• Do not use any secondary sources (that is, internet sites, books, essays or articles that reflect on the authors you are discussing). That doesn’t mean “don’t cite any such sources in your paper.” It means don’t look at any such sources, since they will infiltrate your thinking and prevent you from thinking for yourself. I want to hear what you think, not what you’ve been told by someone else
•Teach your reader the key idea from the text. Though in many of these topics you’re encouraged to write in creative ways that break with standard ways of writing, in ALL of these topics you still need to work at giving your reader insight into the key idea upon which you are focusing. In other words, you still need to teach your reader the key idea from the text with which you are dealing. And you need to do this before you offer any criticism, elaboration, or reflection on the idea. This is a way of getting your reader and yourself “on the same page.”

•Applying an idea from the text requires first teaching it to us. This is just another way of saying the above point: if you are going to apply an idea from a text (by, for instance, analyzing an artwork, or by giving an example, or by engaging in creative writing), you need still to make sure that your reader has insight into the idea. Normally (but not always) this would involve teaching the idea to your reader before you apply it. This, likewise, is a way of getting your reader and yourself “on the same page.”

•Describe the artwork. If you are writing about the artwork, don’t write as if your reader already knows it. Describe the artwork to your reader. This is also a way of getting your reader and yourself “on the same page.”

•Cite the text. As always, you should anchor the things you say about the text, in explaining its ideas, with page citations. This allows your reader to see where you are drawing your ideas from, so that she or he might better understand both what you are saying, and the text. This is literally a way of getting you and your reader on the same page!