How do you write an analytical paper about a book in one night?

Answer 1

First of all: LOL!

Right... you've got to read a book and write a paper in one night because you've been busying partying instead of studying. Well... a lot of us have been there and done that. Don't worry... all is not lost!

Let me assume that this is a work of fiction (let's say... Moby Dick). It's a really long book with many chapters on a wide variety of characters, subjects... and *themes.*

The key for you to be able to skim the book and identify at least one or two of the major themes of the book and related passages. One major theme coursing through Moby Dick is "insanity." So... you can easily skip chapters dealing with the ins and outs of whales and look for ways to analyze how the theme of insanity manifests itself throughout the story.

You need to learn how to write a good argumentative topic sentence (or two) followed by a quote from the book which backs you up, followed by several more sentences of analysis on your own part. That will build your paragraphs. You need to link these paragraphs so your paper will flow together... but let's face it... you're not going for an "A" here.

Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver thought he could get away with writing a paper on "The Three Musketeers" by watching a movie about it the previous night and telling what happened. The first problem with that is that he watched a "Ritz Brothers" send-up of it, so his plot summary was totally skewed. The second, and more major problem, is that he turned in a plot summary. One thing that professors (or any teacher) don't want to read is another plot summary. Why not? Because they're boring as hell for one thing, and they have to read basically the same paper over and over again. More to the point is the fact that papers like that don't show any original thought or critical thinking. Teachers want students to show that they can *think*!

I remember writing a paper on Macbeth back in high school. I had no clue as to what I should write about. I remembered the three witches in the beginning of the play and I also remembered something from mythology about "the three fates." So... I thought... hey... what if I showed how three characters in the play represented the three fates? I did just that, and the teacher was blown away saying that my paper was better than most she had read at the college level. Why? Because I had given her something to think about and in a way she hadn't thought about the play before. Was I bullshitting? To an extent... absolutely yes! I made up my own theory, dealt with it and turned the story into something that fit my theory. She thought I was a genius (yeah... well that's another story). I just thought of a way to come up with some answers in a way that she hadn't encountered before, giving her little choice but to give me an A+.

So... in summary... don't plot review... don't do a movie review... and oh yeah... don't try and buy a paper online either (you risk expulsion). Just come up with some original ideas about what the book is about, identify those themes and write about them. If you're unsure what those themes are you could use a net search on the book to at least identify them. That will give you a much needed head start on your hastily written paper.