Writing on Fire: A Fierce Yet Friendly Guide to Writing Humanities Essays in College
Table of Contents.
PART ONE. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
1. Why We’re Here: The Art of the Essay
2. What is an Argument?
3. Your Reader: Not Just Your Professor, But Also Your Roommate
PART TWO. KICK-STARTING THE WRITING PROCESS
4. Keywords: Choosing the Paper’s Themes & Sub-Themes
5. Close-Reading: The Power of a Single Word
6. Drafting: A Few Techniques for Assembling Your Paper
PART THREE. HOW TO ANALYZE STUFF IN THE HUMANITIES
7. How to Analyze a Novel
8. How to Analyze a Poem
9. How to Analyze a Play
10. How to Analyze a Film
11. How to Analyze Historical Documents
12. How to Analyze a Work of Visual Art
PART FOUR. HEART OF THE PAPER: ARGUMENT AND STRUCTURE
13. The Introduction: The Most Important Thing You Will Ever Write
14. Thesis Statement: Make Us Care
15. Structure I: Ordering Your Ideas
16. Structure II: Ordering Compare/Contrast and Research Papers
PART FIVE. PARAGRAPHS AND WHAT GOES IN THEM
17. Paragraph: Chiseling the Paper’s Building Blocks
18. Quotation: Managing Other People’s Words
19. Evidence: What to Put Inside Your Paragraphs
PART SIX. FINESSE, VOICE, REVISION, AND STYLE
20. Counter-Argument: Finessing Your Analysis
21. Diction and Tone: Creating Your Persona as a Writer
22. Revision: Don’t Be Afraid to Tear it All Up
23. Style: Sentences of Force and Beauty
PART SEVEN. FINAL TOUCHES
24. Paper Title: Surprisingly Important
25. The Conclusion: Making It Memorable
26. A Sample Essay, Dissected