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 How to Analyze Historical Documents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