The Interpretive Essay: Overview, Process, and Presentation Overview: Based on

WRITE MY ESSAY

The Interpretive Essay: Overview, Process, and Presentation
Overview: Based on our work with factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions, and in light of our discussion of Act One of Arcadia, you will be asked to pose and respond to interpretive questions requiring close careful analysis of related parts to the text. As a reminder, an interpretive question is characterized by the following:
Must be an honest question that requires returning to the text.
Draws the reader into a deeper understanding of the work.
Claims must be supportable from close consideration of the text’s details.
After discussion, questions might remain unresolved. Further, an interpretive question should do both of the following:
Compel an investigation of relevant moments in the text.
Lead to a revised consideration of the text as a whole.
The Interpretive question will serve two functions:
Some versions of the question will guide and focus your own process.
Another version of the question will orient the reader towards your essay’s eventual argument. PROCESS:
This 2.5 – 3 page response paper has no set prompt – it instead is designed to allow your own intellectual curiosity to develop naturally from your active reading / engagement with the text.
Begin by crafting an interpretive question (This may come out of discussion) that you might think suits the format and scope of the paper (2.5-3 pages). Consider why you’re asking this particular question of the particular text – this will help you frame your argument and keep your thinking within the universe of the text itself. Your paper’s thesis will be a complex, defendable response to your interpretive question, one that requires you to convince your reader of its validity and its applicability to the text as a whole. Since interpretive questions are, by definition, ones that suggest more than reasonable, supportive responses, be sure to consider multiple possible answers to your question before you begin to write the paper; you may find that your eventual thesis combines several of these initial possibilities. You will likely discover your interpretive question evolving over the course of writing the paper. In its final form, it should tightly fit the actual work of the essay. PRESENTATION: Your essay will consist of four parts: Title, Introduction/Thesis, body, and conclusion. A successful paper will integrate all four parts into a unified argument.
Title:Your title is a component of your argument and sets the tone for the rest of the paper. Avoid cleverness and /or cliche. Write your title last. Consider the keywords that make up your argument. Introduction/Interpretive question: Because your audience consists of your classmates, there is no need to introduce or summarize the text in a broad sense. Instead, immediately take your reader to the crux of your engagement with the text. Highlight what you find to be most compelling about the interpretive question at the center of the paper ( present question as a question) Body/Textual Analysis: Once you’ve established your interpretive question, the body of the essay (there is no set number of paragraphs) works to develop your argumentative claim using the strongest possible evidence. Do not go outside of the text for your interpretation, reasoning or examples. Instead, locate the best textual evidence in order to ground your response in a thorough, accurate reading of the text. Be judicious so that you can be thorough. Quote directly from the text and tie your interpretation / analysis to these quoted passages. Conclusion / Part-to-Whole: A brief concluding paragraph should not contain any crucial new information directly related to the argument; rather, it should offer a part-to-whole application. In other words, how does the specific aspect of the paper you’re focusing on (and the argument you’ve arrived at) in turn help you understand the overall meaning/message of the text?

WRITE MY ESSAY