Essays on literature: structure, requirements, volume of essays

Recently, in higher educational institutions of the country on humanitarian specialties, closely related to the possession of the Russian language, teachers increasingly began to require students to write to some extent a new type of literary work - an essay.

Despite the fact that this kind of written presentation of their own thoughts is reminiscent of ordinary works, there are several significant differences. Requirements, structure, form, volume of the essay - this is only an incomplete list of characteristic features.

What is an essay

The very word "essay" is of French origin (essai), and means "sketch", "sketch", "sketch", "test". Most often this type of works is found among art works. However, there are not only essays on literature: written reasoning is common in philosophy, social science, history, foreign languages, political science and many other subjects.

The main idea of an essay as a work

The essay implies a free expression of thoughts. However, in accordance with some requirements concerning the essay, this statement can be called into question. In particular, the teacher sets the volume of the essay and, in most cases, its theme. It is this that contradicts the original definition of liberty. What, then, is meant by the term "essay"?

The salt of all work is that a student on paper independently expresses his thoughts and opinions on this or that aspect, interprets personal attitude to certain problems and describes views. In this regard, the genre of essays can have a different coloring - critical, philosophical, and journalistic.

Practical benefits

The essay, which has been successfully applied in Western education systems for many years, helps to organize your thoughts, clearly articulating them in writing, contributing to creative thinking and broadening the horizons of students. In addition, in the process of writing the cause of the problem is clarified, the prerequisites for its occurrence, possible consequences and ways to avoid them are highlighted. The student learns to argue thoughts and draw conclusions. Especially bright in this regard are examples of essays on social studies, history and political science.

Main features

In 2004, the Russian scientist M. Yu. Brandt identified and most accurately described the main features of the essay:

- the specific theme underlying each work;

- comprehension of the problem and direct perception by the author himself;

- small amount of essay;

- free structure;

- narrative - free, not limited to strict frames;

- Presence of original and non-trivial author's judgments;

- the inseparability of the meaning of the narrative;

- incompleteness, that is, the absence of an exhaustive analysis with a specific ending.

In addition, each essay on the literature or any other subject should have in its body an analysis of the materials found on this issue, as well as some examples that illustrate it.

Difference from coursework, essays, essays

The differences of the essay from other written works are mainly in its main features. Let's consider these features in more detail:

1. Structure . Coursework has a strictly regulated order: title page, table of contents, introduction, logical chain of topics, including chapters, paragraphs and paragraphs, conclusion, list of literature and applications. The form of the essay does not imply such a rigid framework. Information, although served in an orderly form, but without proving the relevance of the problem, without setting specific goals and objectives.
2. Stylistics . Diploma, course papers and essays are written exclusively in scientific or academic style. The essay is set forth in a free language, but at the same time, sentences must be literate, and speech is well-delivered.
3. Specific information. If in scientific works the abundance of numbers, dates, theses (often not very necessary) is welcomed, then in the essay on literature or any other subject there will be literally several, but very bright and memorable examples.
4. Lack of citations and references. In free essays, quotations are unacceptable: we remember that our essay is personal judgments and thoughts.

Some teachers confuse students, calling essays an essay. This is not quite true. In the essay there is a spoken intonation, the theme is retold figuratively, the text is decorated with aphorisms, and judgments in it can often contradict each other.

Structure

In each essay, you can select some structure, which, in general, is not regulated by anything, but still takes place.

A short excursion into the problem under consideration makes a conditional introduction to the essay. The beginning, as a rule, has no more than two paragraphs, it takes about 15-30% of the entire essay and outlines the essence of the problem. It is important to make the introduction so that it interests the reader, motivates him to further study the article.

The introduction follows the bulk of the essay. The volume of words in this fragment should be at least 50% of the text. In the main part, the author's judgment is disclosed, relevant arguments and examples are given. The more clearly the idea of the essay is illustrated, the better it will show the author's consistency in the ability to descriptively and reasonably support his speech.

The third and final part of each article is a conclusion. It is the shortest - only about 10-15%. In conclusion, it is permissible to emphasize the main idea, draw conclusions about the problem under consideration and briefly summarize, leaving a slight understatement.

Following all the principles described in writing an essay, you can draw the attention of the teacher and make a good impression on him.

Scope

Quite a lot of controversy raises questions about how much volume an essay should have. It all depends on the requirements of the teacher, as well as the topic of the article itself. Agree that the analysis of a certain poet's poem will take much less pages than the judgment about his work as a whole.

A standard essay takes about three A4 sheets filled on one side. However, the essay can easily be placed on one page or seven. The volume of the essay also depends to a considerable extent on the skill of the author himself and the manner in which he explains it.

Requirements for the essay

In connection with the fact that in the competitive programs on admission, the essay is increasingly included as a tool for attestation, it is important to know some of the requirements that apply to them in most universities of the country.

One of the main roles is played by the human factor. In other words, the essay will be checked by the teacher, which you are most likely not familiar with. In addition, in addition to your work, he will need to process many other articles. Therefore, regardless of the ideas and views of the examiner, it is important to impress him, "catch" the attention.

In this regard, it is recommended to put the text of the essay into an easy form. Proposals should be short but informative. Avoid lengthy reasoning, do not be distracted from the topic. Write on the case, but not too stingy. If these simple rules are followed, the chances that your essay will be read to the end are significantly increased. The preliminary plan also helps to streamline the thoughts and make the paragraphs laconic and interesting in content.

Be prepared for the fact that you can ask a specific topic, and allow yourself to search for the subject of discussion. Since the most common is the second option, pick up questions about which you have something to say. Even better, if they are neutral - then your thoughts or criticism is unlikely to go against the opinion of the commission.

If you have no idea what you can tell on a given topic, try to study the examples. An essay on social studies or philosophy is much easier to find than on economics or law, but after studying similar materials, the model of the future article will still begin to loom.

Serious task and prepare should be seriously. Try to find the most information on the issues involved. Study the different points of view and motivations of the interested persons - this will help you to form the picture of your own outlook more fully and to depict it in the future in the most meaningful way.

Preparation and writing

To simplify the task and to put in order thoughts that will later be put on paper, the writers recommend taking into account the following tips for writing and writing essays:

- Make an essay plan;

- create a draft version of the work;

- Put each idea into a separate paragraph;

- supplement the resulting essay with new fragments;

- correct the order of presentation;

- think up an interesting, rambling headline.

As for organizational moments, distribute the stages of work, do not try to do everything in one day, if it is enough volume work. Do not overload the head with information and remember that the essay written the day before will be read in the morning a little differently than immediately after hours of work.