs that follow to be tightly focused on the sub-points of your arguments. You can't afford to wander around from point to point. That means you'll need a topic sentence at or near the beginning of each paragraph that tells your reader the point the paragraph is going to prove. This sentence is then followed by specific evidence from the text that backs up your assertion.

3) You'll need to write with passion. Grinding out something that has no commitment or urgency on your part will lead to BOREDOM. This is the cardinal sin, the punishment for which is much worse than anything that has ever happened on the Sant'Angelo Bridge, if you catch my drift.

4) You'll need to use language that is sparkling and original that is full of energy and precision at one and the same time.

More on all of this later...