Using evidence
from the primary text to support your interpretations
Evidence is required from the
primary text to support your interpretative claims. Your critical points must
be rooted in the text itself, and not based on conjecture or speculation.
The essay is testing how well you know and understand the actual text, so
this is more significant than the amount of background reading you have done.
Although this is very important, there is no substitute for studying the primary
text. You cannot get away with only reading critical studies of the texts
you are writing about!
To support the interpretations/critical
points that you are making, you must refer to specific parts of the text(s)
you are writing about. It is not enough to base your discussion of the text
on what you remember from having read it two months ago! Generalised evidence
is not effective in supporting your interpretations, and it will reduce the
persuasiveness of your essay. Precise reference to particular parts of the
text is important. The reader needs to be able to check the textual evidence
that you are providing for themselves. There are different ways in which you
can direct the reader to specific parts of the text which support what you
are saying. You can quote material directly from the text, or describe it
in your own words, giving line, scene or chapter numbers. Alternatively, you
can specify the exact part of the text which you are identifying as significant
(e.g. 'the first occasion on which Faustus encounters Mephistopheles...').
You need to ensure that quotations from the text and allusions to it are properly
referenced. Consult any advice that you have been given on how to go about
referencing.
One of the most challenging aspects
of writing a literary studies essay is striking the right balance between
'breadth' and 'depth'. You need to make sure that you are dealing with an
appropriate range of issues in relation to the essay question being answered,
but at the same time paying sufficient close attention to the details of the
text(s) being studied. There is no hard and fast rule about this. It will
depend very much on the nature and number of texts you are writing about and
the particular essay question you are answering. Although the points you make
in the essay must be rooted primarily in the text itself and supported by
textual evidence, the amount of space you devote to looking at particular
features should be considered carefully. It can be easy to get side tracked
into discussing the details and neglecting the overall picture. Ask yourself
'do I need to describe/analyse the text in this amount of detail? What point
is it that I’m making through this description/analysis? How does it contribute
to the overall aim of my essay?'
Generally, the more significant
the point you are making, the more necessary it is to quote directly from
the text in order to explain and support your interpretation/observation.
If you do not feel that what you are saying is important enough to warrant
actual quotation from the text, it is perfectly acceptable to provide an indirect
reference, summarising or paraphrasing what the text says or does. However,
in doing this it’s a good idea to tell the reader the exact point in the text
that you are referring to (e.g. by specifying the chapter in the novel, the
line number in the poem, the act and scene in the play).
When you are quoting from the
primary text, you need to make it clear as to why you have reproduced a particular
extract. It is sometimes a good idea to offer some explanation of the quotation
when you have given it, to show how it is significant and substantiates the
point you are making. The extracts cannot be left to do the analysis for you.
