An essay is a small prose work where the author conveys subjective impressions and reflections on any occasion. An explication essay is one of the constituent parts of literary criticism. It is closely related to the theory and history of literature. Literary criticism mainly evaluates the modern development of literature and interprets works of fiction from the point of view of modernity. It determines the ideological and aesthetic quality of literary and artistic production and proceeds from society’s tasks at the present stage of its development. General aspects of how to write an excellent explication essay can be found here.
Explication Essay Peculiarities
The essay does not initially claim to be an exhaustive interpretation and completeness of the topic. On the contrary, the main feature of the essay as a genre is a free composition. In the essay, the presentation sequence is subject only to the internal logic of the author’s reflections, and the connections between parts of the text are associative. It is manifested in the particular syntax of the essay – a lot of interrogative, exclamation structures, incomplete sentences, etc.
The essay style is notable for its aphoristic and imagery, in a relaxed presentation, often in everyday vocabulary. An explication essay should not be confused with a research paper. The essay storytelling style is free from scientific elements and terminology. Unlike research work, the essay is dominated by emotionality, associativity. The author of the explication essay expresses the overall assessment of the reading. The subject of reasoning may not be the entire work, but its aspects, most often problematic.
How to Write an Explication Essay
The structure of an explication essay most often looks like this:
- Introductory part;
- Main part;
- Conclusion.
In the introductory part, it is necessary to designate the work and its author, mark the regalia of the writer or scientist, indicate the date of publication of the work. Then it is necessary to describe the problem raised in work briefly. For example, if an essay considers a scientific work, the purpose, the leading scientific statement, and the author’s arguments should be indicated. The introductory part also describes the author’s experience, his/her point of view, ideas, views. In addition, it should be noted whether the author is an aspiring writer or list his/her merits if he/she is an experienced writer. In the second case, you can compare the writer’s skill in the work in question and previous works. The central part should be more significant in volume than the introductory part and the conclusion.
The main emphasis should be on the problems raised by the author, consider the system of images built-in work, study the features of revealing the characters’ characters, the use of artistic techniques, etc. It would help if you also described the most successful or unsuccessful, in the opinion of the author of the essay, moments. Explication essays should use literary techniques, the language of the essay should be bright and lively. The essay needs to be exciting and hook the reader to make him want to read the original work.
In the final part of the essay, the author summarizes his/her impressions of the analyzed work. Here, the author writes about whether he/she agrees or disagrees with the writer’s arguments and offers possible solutions: what can be supplemented or improved. The conclusion also indicates the significance of the work done by the author. Perhaps the writer was able to reveal acute social problems or describe a new culture – that is, to do significant work for society. It is essential to ensure that the explication essay is written in a warm tone. It does not contain inappropriate comments and attacks on the author in insults, hidden or explicit.
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