Basic Conventions for Writing About Literature Using Any Critical Lens 1) The interpretation you're developing is an argument, so be sure to have a strong, comprehensive thesis statement. 2) Support your thesis with specific details, examples, reasons, quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. 3) Don’t ignore evidence in the work or elsewhere which contradicts your thesis. You need to account for that contradictory evidence, and/or explain why you nonetheless believe as you do. 4) Write about literature in the present tense or the "eternal present": “Tyler shoots Jack,” not “Tyler shot Jack.” 5) Make specific references which will support your argument, but don't waste time re-telling the story. Assume your audience has read it, and is interested in new interpretations, not in plot summaries. 6) Don't confuse a first-person narrator with the book's author. 7) Don't quote too extensively; don't allow your paper to become just a string of quotations. Use quotes to support your interpretations, not to replace them. 8) Document your quotes and paraphrases according to MLA format, using lead-ins and in-text citations.
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