Critical Essay Basics: Ten Easy Rules!

This is basic Stunk and White stuff.

1. An essay is an argument to a stranger. You must introduce your subject matter to the reader. There's a universe of literature out there: make it clear exactly what you're writing about and why.
2. You are imposing on the reader's time. You must justify your argument. Usually this is framed as a "problem" or question about the literature which you propose to solve or answer.
3. An essay's argument is composed of a series of topics. Every paragraph encompasses one topic.
4. Put basics first: background to the literature (if needed); your approach and the ideas you are using. Remember, there are many philosophical approaches to interpretation. Pick any one you want, but clarify what it is and why you're using it.
5. Each sentence in a paragraph should be connected to the previous by picking up something (like a word or idea) from the previous and reusing it. You should reuse it in a way that is obvious to the reader and helps the sentences to flow together. (See! I did it in these last two sentences.) Sometimes the flow is obvious without a technique like a linking word.
6. Each paragraph should flow from the last. As with sentences within a paragraph, you should use a transition of some sort. It isn't always necessary if the paragraph obviously picks up from the previous.
7. Introduce everything you mention: characters, events in the book, the basic scenario, theorists, etc. The only exception is if you are mentioning something widely known to everyone: like Freud or the plot of a very well-known book.
8. You must prove your point with evidence. Sometimes you make a statement you don't back up, but only if what you're saying is pretty obvious. Here is a hierarchy of types of evidence, from best to worst:
a) quotes from the book that you interpret through close reading; b) very specific details from the book that you retell without quoting; c) events from the story that you retell, referring as specifically as you can to the book; d) interpretations by other critics; e) views you express about the book and its meaning.
9. Know the difference between theorists and fellow-critics. That is, if you use a theorist, say a psychoanalytic writer like Lacan, you are borrowing someone's approach and using it to interpret the book. Explanations of this approach should go early on in your paper, since it is the foundation for your interpretation. If you use a fellow-critic, you are including his/her interpretation alongside your own. You may agree or disagree with this critic, but don't rely to heavily on him/her. Your own interpretation should build on other people's writings, not repeat them.
10. Include an appropriate summation, your final paragraph. This should return to the question of the importance of what you've written and the work itself. It might look forward to later writers, noting what points still remain to be pursued.