1. For this class you are expected to write analytic papers, not reports. This means: it is not enough to say what happened in a book, not enough to say that a theme is present in a play, not enough to repeat an argument you heard in lecture. You should reveal something that is not quite obvious about the text at hand. You might analyze a particular motif, a theme, a character, a relationship between characters, the writer's language, or narrative devices. In any case, the goal is the same: You should lead your reader to a more subtle understanding of the text.
2. Remember that writing is a process. Sitting down at the computer to write your paper is only one step in this process. It may be unpleasant and will likely be unsuccessful if you attempt it too early. Assuming that you have already read your sources and taken notes on them once, the steps of the writing process are as follows: 1) Develop your topic and sketch out a few ideas, 2) Reread with your topic and your ideas in mind, 3) Formulate your thesis, 4) Outline, 5) Draft and 6) Revise.
The first step is developing your topic. It should be focused enough that you can explore it with depth, but not so narrow that it is trivial. It should be interesting. Examples of focused, interesting topics: the description of Achilles' shield in the Iliad, father figures in the Iliad, clothing in the Odyssey. You score extra points with a topic that is not obvious. If you choose to write about something that we've discussed extensively in class, you will be held to a higher standard.
The second step is to collect examples that speak to your topic. Look beyond the obvious. Refine and redefine your topic as you reread. Try to build up a set of examples that go together well. They may address different aspects of your topic or reveal some progression.
Develop your argument as you play with these examples. Don't shy away from examples that seem to work against your argument. Very often, such counterevidence is the key to a more subtle, more persuasive interpretation.
Do not expend your energy looking for outside secondary sources (that is, books, articles or dictionaries that comment on the text at hand, your primary source). These often lead students away from the text. You will be better off spending this time rereading.
As you outline your paper, be sure to ask yourself what difference your argument makes. How should we read the Iliad differently if we take into account what you have to say?
3. Define your thesis carefully. A good thesis is precise, interesting, not obvious. It is your point of view and it should be worth demonstrating. Generally, it stands in opposition to some other view. The reader should know what your thesis is by the end of the first paragraph. Your thesis does not have to say everything about your topic; it only needs to set out your point of view and launch your paper.
4. Make the first paragraph count. Don't fool around with long paragraphs of background or vague introductions. Remember the funnel introduction? Forget about it. Avoid introductory blather, high flown phrases about the beauty of ancient culture, assurances that ancient literature has fascinated generations, or other empty observations. If you are at a loss for how to start your paper, you might try one of the following strategies: outline the argument that your thesis refutes, describe a problem of interpretation, present a vivid example.
5. Organize your paper. No simple formula will do; in fact, simple formulas often make for dull reading. Give your paper a suitable design, so that each part follows logically from the previous one and leads logically to the next. Include signposts in the text to make your design clear. Guide your reader through your argument with clear transitional sentences.
6. Organize your paragraphs. A paragraph should be unified, coherent, and developed. It should center upon one particular question, idea, or example. The sentences should follow in some clear sequence. The central idea should be well supported.
7. Argue from evidence. Keep your unsubstantiated opinions in the background. Instead, show the reader that the words of the source you are analyzing support your thesis. Your evidence may consist of quotations from an ancient author, simple reference to a passage of an ancient author, or (sometimes) reference to a modern work of scholarship. Explain to the reader what the evidence you cite means and how it proves your thesis.
8. Use quotations with extreme care. You must have a good reason for quoting a passage. If you want to make a simple point, paraphrase. Don't use quotations without analyzing them. Don't end paragraphs with quotations.
9. Make your conclusion count. Don't bother with idle chatter about the timelessness of the ancients. Don't summarize the argument of a five page paper. Instead, tell your readers what difference your argument makes. Tell them how they should read the book after your argument. The conclusion can be thought of as a mini-essay that takes your paper as its starting point.
10. Write for an educated audience that is familiar with your source (except in the case that you are writing about a text that we have not read together in class). Avoid long passages of summary. Your audience has read the book; we know the plot. Your job is to help us see something in it that we may not have seen before.
11. Write as clearly as you can. Choose your words carefully. Be sure you know what your words mean, especially when they have a prominent place in your paper. As Mark Twain said: "The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter&emdash;it is the difference between the lighting-bug and the lightning."
12. Write as forcefully as you can. Avoid the passive voice. Avoid cliches, faddish expressions, and meaningless, outworn words and phrases. Avoid filler phrases that obscure your main point.
13. Give your essay a title that tries to capture the principal idea you want to convey to your reader. A bad title: "Homer's Iliad." A better one: "The Clothes Don't Make the Man: Identity and Disguise in the Odyssey."
14. Proofread.
Incorporate brief quotations into the body of your text. They should conform grammatically to your sentence. Use brackets to mark an insertion or a change in the original text. For longer quotations&emdash;four typed lines of prose or three of poetry&emdash;use a block quotation. Indent the quotation and single space. Do not enclose a block quotation in quotation marks. If you leave out a part of a sentence, use an ellipsis (a set of three period [É]) to signal that something has been left out. If you want to skip from a passage in a sentence to one that occurs in a later sentence, use a period immediately before the ellipsis (.É).
Cite your evidence adequately. Brief citations to ancient evidence may simply be included in parentheses in the body of the text. E.g. "When Ascanius' hair, to the wonderment of all observers, bursts into flames (Vergil Aeneid II.682ff), we recognize É" Use the standard numeration systems (book and paragraph or line number) found in the margins or at the top of the pages of your translation.
If you make reference to a modern work, give a footnote with a full citation (author, title, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, and page number).
Give a citation for every quotation and every example you use.
A few reference books are essential for any writer. A good dictionary is the first, of course. I'd also recommend a general guide to style. Two I like very much are: The Little, Brown Handbook and Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference. I find it useful to have a general encyclopedia near at hand to answer straightforward questions (did Aeschylus write before Sophocles? What were the Eleusinian Mysteries?). I use the Concise Columbia Encyclopedia. There is also Grolier's Encyclopedia, on-line at the digital library, http://www.lib.umich.edu/refshelf/. A thesaurus can be helpful when you don't know the precise word you are looking for, though it should always lead you back to the dictionary.
You may, if you choose, use a separate title page. In any case, be sure to include your name, the class, your instructor's name, and an interesting title. Do not underline or place quotation marks around your title. Your paper should have margins of at least one inch on each side. Use a 12 point font, double spaced. Each page after the first should be numbered in the upper right corner. Please staple the pages together.
If you use the words or the ideas of another without attribution, you are committing the very serious academic crime of plagiarism.