The Formal Essay based on literary, cinematic, dramatic, or visual work
© S. Ingraham: lightshedder.com

The formal essay has three parts:
The old black preacher, when asked why his sermons were so effective, said: “First I tells them what I’m gonna tell them, then I tells them, then I tells them what I told them.” In a nutshell, that is the structure of a formal essay.

• Introduction and thesis: “First I tells them what I’m gonna tell them,”
  
• Body: “then I tells them,”
  
• Conclusion: “then I tells them what I told them.”
  

Introduction: answers the questions: What is the point (or what are the points) I am trying to make here? What is it that I am trying to prove? What would I like the reader to come away from this paper believing? (That is just three ways of phrasing the same question...they all have the same answer.) The answer to those questions, made into as simple and direct a statement as you can manage, is your “thesis.” The introduction also needs to catch the reader’s attention...to engage the reader and set the stage for your argument. You need to put some real thought into your first sentence and your thesis statement. Both need to be real “grabbers.”
Body: answers the questions: What am I basing my opinions on? Where did I get these ideas? What evidence do I have for my thesis. You should offer at least one item of support (evidence) for each point in your thesis (two is better, three is probably enough, but it is the quality of your support, not the quantity that will make the difference). Evidence means quotations, paraphrases, or summaries taken from the work or works studied, or detailed descriptions of the work in question. Direct quotations are best. If you can’t quote, then describe and paraphrase: “In the scene in chapter two where Irene hit Jack across the face with the fish...” or “In the sundown scene in the desert in Forrest Gump, when Forrest finally stops running, Forrest says something like, “Momma always said you have to put the past behind you...” The best tactic here is to use the actual words or images of the work itself to make your point...to pick such compelling (convincing) quotations or descriptions that the reader will “have to” draw the same conclusions you did. In cases where you are basing your opinion on an interpretation of the work (not a direct quote but a conclusion based on your own thinking and experience) you must also give some of your background thinking. Tell why you are drawing the particular inference you are. What knowledge of the world, language, human nature, etc., or what personal experience, is your interpretation of the words or images based on?
Conclusion: the trickiest part to get right. The conclusion should restate your thesis (“tells them what I told them”), but it should do it in a way that reemphasizes and clarifies the connections between your evidence and the point or points you are trying to make. It should the the final nail that holds the whole thing together, and the reader should hear the ring of the hammer driving it in long after he or she puts the paper down. Some tricks: create a catchy, memorable phrase that sums up your argument (puts it in a nut shell), use a vivid quotation that reemphasizes your point (from the work itself, from another work by the same author, or by an authority in the field), create a striking or touching image that implies even more than your thesis...an image so apt and deep that it will leave the reader with something to chew on, even if he/she wasn’t completely convinced by your argument. Leave them gasping in wonder at the brilliance of your thought and the beauty of your language.

The Thinking Behind It
That’s the written structure of the essay. There is a thought process behind it. The trick to a good formal essay is, obviously, to have something worth saying and to know where you got it...to have a good thesis and good support. The process of developing a thesis goes something like this:

You ask yourself the question:
What can I say about this? (“What do I want to, or need to, say about this?” is even better.)
Mull it over. Ask yourself: “What doesn’t quite make sense here?” “Why did the author (or creator) do it that way?” (where that is something in the work that stands out as unusual or that took you by surprise). Look for places where the creator has been particularly creative. “I never would have thought of saying it that way...” “I wish I had thought of saying it that way...” “Whoa, that’s good...” Look for connections and resonances to you own experience. “I know exactly what he/she means by that...” “That’s just like when...” “I know that feeling...” Look for places where your own understanding grew. “I never thought of that, but he’s/she’s/they’re right!” Look for things that struck you as both significant and true. Look for the “Ah ha”s, the insights, the exploding bits of meaning. Ask yourself: “What did I learn from this work?” “In what ways has this work made me different?” “How has this work changed my ideas or feelings or beliefs?” “How has this work helped me to make sense of my world and life?”
On the other hand, look for the opposite of all of those: the things that you can’t make sense of no matter how hard you try, the things that are just so alien and weird you can’t believe them, places where the language or craft of the creator just gets in the way of your understanding or enjoyment, the things that you simply feel are wrong in the creator’s view of the world, the places where the creator failed, in your opinion, to get the job done.
You may have both positive and negative reactions to a work...and what you want to say may include both. Think about how the positive and the negative balance in the work. Balance them in your thesis.
Okay...if you did all that you now know what you can (want to, need to) say.

Now ask yourself:
Where did that come from? Where did I get that idea? Why do I think that? How could I convince anyone else that’s true. Could some else see that too, and how could I show them...what pieces of the work could I lay out for them so that they see it?
Then your job is to collect the pieces. Think back, reread, skim, browse, brainstorm, free write, list, pick someone else’s brain...get the pieces of your argument together. Think of them as building blocks or leggos and begin to sort them. “I can use this piece to support that point, and connect it to this piece over here to make sure they see this. This piece is interesting enough to sit on top...this piece is so basic it will have to go down first to support the rest.”

You are now ready to write: the rest of the structure will build itself as you go (if you pay attention to the first part of this). In fact, as you write, you will probably change your thesis. That’s okay. That’s good. Remember your goal is always to have something worth saying (and that means true!) Don’t be afraid to change your mind as you write. Just make sure you go back and revise so that it looks like that’s what you thought all along. Any formal essay that leads you to a different conclusion than you thought you were headed for when you started is probably going to lead the reader to that same conclusion...and that’s good!

As you write you should also be sensitive to your voice...to how the thing sounds...to what kind of person it makes you sound like. Do you want to sound all formal and academic, like you are interested in making your point as an intellectual challenge only (you may, if that’s the kind of audience you are addressing or if that is simply “you”)? Do you want to sound like you have a personal stake in what you are saying because it affects your idea of who you are? Do you want to be academically distant or up close and personal? Do you want to be perfectly serious or can you afford to have a little fun with these ideas? How much of you do you want to show through your argument? I suspect it is clear from the tone of this that I think a good deal of you should show through. You can’t afford to be very “informal”...to use slang or inappropriate word choices...this is a Formal essay...but that does not mean it has to be all stiff and stodgy. You want to communicate mind to mind here...self to self...you have something worth saying...you what your readers to listen, and you want them to respect you for having said it.

So have fun. Do the essay. Tell them what you have to say. Tell them. Tell them what you said. Leave them gasping in wonder at the end!