Introduction
Literary Essays is one of the distinct optional subjects among every major subject a student of English Literature comes across. It is the easiest as well as the most difficult subject among all other academic segments you may have dealt with. It is a subject that requires both knowledge as well as spirit of writing because in this subject, you will be forced to write more than 20 pages for a single topic.
Paper Pattern of Literary Essays (UoS/PU)
In the paper of Literary Essays conducted by Sargodha University, 8 topics are given and only 1 is to be selected to write an essay on. The paper of Literary Essays carries 100 marks. Just like the subject of Essays in CSS, the ideal length for an essay in Literary Essays is between 2,300 words to 3,000 words. However, writing at least 21 pages of the examination sheet is acceptable for acquiring passing marks. The use of headings in the paper of Literary Essays is important, unlike other subjects.
Requirements
There are only two requirements for this subject:
1. Grip on English Literature
2. Grip on Creative Writing
The course of this subject is the very syllabus you have read from classical to modern poetry, drama, novel and literary criticism with respect to certain eras in English Literature, mainly the Elizabethan era for plays, Victorian era for novels, Modern and Post Modern era etc. When studying different eras in English Literature, it is important for you to note:
1. Who were the important literary figures (and their defining works) in a specific era?
2. What was the political and economic background of an era?
3. How did that particular era affect the literature of the upcoming eras?
Sometimes, you are asked to write about a certain literary personality, for example, Shakespeare, TS Eliot, Bernard Shaw etc. But tackling with personalities will be explained in upcoming headings.
In order to write an essay on the examination paper, you will need to have good writing skills in the English language. Your skills of copy-pasting will not assist you here as you will be scratching your head when you will reach at page 6 of your essay. Literary Essays is NOT a subject that you can prepare overnight. This subject REQUIRES consistent practice of creative and persuasive writing of at least four months. Choose any topic, for instance, on Current Affairs of Pakistan and pen down your opinions of 2 to 4 pages on paper or type it out for your audience on Facebook and WhatsApp. Once you feel you are good to go, start practicing with different topics on eras, personalities as well as movements in English Literature. Go through the past papers of Literary Essays and write the most repeated essays on your neat notebook.
Note: If you cannot write a page with creative writing in normal English on your own, DO NOT choose this subject!
Topics Asked in the Examination Paper
As mentioned above, the topics asked for the paper of Literary Essays may come from ordinary topics as well as topics within Literature. But your choice should be the topics within the range of Literature as it will be appropriate to the subject. This is the paper of Literary Essays for the year 2021:
- Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.
- Romanticism is a Disease, Classicism is health
- Aestheticism
- Character is Destiny
- Shakespearean Clowns
- Art for Art's Sake
- Depiction of life in Postmodern Fiction
- To be or not to be that is the question
As you can probably guess, some topics are straightforward while others require a guesswork to be done. For example, the essay Art for Art's Sake will not be completed without including the essay Art for Life's Sake as both movements are related to each other. Similarly, the essay titled "Shakespearean Clowns" will be incomplete without mentioning Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes (and their characteristics), not Othello but all four of them, with their characteristics as well as their contribution to the plot of the play. Yes, you'll have to read characters and other related information OUTSIDE the domain of your course outline to write essays to reach an acceptable length.
Note: In some papers, a famous line/quote is given as a topic. This topic as an essay can be discussed both as a personality and as an era. For example, "What though the field be lost? All is not Lost; the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield." can be used to discuss not only Milton, but his age and political stance as well.
Writing an Essay
The first step in writing an impactful essay is to construct an outline. You are at liberty to construct the outline for your selected essay in the beginning or at the end of the answer sheet or you can skip the outline altogether (but when you are writing an essay at home, always construct its outline before writing). Constructing an outline for essays is similar to stitching 5 relevant long questions together. But this stitching has to be done differently for different essays. You should use the internet to gather the required and needed material for your essays.
Essays on Eras: Begin this essay with a weighty introduction to the era with social, political as well as economical backgrounds processing next to it. Then begin the next major heading explaining its salient features. If that era is divided into sub-eras (for example, the Victorian era is divided into Early Victorian Era and Later Victorian Era), then each sub-era should be explained into its dedicated major headings. Under each heading, discuss the role of famous/major authors by explaining the characteristics of their work, along with their brief introduction and their major works. (If you are feeling extra generous, you can mention minor authors References and quotes from their works and critics are an added bonus. Before concluding the essay, discuss the impact (of the writers) of that era and then conclude it with your final opinions on that particular era (without using first-person pronoun, obviously).
- Victorian Era
- Elizabethan Era
- Neoclassical Era
- Chaucerian Era
Essays on Literary Movements: Essays on literary movements can follow the same pattern as the essays of eras. However, if two contrasting movements are mentioned as the main topic (Romanticism vs Classicism), then divide the main essay into two equal halfs while explaining their difference in the main heading of introduction as well as in body-headings. Conclusion can be based on your final thoughts, comparing and defending two contrasting movements simultaneously.
Examples:
- Art for Art's Sake vs Art for Life's Sake
- Romanticism vs Classicism
- Metaphysical Poetry
Essays on Literary Personalities: The essay written specifically for an eminent personality in Literature has to be handled differently than literary eras and movements. Start this essay by penning down a detailed biographical introduction of the author, (why he is famous; his birth, parentage, schooling and higher education; his literary career and notable works divided in different periods if necessary). Then, the next major heading should explain the characteristics of his words. If he is known for tragedies, the features of his tragic hero should be discussed. If he is recalled as the writer of an epic, the characteristics of his epic(s) should be explained. If he is a multi-dimensional personality, say, Shakespeare or T. S. Eliot, then all areas of his expertise should be elaborated. For example, when discussing the characteristics of the works of T. S. Eliot, make three major headings for the characteristics of his plays or tragic heroes with a special reference to Murder in the Cathedral, his skills of poetry while alluding to The Waste Land and his contribution to Theoretical and Practical Criticism, while discussing Tradition and Individual Talent, Theory of Impersonality and Objective Correlative etc. The next major heading should contain what influenced the author and how his work influenced upcoming authors, movements (and in the case of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Spencer, the English language itself). Conclude this essay with your subjective estimate of the personality.
Examples:
- Shakespearean Tragedies and Comedies
- T. S. Eliot
- Milton (Or the Age of Milton)
- Chaucer
Conclusion
Writing a detailed essay may look an extensive process and it actually is, but this subject is enough to extend the limits of the length of your prose.
Helpful Resources
Outlines for Essays: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3073618799565232&id=100007514257015&fs=0&focus_composer=0
Recommended Books
A Critical History of English Literature by B R Mullick
A Background to English Literature
