Responding to Text: The Literary Essay

Transactional Writing

Assessment Task: Planning and writing a literary essay 

Registered Standard 8825
"produce transactional written text in complex forms." 

To complete this task you will need a:

·	plan of a literary essay, 
·	rough draft of the essay developed from your plan. 

A literary essay is just another form of the expository essay which you have already had some experience at writing.  In expository writing, you:

·	discuss or express an opinion on something, or argue a point of view. 
·	give evidence to support your opinion or ideas. 

In a literary essay, you are given a topic or question about a text you've been studying, and your job is to discuss it in writing, giving specific examples from the text to support the points you make. 

Here are the most important steps. 
Step 1 - Read the question (see step1.rtf)
Step 2 - Jot down ideas (see step2.rtf)
Step 3 - Make a plan (see step3.rtf)
Step 4 - Write a first draft (see step4.rtf)
Step 5 - Edit (see select_edit_rework.rtf) and proof read (see proofreading.rtf)
Step 6 - Write the final copy 

No one expects you to sit down and write a perfect essay straight away. Writing an essay is a step-by-step process. You need to tackle it one step at a time. 

Basic Guide to Essay Writing (see http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/)
Essay Builder (see http://www2.actden.com/Writ_Den/Tips/essay/index.htm)

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)