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[hereforthefood]

I'm working on this paper for English and I'm making it way harder than it needs to be. I don't have the background to successfully complete my essay in the scope I have it right now.

Comments

[grizzlyeric]

First paragraph, second sentence: I would change it to "Burroughs’ life, whether related anecdotally or biographically, often overshadows his work and therefore must be taken into account for any discussion of his work." or something like that, it is much stronger.

I think the first paragraph, structurally, needs to be two. Perhaps you could give your thesis sooner. I don't know what your teacher wants, but I like to just put it out there in the first sentence.

In the paragraph after the on the road quote, there's a parenthesis with the period in the wrong place. Same paragraph, last sentence, tense disagreement. I am seeing this in a couple places.

Those are just a few technical things.

What I would work on the most is presenting it structurally. You have good ideas, but I am not really following them sequentially. You talk about different parts of Burroughs' life, but there does not seem to be a sequence to the things you are talking about. Also, I dislike sifting through all the names of the various beat people, it kind of distracts from your main idea.

It is good, though. I have read many moronic papers, and this is not one of them. I personally am not so fond of Kerouac and On the Road, and the things I have read by Ginsberg seem a bit put on, but I suspect that there is a lot more substance to Burroughs. I haven't had a chance to read Naked Lunch, however, but I do enjoy the film Drugstore Cowboy in which he makes an appearance.

[hereforthefood]

Thank you, Eric! I'm a little bit further on now and realizing that my structure and direction really are a problem. I think I'm going to go back to this beginning and try to reorganize it.