Page 1082 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing
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Reading Essays and Literature
2 Approach essays, short stories,
and poetry.
The Readings section contains essays, poetry, and a short story.
These types of writing are more likely to employ descriptive or
narrative writing and will require strategies in addition to those
required for reading textbooks. The tips that follow will help you
approach essays, short stories, and poetry.
1. The essays that you read have much in common with the
essays that you write. You are reading one person’s opinion,
well supported by fact or personal experience. A professional
essay, like a college essay, will have a paragraph or two of
introduction and a thesis. It will contain paragraphs that support
the thesis and will end with a conclusion.
2. Short stories are works of imagination. The structure of a short
story is called the plot, and the main character is referred to as
the protagonist. A short story does not make a straightforward
point in the way an essay does. Instead, a story shows
characters reacting to events that happen to them. The reader
