HOW TO READ A SCHOLARLY ESSAY
A scholarly essay is a long, sustained discussion of an academic topic written for a professional academic audience.
It may be published in a variety of venues, usually in an academic journal or as a chapter in an edited volume (single- or multi-author).
A scholarly essay assumes some basic knowledge of the subject matter; depending on the publication venue, it may presume a highly detailed and sophisticated knowledge of the subject matter, including:
relevant sources (e.g., historical sources; scientific data; social science studies; literary texts);
pertinent methodologies (which will vary widely across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and arts); and
previous scholarship (often cited in bibliographies and/or foot/end notes).
The more general the audience, the more care the author will take to explain each of these specialized categories of knowledge. For instance, a literature professor writing an essay on the novel Daniel Deronda for a general audience will take more care to explain the contents and context of the novel, the different forms of literary analysis that may be brought to bear on it, how previously scholars have read the novel, and finally offer her own new argument. The same essay written for a highly specialized audience may dispense with all of this explanation, and just dive right in to the new argument.
A scholarly essay's main goal is to advance an argument on the topic at hand.
Sometimes the topic will be very arcane and specific: for instance, a historian may publish an essay arguing that an event occurred earlier, or later, than previous scholarship assumed.
Sometimes the topic may be more sweeping: for instance, a literary critic may argue for a new way of understanding and reading certain types of texts (although this type of article may be more properly considered a theoretical essay).
Some essays may focus on one particular area of specialized knowledge: for instance, an essay may introduce new, unknown (or previously understudied) sources ("A Previously Unknown Poem of Emily Dickinson"), or analyze or argue for or against particular methods ("Why Reader-Response Criticism Leads us Astray"), or focus energies defending or refuting an argument offered by another scholar ("A Response to Why Reader-Response Criticism Leads us Astray").
Even though scholarly essays are directed primarily at specialized audiences, they can also be accessed by knowledgeable, critically minded general readers, such as college students. The best context for a college student to engage with a scholarly essay is in the course of a class in which the essay will be discussed and analyzed. Therefore, the goal of such reading is not perfect comprehension; the goal is getting a toe-hold, grasping the following elements:
What is the point of the essay? In a traditional scholarly essay this might be a thesis (a specific, evidence-based argument), but some scholarly essays are more general: they pose questions, concepts, ideas, but do not have a thesis, strictly speaking. So in asking "What's the point?" a reader should ask herself, "What does this essay want me to think about?" A general reader should be able to get some idea of the essay's point, but may need help understanding its significance ("why is this important?").
How does the author make her point? Here the reader should try to identify the three elements of special knowledge discussed above (sources, methods, scholarly background), but may need assistance understanding them fully. Eventually, the goal should be to critically analyze how persuasive the author's point is: is her use of sources, her deployment of methodology, her engagement with previous scholarship persuasive?
Why does the author make this point? This level of analysis is the most difficult to achieve, but perhaps the most important. Scholarly essays come from particular viewpoints, and have particular goals. Just because they are printed does not mean they are true; the goal of critical reading is to question the essay's presumptions, goals, and points of view. This is not to say that scholarly writer are nefarious, hiding their true objectives. But a good scholarly essay will often have implications outside its narrow field of specialization, and in order to grasp these implications a reader needs to critically evaluate the author's point of view.
The general reader will doubtless encounter obstacles at all three of these levels of comprehension, and should keep track of these difficulties to ask a more knowledgeable reader (such as a course professor) about them, such as:
Jargon: Every discipline has its particular terms of art; sometimes these are unique to a field of study ("epidemiology" has one, specific meaning in the context of the study of disease); sometimes they mean different things in different contexts (such as "text" or "discourse"). Although jargon seems to obscure an author's point, it is often used (when used well) precisely to avoid misunderstanding among specialists.
Context: Often reading a scholarly essay can be like dropping into the middle of a conversation that has already been going on for 150 years. "Getting a toe-hold" means just trying to understand the snippets of dialogue a reader can sense within a single essay. A professor can help fill in needed context.
Presentation: Be sure to pay attention to the manner in which the essay is physically presented to you. Don't ignore things like: the title and subject of the journal (or book of essays); the title of the essay itself; dedications, thanks, and other notations that place this author and her work in a network of other authors and works; and, finally, be sure to note if the chapter or article is preceded by an abstract, a brief paragraph that summarizes the main points of the essay.
Finally, a few tips:
Search for topic-sentences, such as "My main point is that..." "I will argue that..." "I have demonstrated that..." Not all authors will use these sometimes clunky, but very helpful, phrases, but most will at some point state their main point clearly (and, often, repeatedly). Underline those sentences and remember them.
Distinguish types of evidence: A scholarly essay will use primary sources, secondary sources, theoretical sources, and so on: be sure you know what you're looking at, and think about why an author is deploying a particular type of evidence in a particular context. Also note what kinds of points she makes without citing any back-up at all.
Mark your text: Don't try to remember everything that's going on in an essay; develop ways of marking a text (stars for important information; numbers for serially laid out arguments; underlines, brackets, etc.) so when you go back to review a scholarly essay you can see the main points (and your main questions) at a glance.
Read the notes: If possible, try to read foot/end notes as you proceed through an essay. Sometimes important nuggets of explanation or context are located there.
Read critically: This does not mean to criticize or disbelieve every scholarly essay, but a careful reader should never take an author at her word. She's trying to persuade you, using rules of argumentation: don't take her at face value, but really interrogate what she's saying.
This page has been written for Core II, section 9, taught at Scripps College in Spring 2010, by Andrew Jacobs. Feel free to link to this page, but please to not reproduce it without permission.