Marry E. Wilkins Freeman Anew England Nun use cocepts explored in Fosters How to Read Like a Prfessor to explain the story in my intro, even though I named the short story as part of my title, I need to mention the story
again, along with the name of its author. This is standard operating procedure for writing about
works of literature.
Also in my intro, at its end, I should include a thesis that mentions both the story and how it
connects to Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor (I should use that full title
the first time I mention Foster’s book, but I can simplify it as How to Read Lit in the rest of the
paper). I could do this in a number of ways:
• Example: From Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, a student would know
to focus on “heart disease,” “season,” and irony to better understand Kate Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour.” à This one provides an essay map by naming the three
chapters; the order I’ve given them here is the order I have to follow in the body
paragraphs of the essay.
• Example 2: Applying the lessons of Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a
Professor can help new literature students go beyond the surface details of Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour.” à This one says roughly the same things as the first, but
without the essay map.
• Example 3: Although it is a short story, Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” contains
textual elements that new literature students could miss without the help of How to
Read Literature Like a Professor.
à By naming “The Story of an Hour” first, this one
highlights the short story over Foster’s book
My first body paragraph should be a 3- to 4-sentence summary of the story I am
analyzing/reading like a professor. This is only fair to my reader because I’m working with a
story we didn’t discuss in class—it’s important to provide them with the basics of plot and
character so they can follow along with the rest of my essay. I cannot stress this enough: this
summary should be brief. There should still be enough room on page one of my essay to begin
my first analysis paragraph in earnest.
In the body paragraphs, my job it to show my reader the connections that I am seeing—just
telling them is not enough. I need to quote specific phrases or sentences from the short story
and connect those to Foster’s chapters. Making these connections well means using in-text
citations to point my reader to where I’m looking, in both my short story and in How to Read
Lit. That means using signal phrases, quotations, and in-text citations in my essay; it also means
including a works cited page for my short story and for Foster’s book.
Finally, my conclusion for the paper should be brief, just like my introduction. It should restate
my thesis and give one final observation about using Foster’s book or reading “The Story of an
Hour.” The key to a good concluding paragraph is knowing, as Hemingway put it, “when to quit need to use 4 chapters from How toread like a professor to compare to the story
