Advice for Paper Writers

ADVICE FOR PAPER WRITERS IN ENGLISH 205

1. Take advantage of all of your resources. Although you should primarily refer to the text when writing your paper, you should not forget that class lectures and the web site are all valuable sources of information. The lectures should help you to pinpoint the important themes and passages in each play, and they serve to demonstrate what effective textual analysis looks like. Although you should write your own paper in your own way, do not be afraid to use the information presented in the lectures. That is why it was given to you. The web site has a great deal of historical and cultural information about Shakespeare's age and can be essential for determining the context in which the plays were written.

2. Develop a clear, focused thesis. Whether you write on one of the assigned paper topics or devise a topic of your own, you should dedicate a significant amount of time to developing an effective thesis. A paper will often stand or fall based on the quality of its thesis, and a focused thesis is almost always better than a general one. An effective way to create a focused thesis is by taking a general feature of a play and asking the question: "Why?" For example, say you are writing a paper on Hamlet and you recognize that Hamlet does not know whether he can trust the ghost of his father. You should then ask yourself. "Why doesn't Hamlet know whether he can trust the ghost?" You might conclude that it is because Hamlet does not know whether the ghost is really his father's spirit or a demon sent to corrupt him. Then continue to focus your thoughts with "why?" questions:

"Why would Hamlet trust the ghost if it really was his father?" . . . because he wants to be like his father. "Why does he want to be like his father?" . . . because his father was a good king. "Why was his father a good king?" . . . because his father was a man of action.

"Why would Hamlet fear that the ghost is actually a demon?" . . . because he fears for his soul. "Why does he fear for his soul?" . . . because Hamlet is a devout Christian.

Now, by asking "why?" questions, you have come to a deeper understanding of the text. The fact that he does not know whether to trust the ghost reflects Hamlet's inner conflict between his need to be a man of action (and take revenge) and his need to be a Christian (and turn the other cheek). Thus, you have gone from a general thesis: "Hamlet does not know whether he can trust the ghost," to a focused thesis: "Shakespeare uses Hamlet's struggle over whether to trust the ghost to reflect Hamlet's inner struggle between his need to be a man of action and his need to be a man of Christ." Subsequently, with further thought, you could arrive at an even more advanced thesis like: "In Hamlet Shakespeare uses the conflict between the code of revenge and the code of Christianity to disrupt the standard formula of revenge-tragedies by showing that a revengeseeker need not necessarily be damned."

3. Use the body of your essay to support your thesis directly. The body of your essay exists for the sole purpose of supporting the thesis set forth in your first paragraph. Although you my think it boring to write papers this way, teachers will not find such papers boring to read, One effective way of keeping the body of the essay focused on the thesis is by using straightforward topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph. A topic sentence should sum up the paragraph that it begins, and each topic sentence should parallel a point in the reasoning that led to your thesis. For example, using the thesis derived above, one topic sentence might be: Hamlet's father was seen as a good king because he was a man of action. The paragraph that began with this topic sentence would then go on to give specific quotes that supported the claim. (One bad idea is to go through the play in chronological order, summarizing the play and citing passages as they occur; this kind of "organization" rarely provides effective support for your thesis.)

When using a quote in the body of your essay, you should weave it in rather than let it stand alone. One way to do this is by first setting up the quotation, stating its speaker and context and generally explaining what it is about. This does not have to take more than a sentence. Then, after you have given the quotation itself, you should specifically explain its relevance to your argument.

Finally, when quoting from texts written centuries ago, you should keep in mind that some of the words in those quotes may have had contemporary meanings that are far different from their modem ones. If you are at all in doubt about the meaning of a word in a particular context, I would strongly advise that you look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED will not only provide you with a list of definitions for a particular word, but will also tell you when each particular definition came into use. You can find the OED on line at http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl

4. Use the conclusion to take your argument one step further. Once you have put together a solid essay, your job in the conclusion is to propose the larger ramifications of what you have said. You can do so in a number of ways such as proposing how your argument reveals the assumptions underlying Shakespeare's culture, proposing how your argument can apply to Shakespeare's other works, or proposing how Shakespeare meant to influence his culture with the particular work you have been discussing. Keep in mind that the point of the conclusion is not necessarily to prove something new, but rather to suggest a probable ramification of your argument. Again, the cultural and historical information presented in the web site can be very useful when writing your conclusion.

A Sample Paper: Othello Unparadised

0, thou Othello, that wast once so good,
Fallen in the practice of a damned slave

(5.2.288-9) In Paradise Lost, John Milton portrayed Satan as a serpent who used arguments supported by the patriarchal view of marriage to bring about the Fall of Man. Decades earlier, in Othello, Shakespeare portrayed lago as a serpent who used the patriarchal view of marriage to bring about Othello's fall. First, Shakespeare introduces Othello as a strong, eloquent figure living in the paradisal bliss of a companionate marriage. Second, Shakespeare portrays lago as a tormented, vengeful specimen of patriarchal marriage. Third, Shakespeare demonstrates that Othello becomes increasingly fallen as he is influenced by lago's patriarchal views. Finally, Shakespeare explicitly characterizes lago as a serpent who has brought about the fall of Othello. In Othello, Shakespeare uses the register of the Fall to express the destructiveness of the patriarchal view of marriage.

Othello is introduced as a character whose companionate view of marriage has brought him paradisal bliss. In the following selection, Othello explains why he wants Desdemona to be allowed to travel to Cyprus with him:

. . . I therefore beg it not
To please the palate of my appetite,
Nor to comply with heat--the young affects
In me defunct--and proper satisfaction;
But to be free and bounteous to her mind.

(1.3.258-62) Assumed in the words "palate," "appetite," and "heat" is the patriarchal view of a wife as an object of sexual pleasure. By rejecting this language of animal appetite, Othello is also rejecting the patriarchal view. By stating that he is not interested in his "proper satisfaction," Othello makes it clear that he does not wish Desdemona's company so as to satisfy his desire. Inherent in the phrase "to be free and bounteous of her mind," is the companionate idea of marriage as a way of gaining society. Othello is interested in companionship, not Desdemona's physical form. He seeks intellectual and spiritual discourse rather than sexual pleasure. In the next selection, Othello expresses the happiness that his marriage to Desdemona brings him:

My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.

(2.1.183-7) By describing his pleasure in terms of his soul, Othello is again confirming his companionate view. Similarly, assumed in the terms "content" and "comfort" is the companionate view that marriage should provide the soul a loving haven from the cruelties of life. Shakespeare uses the phrase "not another comfort like to this / Succeeds in unknown fate" to express the magnitude of Othello's pleasure. Othello's earthly love is better even than the next life with its possibility of heavenly delight. Othello is therefore describing his love as an earthly paradise akin to Eden.

Othello's joy is sharply contrasted by the tormented lago and his patriarchal view of marriage. In this passage, lago describes his views on love:

I never found a man that knew how to love himself. Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon. . . . Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners. . . . we have reason to cool our unbitted lusts: wherof I take this, that you call love, to be a sect or scion. (1.3.311-3,317-8,325-27)

Reflected in lago's characterization of women as "guinea-hen"s, or prostitutes, is the patriarchal view of women as sexual objects. Unlike Othello, lago makes no attempt to deny this view. lago's patriarchal view is further expressed in his characterization of love as a type of lust. Like Milton's Satan, lago seems capable only of lust, not love. This is why lago is unwilling to act in the name of love and particularly unwilling to sacrifice himself for it. Such a sacrifice is also prevented by the emphasis lago places on that which he calls "self-love." Again like Milton's Satan, lago is defined mainly by his conviction of his own worth and by his belief in will to power. In another passage, lago describes the inner torment that he feels:

I do suspect the lusty Moor
Hath leaped into my seat, the thought whereof
Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards,
And nothing can, or shall, content my soul
Till I have evened with him, wife for wife;
Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor
At least into a jealousy so strong
That judgment cannot cure.

(2.1.286-93)

Assumed in the phrase "my seat" is the objectification of one's wife in patriarchal marriage. It is specifically this characterization of his wife as a sexual object that lies at the root of lago's torment. By denying his wife any independent selfhood, lago has left her sexuality as her only means to power. He therefore lives in constant fear that she will use such sexual power to make him a cuckold. This fear leads lago to feel a jealous rivalry with other men, and this rivalry, in turn, leads him to internal anguish. Like Hamlet, lago's suspicions cause him to feel alienated from himself, and, like Marlowe's Mephistopheles and Faustus, he finds himself imprisoned in an internal hell built from his own subjectivity. His suspicion and jealousy "gnaw his inwards," and he seeks to avenge this inner- hell on Othello by making him feel the same. Othello is likely lago's target because he possesses the kind of love that lago can himself never feel. Out of his jealous vengeance, lago seeks to bring about Othello's fall, and his apple will be "a jealousy so strong that judgment cannot cure."

As lago begins to turn Othello toward the patriarchal view of marriage and its characteristic jealousy, Othello becomes increasingly fallen. In this selection Othello reacts to lago's testimony that Desdemona has been unfaithful:
I am abused, and my relief
Must be to loathe her. 0, curse of marriage!
That we can call these delicate creatures ours
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others' uses.

(3.3.264-70)

As soon as Othello begins to believe that he has been cuckolded, his paradisal marriage becomes a "curse," and his feelings for Desdemona turn to loathing. Assumed in the terms "delicate creatures" and "the thing I love" is the growing influence that the patriarchal view of marriage is having on Othello. He has now objectified his wife into a "thing" and a "creature," but the fact that he mitigates these terms with "love" and "delicate" implies that he is caught between the patriarchal view of marriage and the love he still feels for his wife. Reflected in the term "appetites" is Othello's acceptance of the language of bestial appetites which he had previous rejected. Othello's fears of these appetites and the possibility of cuckoldry are now so great that he wishes himself a "toad" rather than have to face them. By doing so, Othello wishes that he were a beast rather than a man. This signifies a fall down the Great Chain of Being. Similarly, in the following selection, Othello describes a fall from his military occupation:

I had been happy if the general camp,
Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body,
So I had nothing known. 0, now, for ever
Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars
That make ambition virtue--0, farewell! . . .
Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone.

(3.3.350-5,362) Here, Othello characterizes knowledge as being at the root of his woes. However, it is not the knowledge of good and evil that he curses but rather the knowledge of evil in marriage, specifically the knowledge of unfaithfulness. Assumed in the terms "tranquil mind" and "content" is the companionate view of marriage as a haven for the mind and soul. Othello now dismisses these terms and the image of marriage they reflect. Before tasting lago's apple of jealousy, Othello knew only love and trust for his wife. Now he is torn between that love and a newfound suspicion. Like lago, he is now tormented by his own mind. The result of this torment is a fall from his position as General. Othello's fall from his occupation also implies his fall from Venetian society, because his status as General is what had previously guaranteed his social standing. Then Othello seems to fall in mental ability, as demonstrated in the following passage:

Lie with her? Lie on her? We say lie on her when they belie her. Lie with her! Zounds, that's fulsome! Handkerchief- confession--handkerchief! To confess and be hanged for this labour. First to be hanged and then to confess! I tremble at it Noses, ears, and lips! Is't possible? Confess? Handkerchief! 0 devil! [He falls] (IV.1.35-43)

The thought of his wife making love to another man causes the formerly eloquent Othello to now speak in broken, staccato sentences full of monosyllabic words. Reflected in the impossible statement, "First to be hanged/ and then to confess!" is Othello's irrationality and confusion. Inherent in the phrase "Noses, ears, and lips!" is a focus on the bodily and the physical rather than the spiritual. Othello's characterization of his wife as pieces of the body again reflects the patriarchal view of women as objects of physical pleasure. Assumed in the oath "0 devil!" is Othello's fallen state and also the fact that lago has brought it about. While this curse is not thrown directly at lago, it does serve to reaffirm his position as a Satanic corrupter. Finally, Othello's literal, physical fall at the end of this quotation parallels his mental and spiritual decline.

In the final scene of the play, Shakespeare makes the register of the fall most explicit. In this selection, lago's complicity in Othello's murder of Desdemona has been revealed:

LODOVICO: Where is that viper? Bring the villain forth.
OTHELLO: I look down towards his feet; but that's a fable.
If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. [He wounds Iago]
IAGO:... I bleed, sir, but not killed....
LODOVICO: 0, thou Othello, that wast once so good,
Fallen in the practice of a damned slave

(V.2.282-9) Here, with the term "viper", lago is explicitly characterized as a serpent. This characterization reflects his role as tempter and corrupter. This role is further emphasized when Othello claims that lago is a devil and attempts to kill him. The fact that Othello is unable to kill lago adds credence to his claim. At this point, lago no longer merely seems like Satan but actually appears to be the devil himself. Finally, Othello's fall is explicitly stated by Lodovico. In this recognition of Othello's fall, he is explicitly characterized as a man who has lost his paradise through the corruptive influence of a base creature, much like Adam's loss of Eden through the actions of Satan.

In Othello, Shakespeare portrays lago as a serpent who uses the apple of patriarchal marriage to bring about Othello's fall. Shakespeare seems to be indicating the superiority of the companionate view of marriage to the patriarchal view. However, he also indicates that the companionate view of marriage is still vulnerable to the disruptive threats of jealousy and suspicion. As the companionate view of marriage was rising to challenge the patriarchal view during the Renaissance, it is likely that Shakespeare intended Othello to support the companionate view while still noting the dangers inherent within it.

Dissection of the Paper

The Introduction: A good introduction should 1) outline the argument of the paper and 2) clearly state the thesis. Let's look at how the above paper fulfills these conditions.

1) First, let's look at how the introduction outlines the argument that will be presented in the body of the paper:

First, Shakespeare introduces Othello as a strong, eloquent figure living in the paradisal bliss of a companionate marriage. Second, Shakespeare portrays lago as a tormented, vengeful specimen of patriarchal marriage. Third, Shakespeare demonstrates that Othello becomes increasingly fallen as he is influenced by Iago's patriarchal views. Finally, Shakespeare explicitly characterizes Iago as a serpent who has brought about the fall of Othello.

These sentences clearly express how the argument will progress, step by step, throughout the paper. The reader is now able to tell that there will be four sections, and he has an idea of what each section will seek to demonstrate. Now the reader knows what to expect from the body of the paper.

2) Now, let's look at the thesis. The thesis should be clear and concise, and it is usually placed as the first or last sentence of the introduction. In the example, the thesis is placed at the end of the introduction:

In Othello Shakespeare uses the register of the Fall to express the destructiveness of the patriarchal view of marriage. [register = language and imagery]

This thesis clearly follows from the previously mentioned line of argument. It is particularly effective in that it not only points out a pattern in the text (i.e., Shakespeare uses the register of the Fall) but also describes why that pattern is present (i.e. to express the destructiveness of the patriarchal view of marriage). A good thesis should point out both what is and why it is.

The Body: Two important features of the example are 1) its use of topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph and 2) its pattern of textual analysis.

1) Each paragraph of the body of the paper begins with a topic sentence. Each topic sentence provides a summary of the paragraph it begins. Here is a list of the four topic sentences:

Othello is introduced as a character whose companionate view of marriage has brought him paradisal bliss.

Othello's joy is sharply contrasted by the tormented Iago and his patriarchal view of marriage.

As Iago begins to turn Othello toward the patriarchal view of marriage and its characteristic jealousy, Othello becomes increasingly fallen.

In the final scene of the play, Shakespeare makes the register of the fall most explicit.

Now compare this list of topic sentences to the outline sentences from the introduction (quoted above). You will notice that they parallel each other. The outline sentences set up the argument, and the topic sentences cue the reader as to which part of that argument will be discussed in each paragraph. Topic sentences can help you to recognize if you are accurately following the argument laid out in your opening. Your topic sentences should parallel the reasoning in your opening, and if they do not, this indicates a possible structural flaw in your paper. If you find that one of your topic sentences is an accurate summary of the paragraph it begins, but does not fit into the argument from the opening, then you must either alter the paragraph to fit your argument, omit the paragraph from the paper, or restructure your original argument to reflect this new piece of data.

2) All the quotations in the body of the paper are analyzed according to a particular pattern. First, the quotation is set up. Second, the quotation is given. Third, the quotation is analyzed. For example:

In the following passage, Othello explains why he wants Desdemona to be allowed to travel to Cyprus with him..
I therefore beg it not
To please the palate of my appetite,
Nor to comply with heat--the young affects
In me defunct--and proper satisfaction;
But to be free and bounteous to her mind.
(1.3.258-62)

Assumed in the words "palate, " "appetite, " and "heat" is the patriarchal view of a wife as an object of sexual pleasure. By rejecting this language of animal appetite, Othello is also rejecting the patriarchal view.
The first sentence introduces the quotation by placing it in the context of the play and by identifying the speaker. Then, the quotation is given. The analysis begins only after the quotation has been given. The analysis focuses directly on the quotation, examining the specific words that it uses. This kind of text-specific analysis can be particularly persuasive.

The Conclusion: The conclusion briefly restates the thesis in a slightly different way:

Shakespeare portrays Iago as a serpent who uses the apple of patriarchal marriage to bring about Othello's fall.

It goes on to theorize about why this point is significant and about how Shakespeare may have been using it to express his personal views. Rather than trying to prove something new, the conclusion suggests a probable ramification of the paper's argument.

Thanks to Josh Morgenstein '00, who drafted most of this "Advice for Paper Writers."