Aphorisms on Structure for Multi-Source Essays

Introduction

Because they require more framing, multi-source essays generally have longer introductions than single-source essays. Having a longish (for example, two or three pages for an eight-page paper) introduction is perfectly fine, perhaps even encouraged, given some of the more sophisticated moves required.

The Comparative Essay

Paragraph 1: The Situation

  • Orientation to Text 1
  • Orientation to Context 1
  • Orientation to Context 2
  • Orientation to Text 2

Paragraph 2: The Question

  • Evidence from Text 1
  • Evidence from Text 2  
  • Analysis
  • Question/Problem

Paragraph 3: The Answer

  • Text
  • Method
  • Terms
  • Thesis

Notes:

  • When to use: when using some shared feature of two texts to discuss some larger similarity or difference in context; 
  • A comparative essay usually gives equal weight to both texts.
  • In the body of the essay, don’t jump back and forth between your two texts in a single paragraph. It’s too disorienting for your reader to introduce new evidence and new analysis from two different texts all at once.
  • Instead, cover your first text in full in a large section, then shift over to covering your second text in full in its own large section. That second large section may refer back to the analyses you did earlier. 

 

The Lens Essay

Paragraph 1: The Question

  • Orientation Related to Target Text
  • Evidence Related to Target Text
  • Analysis Related to Target Text
  • Question/Problem Related to Target Text

Paragraph 2: The Lens

  • Text
  • Method
  • Theoretical Citations
  • Terms

Paragraph 3: The Answer

  • Thesis
  • Stakes

Notes:

  • When to use: when you want to use one text (usually philosophical or theoretical) to explain what’s going on in another text usually (usually historical or artistic). 
  • You can think of one of your texts as the “target text”—the thing being interpreted—and the other as a “helper text” allowing you to do your interpretation.
  • In all likelihood, the two texts involved in the essay will not receive equal weight.
  • If it will take you more than one paragraph to provide an overview of your “helper text” shift that material down to the start of the body of the essay. Still give a sentence or two in the introduction to your method, but then go straight into your thesis, saving the substance of your “helper text“ for the body. In this case, summarize your theoretical text in Body Section 1 (which is shorter); then turn to your target text in Body Section 2 (much longer, with subsections).
  • In the body of the essay, as you unpack your “target text,“ you should return to specific ideas and rotations from your “helper text“ to enhance your analysis.
  • So the structure of body sections will often look like this: 
    • Assertion
    • Textual Evidence
    • Theoretical Citation
    • Analysis

 

The Test-a-Theory Essay

Paragraph 1: The Prevailing Theory

  • Orientation related to the Theory
  • Evidence related to the Theory
  • Analysis related to the Theory
  • Question/Problem related to the Theory

Paragraph 2: The New Data Set

  • Text
  • Method
  • Orientation to the Data Set

Paragraph 3: The New Theory

  • Thesis
  • Stakes

Notes:

  • When to use: when you want to use a new example or data set to challenge and older, established theory; when you want to develop a new, better theory. 
  • If you fully endorse the theory at hand, don’t write a test a theory essay; write a lens essay that uses that theory to unpack evidence.
  • Be sure to come up with a good name for your new theory.
  • Here the body of the essay will be a close reading of the new data set (evidence and analysis, sometimes with theoretical citations showing the insufficiency of the prevailing theory). The conclusion will involve theorizing that close reading into an abstract model (argument) and applying this new theory to explain additional examples (see notes on conclusions from the Aphorisms on Structure for Single-Source Essays).
  • Plan to give about equal space to the body and the conclusion. That means this essay will have a longer conclusion than most. 

 

The Historicist Essay

Paragraph 1: The Question

  • Orientation Related to Target Text
  • Evidence Related to Target Text
  • Analysis Related to Target Text
  • Question/Problem Related to Target Text

Paragraph 2: The Context

  • Text Statement
  • Method Statement
  • Orientation to Historical Text(s)
  • Terms

Paragraph 3: The Answer

  • Thesis
  • Stakes

Notes

  • When to use: when contextualizing a text in the circumstances that produced it will reveal a new understanding not available when simply looking at that text in isolation.
  • Be sure to identify your “target text”—the thing being interpreted—and the “helper text(s)” being used to enhance your interpretation. The emphasis of your interpretation should be on your target text, which should be the modern adaptation.
  • In the body of the essay, remember to tell a story. Structure the body chronologically:
    • Section 1 (shorter) provides the early-modern context.
    • Section 2 (longer) analyzes the Shakespearean text.
    • Section 3 (shorter) provides the modern context. 
    • Section 4 (longer) analyzes the modern adaptation.  

 

Body

Think carefully about the structure of the body of your paper. Be aware that, in a comparative paper, too much jumping back-and-forth between texts within a single paragraph can be disorienting, as can too much jumping back-and-forth between texts from paragraph to paragraph. I tend to prefer a comparative analysis structured into sections built around each text (e.g., first a section on Brooke, and then a section on Shakespeare that makes reference back to the analyses of Brooke to bring the analyses of Shakespeare into view).

In essays that apply or test a theory, you may need to start the body of the paper with a shortish section outlining the theory (if you didn't already do that in the introduction). Then move into a longer section (probably with subsections) that presents evidence (data, cases, examples) and analyses it with reference back to the theory.

In essays that compare two or more texts, make the body section that your argument is “about” the longer section and put it second. Put the section on the text that opens up an insight in your main text shorter and cover it first. You can then refer back to this material in the course of your longer, more substantive section.

In essays that contextualize a text (or event, idea, object, etc.), start the body of the paper with a brief overview of this context (if you haven’t already done so in the introduction). Then you can refer to the specific details of this context as you use them to elucidate your textual evidence in a longer body section.

As you can see in these three kinds of comparative papers, the general strategy is to use one field of evidence to unpack another. The evidence being used should generally come first in a shorter body section, while the evidence that the essay is really about should come second in a longer section that can refer back to the earlier material and add new details as it works through its analyses.

 

Conclusion

[See Aphorisms on Structure for Single-Source Essays]