Write about contestable claims

Length: 3-4 pages (not including cover or bibliographical pages, or supporting material)
Format: 12-point font, Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, page
numbers.
Process:
1. Identify a passage from the novel Samskara (10 lines or less, usually 3-4 lines)
2. Ask an interpretive question about that passage (a HOW or WHY question)
3. Use that interpretive question to develop a Contestable Interpretive Claim (an affirmative
sentence on the page)
Focus your paper on a contestable interpretive claim. Position your paper claim at the
end of your introductory paragraph, and use your introductory paragraph to introduce
your paper claim. Use the rest of the paper to present an ARGUMENT for that claim using
EVIDENCE from the text. Assume you are writing to an audience of people who have
read the novel and care about interpreting it. (Please avoid plot summary)
1. Have a title that reflects your paper’s main claim.
2. Please proofread carefully. If you cannot do so yourself, have a friend proofread your
paper for you, or take it to the English department’s writing center.
3. Avoid colloquialisms and chattiness. Use formal, academic prose.
4. Avoid contractions.
5. Avoid plot summary. You can assume your readers have already read the texts.
6. Avoid telling your readers about the writing process; give them the results of your
analysis.
7. Be explicit. Avoid merely showing your readers the text; tell them exactly what they
should be reading in the text.
8. Analyze and explore the quotations from the text.
9. Have one central claim for your paper.
10. Focus your paper on a single claim. Every paragraph in the paper should be part of an
argument for that claim.
11. Put a claim at the start of every paragraph. (This does not apply to the first
paragraph.)
12. There should be one claim per paragraph, and the entire paragraph should be focused
on that claim.
13. Block quote formatting: single space and indented
14. Connect your quotes and your claims. Make sure that the quote provides evidence for
the claim that your paragraph is making.
15. A new topic requires a new paragraph.
16. Write about contestable claims
17. Use reference sources more sophisticated than dictionaries or encyclopedias.
18. A “paper” full of good ideas is a wonderful draft. For the paper that you hand in, take
one of those good ideas, make it the central claim of your paper, and then write an entire
paper focused on that claim. (This does not apply to all papers or drafts!)
19. Explore and/or support your claim with evidence from the text.
20. Be as specific and as explicit as possible.
21. Write about interpretive claims.