Study Support Tutorial 2016 Paper 2: Critical Reading Critical Essay

As part of your exam, you’ll have to write one critical essay worth 20 marks in forty-five minutes. That’s not a long time so preparation is the key to success.

1.The secret to writing a good essay in this time is preparation before the day.  Task: Make a list of the ways in which you have prepared so far. 2. Planning: before writing you must plan to ensure a focused essay which responds to the question you have chosen.

 Think of this as a Discursive essay in which you are proving a point(s) – ensure you create a line of argument  Keep it formal – avoid “you, abbreviations and contractions  Spell and punctuate correctly  One point per paragraph.  Know your quotations – 2/3 short ones per paragraph work best

 The best way to write an essay at Higher level is to approach it ‘thematically’.  Key themes and the stylistic techniques, dramatic devices in the text should form the basis of your paragraphs.  Task: 1.List the key themes of “A View from the Bridge”.  2.List the techniques/key vocabulary.

 This will help you to ensure you analyse the text, rather than just describing it or retelling the story. Spend only 5 minutes planning in the exam – practise this at home  Aim to write five or six body paragraphs (not including the introduction and conclusion), each based on the writer’s techniques and how these help him/her explore the themes.

Choose a play in which the central character’s changing view of himself/herself is an important feature. Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the central character’s changing view of himself/herself and discuss how this affects your understanding of the character in the play as a whole.

 Pick out and notes down the key words/phrases in this question.  Write a plan fro this essay – 5 minutes

If you were answering using “A View from the Bridge” as your text, your three key themes might be:  1) The effects of jealousy  2) Loyalty/betrayal.  Author’s purpose: How successfully does he explore these themes? What do we appreciate about these themes?

 The ‘critical’ aspect of a critical essay is the analysis, ie You should be able to say why the author chose a particular technique, event or character. Thinking about the message behind the text is a good place to start.  Remember the definition of analysis – technique + effect – use quotations or evidence from the text to show how the audience comes to understand/appreciate the effects of jealousy, betrayal, etc.  NB remember to avoid paraphrasing quotations – concentrate on what is suggested about the situation/characters/relationships, what will happen next, etc.

 Eddie’s growing isolation, brought on by his disapproval of Catherine relationship with Rudolpho, undoubtedly increases the dramatic tension in the play, ensuring the audience is aware that this conflict will ultimately bring about his tragic demise.  Writing a one sentence sub - conclusion/evaluation comment will help you when it comes to writing your final conclusions, and will also keep your work focused on the question.

 Integrate this and ensure you use a variety of ways to evaluate  Use the writer/dramatist/Miller/playwright  Use your list of adverbs and verbs eg Miller effectively develops… “…”, clearly emphasising… This succesfully evokes… In this way, Miller ensures that audience…

 When it comes to writing your essay in the exam, the best way to divide your time is as follows:  5 minutes planning- lots of key words, abbreviations, create a logical order for your points.  35 minutes writing (approx. 6/7 minutes per paragraph),  5 minutes checking your work.

 Try reading past essays out loud to yourself, and seeing where the sentences are too long/complex.  Work out where to improve these in the light of your experience and knowledge of what is required.  Look at how to ‘polish’ your expression and vocabulary and if model essays are available, use them to help you prepare your own.

 Keep your topic sentences, in particular, short and to the point. In fact, it’s best to make them straight to the point to show the marker exactly what you will discuss in the paragraph  Make sure that you finish each paragraph with a one sentence mini/sub-conclusion that links back to the question. Usually the question is split into two, and the end of the sentence should refer to the second part of the question.

 Point – One of the key themes in the text is… Another way in which the writer explores…  Evidence/analysis– This is shown when… This is evident when…  Evaluation – This effectively highlights/emphasises….

 Use your list of verbs and adverbs to ensure you have a variety at hand to use in your essays. Make sure your choice is appropriate. Tasks – at home Work on examples of topic sentences and evaluation comments. Practise analysing the quotations you have memorised

 Prepare in advance and remember to add wording of the question.  1) A brief outline of the text (i.e. explaining when it was written, who wrote it, where it is set and a one sentence summary of the plot).  2) An explanation of the relevance of the question to the text. For example, using the sample question above, you should say why Eddie is a character whose view of himself changes in the course of the play.

 3) Identify the key themes of the text. In reality, this is you explaining what your paragraphs are going to be. Never ever write: “In this essay I will talk about…”. Instead use “The most important themes are…”/ The writer explores the themes of… Be confident in what you are writing!  4) This will be the final sentence of your introduction, and so should be short and snappy (to get the reader’s attention). There should be an underlying point that links the focus of the question with the themes.

 The Conclusion - prepare in advance and remember to add wording of the question.  Conclusions are really very simple- you must write one! If you’ve planned your time properly, then you will have time to conclude your argument. Not only is this critical for getting good marks for structuring, but it will allow you to actually answer the question.

 The format of the conclusion should be:  1) Spend one sentence summing up each of the paragraphs you wrote. The sub-conclusions you wrote will help with this.  2) Draw these all together again using your chosen theme(s) and what we as the audience have gained from this, learned about the human condition, effects of jealousy, betrayal, etc. Refer to the inevitability of the demise of Eddie.

 Your final sentence of the entire essay should give a direct answer to the question. Look at how the question is worded and use that to help you phrase your answer.  Think about the final sentence as a one- sentence ‘in a nutshell’ answer. An examiner should be able to read just your last sentence to get a sense of what you are arguing.

 For “A View from the Bridge”, the final sentence could be: Ultimately, the audience’s view of Eddie’s changes in the course of this tragedy and Miller ensures we become acutely aware of the devastating consequences of jealousy and revenge.

Make a To do list  Work on planning essays in 5 minutes  Be clear about what the key themes and techniques are in your texts – make lists  Prepare Introductions and Conclusions to which you can add the wording of the question. Try this.  Read practice essays out loud to yourself. Redraft your own essays.

 Read model essays and ‘pinch’ good phrases to use.  Checkout the marking criteria for Higher Critical essays  Ensure you know your quotations and techniques to analyse  Remember P.E.E/UAE  Vary your vocabulary/avoid repeating yourself in your sub-conclusions/evaluation comments.

Best piece of advice  Practise choosing a question, planning and writing critical essays in 45 minutes. Feel confident! Good luck!