standard sentence with a (/) used at the end of a line
or stanza to let the reader understand the structure of the poem. At the end of the
quotation, use the line number as indicated in your text. For example, “He had enough
of life/to know that he wanted no more” (1-2) indicates the line break of the poem and
which lines are quoted. Please refer to the sample essays in your text for further
clarification on how to incorporate references from literary works in your own essay.
5. Always write in the present tense unless there is a clear reason to use past tense.
Literature is a living text.
6. Do not refer to any writer by his or her first name. Unless you and William Shakespeare
are close, personal friends, refer to him as Shakespeare.
7. The conclusion will restate the idea of the essay and may make some general comments
or conclusions., If, for example, you were writing a paper about the image of death in
two poems, you would remind the reader about the comparison or contrast your found
in this image in the two poems, and then you might write something about the value of
understanding imagery in order to gain insight into a poem’s meaning.
8. If you are using sources, you must properly document the sources both within the paper
as parenthetical citations as well as provide the necessary information about the
sources on an accurately formatted works cited page. Use MLA format.
9. Unless they appear in something you are quoting, do not use “I, me,

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