1. Take a pencil in your hand.
2. Read the essay over once,
quickly, looking for the main idea, for what the essay is about in general, and
for what the author seems to be saying. Don't get bogged down in details. (If
you come to an unfamiliar word, circle it but go on reading).
3. Check the meaning of unfamiliar
words. If they seem to be key words, i.e., if the author uses them more than
once, scribble a brief definition at the bottom of the page or at the end of
the essay.
4. Now re-read more slowly and
carefully, this time making a conscious attempt to begin to isolate the single
most important generalization the author makes: his thesis. Follow his line of
thought; try to get some sense of structure. The thesis determines the
structure, so the structure, once you begin to sense it, can lead you to the
thesis. What is the main point the author is making: Where is it?
Remember,
examples or "for instances" are not main points.
The thesis is the generalization
the author is attempting to prove valid. Your job, then, is to ask yourself,
"What is the author trying to prove?”
Another way of identifying the
thesis is to ask yourself, "What is the unifying principle of this essay?”
or "What idea does everything in this essay talk about?” or "Under
what single main statement could all the subdivisions fit?”
If the author has stated his thesis
fully and clearly and all in one place, your job is easier. The thesis is apt
to be stated somewhere in the last few paragraphs, in which case the preceding
paragraphs gradually lead up to it, or else somewhere right after the
introduction, in which case the balance of the essay justifies the statement
and refers back to it. Sometimes, however, the author never states the entire
thesis in so many words; he gives it to you a piece at a time. Never mind. You
can put it together later.
5. When you think you have grasped
the main point the whole essay goes to prove, underline it and write “thesis” in the margin. If you find you
have several possible theses, don't panic; they all fit together somehow. One
or more will probably turn out to be supporting the thesis rather than part of
it.
Now re-read for structure. You are
looking for the main divisions of the essay. There will (probably) be an introduction:
draw a line clear across the page after the introduction and write “intro” in the margin. Now tackle the
body of the essay. You are already pretty sure what the main idea is. What are
the main points the author makes in leading up to his thesis or in justifying
it?
You will find in a longer essay
that you are now dealing with groups of paragraphs all having to do with the
same subdivision of the main subject. Draw lines between the main groups and
give the groups labels. In an essay about “How to Take an English Final,” for
instance, you would undoubtedly find a group of paragraphs all of which could
be labeled "preparation,” and another group that could be called
"typical exam questions.” Under each group there would be sub-groups:
under "preparation" there might be "reviewing essay,”
"memorizing terminology,” etc.
Occasionally, you will find a
paragraph that doesn't seem to accomplish much. Some paragraphs, for instance,
are purely illustrative: the "for example" type of paragraph. Some
are just comments or impressions by the author: the "that reminds me"
type. A third very common type is the transitional paragraph, which just takes
you rather gracefully from one point to another. When you come across a
paragraph like one of these, label it in the margin.
6. Within each structural
subdivision find out what points the author is making. (In the essay about the
English 1 final, find out specifically what the author says to do in order to
prepare for the exam.) In other words, identify the topic sentence of each
important paragraph. Underline the sentence. Sometimes the topic sentence is at
the beginning of the paragraph and sometimes at the end. Sometimes the topic is
not stated, but is only implied
7. You now have the skeleton of the
author's argument and should be able to follow his reasoning. If you are still
having trouble, try scribbling a word or two in the margins and summing up the
paragraphs as if you were annotating a textbook. In the essay about the English
1 final, for instance, you might write "Mark up textbooks" in the
margin after one paragraph, and "but not too much" after the next.
You can also underline key transitional or structural words or phases like
"but,” "however,” "moreover,” "on the other hand,”
"nevertheless.”
8. Now write out, at the beginning
or end of the essay, a thesis statement for the essay. Remember, the thesis was
his guiding PURPOSE. What audience did he have in mind? What assumptions did he
make i.e., what did he take for granted his audience already knew, or already believed,
or both? Is his audience hostile or friendly?
9. If you know you are to be
examined on the rhetorical techniques the author uses, now is the point to go
on a deliberate hunt for them after you have thoroughly understood the essay.
Adapted by permission of RSSL, University of Maryland
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/essays.html
