The document provides guidance on analyzing and summarizing a text for writing. It discusses analyzing the author's choices, beliefs, experiences and how they relate to the content. It also discusses developing questions to focus a topic on the theme of death in Poe's short stories. Examples of questions are provided. The document outlines the writing process, including developing an outline with topics and subtopics, taking notes with citations, drafting the paper while ensuring quotes are properly cited, and including a works cited page.

1. Getting ready to write

2. A. Analyzing
B. Complaining
C. Summarizing

3.  A. Analyzing
 Critics look for meaning in a piece of
literature by looking at the author’s choices
as a writer, the author’s beliefs, and the
author’s experiences as they relate to the
content of the novel, short story, poem, or
play.

4. to the author to narrative to human nature to other works
elements
Author’s Conflicts like Themes like Compare and
personal “man vs. man” “envy” or “love” contrast works
observations or “man vs. by the same
about life nature” author
Author’s Setting Character Compare and
biographical Plot strengths and contrast works
experiences and Character flaws by different
cultural Symbolism authors
background Metaphor Character
expressed Tone motives
through story Point of View
Author’s unique Storytelling style Ethical, moral, Influence of
voice, writing or genre or spiritual other authors or
style or genre messages in the works
story

6. What sort of questions do you need to ask in
order to write about your topic?
SAMPLE Topic: Theme of death in Poe’s
short fiction.

7.  What is a theme anyway?
 What is the tone or mood of the stories?
 Are there characters or items in the stories
that might symbolize death?
 Does anything die or seem to be dying in the
story?
 What do the stories say about Poe’s attitude
toward death?
 How does the plot or characters in each story
compare with Poe’s other works?

8. FOLLET LIBRARY CATALOG
GALE LITERATURE RESOURCE CENTER
SCHOLARLY WEBSITES & ONLINE BOOKS

9. •Are there literary criticisms that answer your
questions?
•After reading what other critics think were you able
to see what they were talking about as you read the
story?
•Did what the critics said give you ideas about how to
organize a paper around your theme?
•Do you have other thoughts about the story that are
different from the ideas you read?

10. The theme of death is reflected through
the characters, the setting, and the
plot of four of Edgar Allan Poe’s short
stories.

11. You found several criticisms about the theme of death in Poe’s
work.
You found criticisms about how characters and items in the
story are symbols of death.
You found criticisms about how death shows up in the plot.
What the critics said made sense to you and you feel that you
understand it well enough to write about it.
You have read the primary source and can identify passages in
the text that support what the critics are saying.

12. Poe
Link from IPL.org
Primary
Secondary Sources
Source

13. Author’s last, first name. Title of source.
City: Publisher, Date. Type of source.
***Don’t forget to double space and use a
hanging indent for every line after the first.

14. • Use Easybib.com to make a citation.
• Gale puts the citation at the bottom of the
article for you. Cut and paste.
• Refer to examples of MLA citation.

15. Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. Fall of the House of Usher and other Tales. New York:
Signet Classics, 1998. Print.
Wilbur, Richard. "The House of Poe." The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe:
Selected Criticism Since 1829. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan,
1966. 255-77. Print. Modern Critical Views: Edgar Allan Poe.
Comp. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. 187-204.
Womack, Martha. "Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher"" The
Poe Decoder. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

16. I. Introduction
II. Characters
A. The Fall of the House of Usher
B. The Mesmeric Revelation
C. Ligeia
D. The Premature Burial
Each individual
III. Setting subtopic in an outline
A. The Houses is called a “slug.”
B. The Crypts EX: III.B. is the slug to
IV. Plot use for notes about
A. Symbols of death The Crypts.
B. Allusions to death
V. Conclusion

17. II. B. 2
Roderick’s obsession with the Launcelot book
predict his death.
Outline slug Source

18. II. B. 1
"Not hear it?--yes, I hear it, and have heard it.
Long--long--long--many minutes, many
hours, many days, have I heard it--yet I dared
not --oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!--I
dared not--I dared not speak! We have put her
living in the tomb! Said I not that my senses were
acute? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble
movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them--
Include page number for direct
many, many days ago--yet I dared not--I dared
quotes
not speak!" 87

19. • Make sure you have a note for every slug in your
outline.
• Make sure you know where you got your secondary
source information.
• Make sure you have read your primary source and have
identified appropriate quotes to support your thesis.

20. • Make sure every direct quote is in quotation
marks around it.
• Make sure longer quotes follow indention
conventions
• AND
• Make that all quoted material has a footnote
crediting the source.
• Make sure everything else is your original
work.

21.  Make sure the works cited page at the end
includes all the necessary information
formatted according to MLA citation
standards.