How does one produce an “interesting and persuasive” interpretive essay?
This question needs to be broken down into parts. One has to do with the process that leads to the composition of a successful essay. The other has to do with the experience of composing the first draft of the essay itself. 1. PREPARING FOR THE ESSAY a) Reading and rereading. Writing a successful interpretive essay involves much more than sitting down and writing. To get to the point of beginning a first draft, almost any good writer undertakes some serious and often time-consuming intellectual labors. In the case of a formalist interpretive essay, you obviously have to read the literary text a number of times. Before I wrote my “Mayflies” essay, I read the poem about 12 times — just short of killing its effect on me. If you are writing about a poem, you will also need to read it aloud a few times — and listen to what you hear. b) Generating ideas-and questions. What you might do next — what I did next with the “Mayflies” essay — is record somewhere all your ideas and questions abo
