Audrey considers her purpose
My purpose in writing this essay is to explore the possibility that the characters who reoccur in the sonnet sequence were real people Shakespeare knew. At this point, I don’t plan to make a case one way or the other: I may argue that the sonnets are autobiographical; I may argue the characters in them and their actions are fictitious. At this point I don’t know if this will be an informative (see page 18) or a persuasive (see page 21) essay. I’ll wait and see where my research leads me.
Audrey does a few minutes of freewriting
I’ve loved Shakespeare’s sonnets ever since I was 14 and we had to read “When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes.” Since then I’ve read most of them, and this is one of the main reasons why I took Prof Fareed’s class. In one of her lectures she speculated on the identities of the “fictitious” characters who appear throughout the sonnets. I knew there has been much literary-historical-biographical speculation about the identities of these characters but I have never really had the time or inclination to investigate further. Now I do. Who exactly is the dark lady, the rival poet, the nobleman to whom the sonnets are dedicated? There’s a lot of research I’ll have to do. I’ll try the internet then books and journals in the library. How to plan the essay: work my way—and my reader’s way—through the sonnets and comment on possible biographical allusions as I go? Isolate each character and have a section in the essay on each? I’ll experiment with both. Should I take a stand? Should I try to prove the characters were real, try to prove they were fictitious? I’ll likely just consider the possibility that they were real, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me do the research first.
Audrey considers a preliminary thesis
She, wisely, has not yet decided whether she is going to present an argument that the characters in the sonnets have real-life counterparts or if she is merely going to present the evidence, such as it is, and let her readers make up their own minds. She is therefore considering several different possible thesis statements at this early phase in the process:
There is solid evidence to suggest that the rich nobleman, the dark lady, and the rival poet were real people and that the sonnets tell of their relationships with Shakespeare.
While the possibility that the rich nobleman, the dark lady, and the rival poet had real-life counterparts is intriguing, convincing evidence that Shakespeare’s sonnet characters are based upon real people does not exist.
Many scholars, encouraged by Shakespeare’s tendency to base his characters on real people, have suggested that, taken together, the sonnets tell a story based on the poet’s own experiences and that the characters in the sonnets have real-life prototypes.
Note that by taking the knowledge she already has about the sonnets and by engaging in some “pre-writing” exercises and activities, Audrey is getting a good start on her project, even though she has not done any hard research yet. By reflecting upon the needs and expectations of her reader, she has a much clearer focus for the content of her essay and the style in which it should be written. By reflecting upon her purpose in writing the essay, she realises she will eventually have to choose among several rhetorical options, as she researches and plans her work. By doing some freewriting, she reveals what she already knows about her topic, and she is already generating some useful content.
Note, as well, how, at this stage of the process, Audrey leaves so many of her options open. She has a choice among a number of rhetorical modes and thesis statements. Because the goals of a writing assignment can and often do change, as the writer researches, plans, and drafts her work, it is important not to commit completely to any course of action. Strong writers remain flexible and always open to new information that might change their approach or new ways of expressing a thought or idea.
Tutorial
Progress questions
1 1 What is the difference between a persuasive and an informative essay?
2 2 How can you generate ideas for an academic essay?
Discussion points
1 1 Why is profiling your reader an important and useful pre-writing activity?
2 2 Why is determining your purpose an important and useful pre-writing activity?
3 3 What are the benefits of freewriting?
Practical assignment
1 1 Select a popular magazine you read on a fairly regular basis. Describe in writing the target audience of this magazine. By examining the articles, the advertisements, and the letters to the editor, you should get a good idea as to the type of reader the magazine appeals to.
Study and revision tips
1 1 Keep the needs and expectations of your reader in mind throughout the writing process, not just before you begin to write.
2 2 Freewriting can be used at any time during the writing process, especially if you feel you are beginning to suffer from writer’s block.
3 3 Writers often alter or even change completely their thesis statement at different stages of the writing process.
2Researching Your Topic
One-minute overview: In Chapter One, you learned how important it is to consider the needs of your reader, determine your purpose, and think about your topic before you begin a draft of your essay. These exercises will help get you started and provide you with some focus. After you have thought about your topic, you must find out as much as you can about what the experts have to say. An academic essay demands research. Research will provide you with much of the information you will need, in order to develop the ideas you present in your essay. Research also lends that aura of authority to your work, which your professor will expect. There are basically three sources of information you will need to access in order to research your topic completely. They are:
Books
Periodicals
The internet
Finding the right books
To find book titles which will provide some of the information you will need to discover and develop the ideas you will present in your essay, check your course outline to see if your professor has included a bibliography or a list of further readings relevant to the course material. If he or she has, and if the list includes a title that sounds like it is relevant to your topic, do all you can to find the book and see if it contains relevant information. Study also any bibliographies or lists of further or related readings at the end of text-book chapters or at the end of the text book itself. Most text books contain bibliographies and they are invaluable sources of potentially useful information.
Assuming you have found from your course outline or your text book, a list of a dozen or so promising titles, go to your library and check your card catalogue to see if your library has the books and if they are available. Almost all university libraries are computerised now, so you must go to a terminal (usually located throughout the library) and follow the instructions (which should be close by) on how to find out if your library has the book you need. The process usually involves typing in the author’s name and the title. If your library has the book, the computer screen will tell you where in the library the book is located by providing you with a call number. The call number is a series of letters and numbers indicating where, in the library, the book is stored. If, for example, the call number is PE 1471. S65 1997, you find the book shelf with the PE label on it and move down the aisle until you find your number. The screen will also tell you whether or not the book is in or has been signed out, and, if it has been signed out, when it is due back. If it is not due back for a long period of time, you can usually put a recall on it and get it sooner.
If you have not found any specific titles from course outlines or text-book bibliographies, you will have to do a search by subject. Instead of typing author’s names and book titles