Create a title for your essay that links to your thesis statement. For the title of your essay, don't use the title of the work you are writing about--that reflects no imagination at all. One other thing about titles--don't put your own title in quotation marks, and don't underline it. You should quote other people's titles if they are short works and underline (or italicize) them if they are long works (novels and plays). Also, anyone who uses the title To Be or Not To Be on an essay should be placed in stocks. Within the first couple of sentences of your essay, identify the work and the author of it. On the first reference, use the writer's full name. Don't just assume that the reader knows what and whom you're writing about, even if everyone in class is writing on the same novel, play, or story. Make sure that you state your thesis early in the essay. I usually ask my students to do this by the last sentence of the first paragraph (a good dramatic place to put it) or the first sentence of the second paragraph (where it also stands out). You might want to look at my link about the thesis statement. Don't spend a lot of time summarizing the plot of a story or paraphrasing a poem. Usually your instructor has read the piece more than once. Retelling the story is a bore for everyone. (And it will usually earn you a "D" for the essay.) Rather, your emphasis should be on your analysis of the events, not on simply recounting them. Obviously, some summary is necessary, so use the following guidelines to help you determine how much is enough without being too much. For each sentence of summary of the plot you provide, you should be writing three sentences about the meaning of that summary in relation to your thesis. If you have trouble determining if you are writing summary or analysis, ask yourself the following question: Does this sentence tell what happens in the story? If your answer is "yes," the sentence is mere summary. Now ask yourself this question: Does this sentence explain the meaning of what happens in relation to my thesis? If your answer is "yes," then you are writing analysis. It's easier to do the first, more difficult to do the second. Use selected quotations from the literary work to support your points. Document them according to MLA guidelines. A good rule to follow is that no more than 15% of your essay should appear in direct quotations. Your instructor doesn't want to grade the author; the instructor wants to hear your opinions about the quotation. Develop the paragraphs in the body of your essay. Usually well-developed paragraphs run somewhere between six-to-ten sentences. If you consistently write shorter paragraphs, your ideas will be choppy, jerky--and, of course, less than thoroughly discussed.  The exceptions to this guideline are the introductory and concluding paragraphs, which are usually a bit shorter--about four to six sentences. Don't be afraid to express your opinions about what you think the author is saying about religion, free will, fate, or other topics about which you write. Instructors want you to think critically. And don't worry about whether the instructor agrees with your interpretation. Rather, be concerned about writing a supported argument to convince someone that your views are appropriate.  However, be sure to draw this distinction:  unless an instructor tells you otherwise, a critical essay about an author's work is NOT the place for you to express your personal views about religion, free will, or fate.  Rather, you are to express what you believe the author is saying about those topics. In your conclusion, don't merely re-state the thesis or summarize the body--boring! Rather, draw some inferences from the body, and go beyond it without going beyond the thesis. Think about the larger significance of the work, about its implications. Don't hesitate to evaluate the writer's creation of character, use of dialogue, construction of plot, and so on. End with a strong statement, not with a wimpy summary of the body. This may be the most important suggestion: Proofread your essay thoroughly. It's useless to spend hours reading a work, thinking about it, and writing about it, and then spend almost no time proofreading the final draft of the paper. The final draft is the only thing that an instructor sees, and that's the only thing by which he or she can evaluate you. If you've rushed the typing of it, and it is filled with misspellings, fragments, comma splices, dangling modifiers, and so on, then most of the work you put into the essay is wasted. So do yourself a favor: don't print out the paper at 8:45 a.m. and turn it in at 9:00 a.m. You'll just be asking for a poor grade. Try to write the paper so that it gives you new insight into the work. Make it an enjoyable, intellectual experience. Good reading, good thinking, good writing, good proofreading, and Good Luck!