Planning – Writing About Literature

Feminist Analysis – Planning

Now that you’ve finally deciphered the text, it’s time to put all your hard work together into a strongly supported essay. This can seem overwhelming or daunting, but you’ve actually already accomplished the most difficult part. All that’s left is to plan your draft.

First, create a working thesis statement. Like any thesis statement, it should contain clear, concise, coherent, and focused language that presents your argument in miniature. A good thesis statement will consist of an arguable assertion. Your first thesis may not be your best, but because your thesis is so important, we have developed a resource page that you can use to improve your thesis statement.

Second, review your notes to determine what is relevant to your new thesis. Some points that you marked in your initial readings may no longer be pertinent. Outline the primary points of the body of your essay, making sure to insert key quotes and passages. You may choose to compose a formal outline with traditional Roman numerals or you can create an informal bulleted list of your main concepts and essential quotes.

The first all-female jury, 1911, Los Angeles.

Third, look for weakly supported points in your outline. If you feel the point is important, you may decide to revisit the text to gather more evidence. If the idea can be used as evidence for another point, try to absorb it into another topic. This will make drafting and revising your essay much easier.

Fourth, while you may be accustomed to writing one paragraph introductions, this type of research paper requires a more intensive introduction to explain the theorhetical concepts.

Finally, review the prompt or assignment sheet before you complete the planning process and begin writing your paper. You may notice that you have failed to incorporate an important component or detail in the instructions. Double check deadlines and the requirements listed in the professor’s rubric.

Caution: Be wary of oversimplifying. The point of feminist criticism is not to bash men or extol women; you want your argument to explore the complexities of the gender dynamics presented in the work.

You can read how to establish a thesis, along with an example from my essay, here.

Next step: Drafting