Writing about American literature / Karen M. Gocsik, University of California, San Diego ; Coleman Hutchison, the University of Texas at Austin.

Includes bibliographical references.

Writing about American literature -- -- Kinds of writing about American literature -- -- Generating ideas -- -- Researching American literature -- -- Developing your thesis -- -- Considering structure and organization -- -- Attending to style -- -- Revising your work -- -- Tools for writing about American literature.

This clear and concise guide to writing in the American literature classroom provides advice that any student writer can use, but that students reading American literature will especially appreciate. Tips for how to read analytically and creatively, generate ideas, narrow a topic, construct a thesis, structure an argument, and revise one's work lead students through the entire arc of the writing experience. A section on types of writing focuses students' attention on the distinctions among the most common forms of writing in the American literature classroom (including the essay test), and a glossary of literary terms demystifies academic language so that students can use it meaningfully in their writing assignments--from back cover.