Int 2 Critical Essays

Purpose of the Critical Essay A DISCURSIVE essay on a text Presenting an ARGUMENT – clear line of thought which is linked throughout and is fully developed. You are the EXPERT on the text. Assertive stance which your genuine personal response/interpretation of the text Must have a CLEAR FOCUS and fully address the task – not everything you know or can remember about the text.

Features of a Critical Essay Don’t forget that you are presenting an ARGUMENT so you will use the same techniques as in discursive writing: - Introduction which clearly introduces line of argument. - Clearly and fully explained points. - Justification using evidence (textual evidence such as quotations) and explanation. - Clear structure which helps develop argument – topic sentences, sub-conclusions, linking, transitional markers. - Conclusion which sums up argument.

Assessment of a Critical Essay The assessment criteria is divided into 4 main areas: UNDERSTANDING ANALYSIS EVALUATION EXPRESSION

UNDERSTANDING Display an UNDERSTANDING of WHAT the text is about. THIS INCLUDES: WHAT happens in the text (Storyline, Key Plot Events) WHAT the text is about (THEMES and Writer’s PURPOSE – what are they saying about the themes, what are the messages to the reader about the Human Condition) Your Understanding of the texts is vital because if you don’t fully understand the text then you cannot go on and analyse and evaluate effectively.

ANALYSIS Identify and ANALYSE HOW the writer achieves certain effects and their overall PURPOSE. THIS INCLUDES: Identifying TECHNIQUES the writer uses and explaining their effects. Selecting key quotations and textual evidence and explaining why they are importance in the text – what is their effect, what do they show?

EVALUATION EVALUATE HOW EFFECTIVE the techniques used by the writer help them to achieve their intended effect and overall purpose. THIS INCLUDES: Assessing the effectiveness of the techniques and the text as a whole and giving a genuine personal response. Using evaluative language: successfully, clearly, cleverly, is effective in… Even though you must give a personal response, remember that it is a formal essay so you should not write ‘I think…’

EXPRESSION Your EXPRESSION must be clear, accurate and of an acceptable standard for Intermediate 2. THIS INCLUDES: Your writing must be technically accurate: sentencing, paragraphing, punctuation and grammar. Your expression should be formal and varied and you should use technical language where necessary. You must take responsibility for any areas of weakness and try to address these by asking for advice or resources to help you. Also, learn and commit to memory the spellings of technical terms and the names of writers/texts.

The Critical Essay Task In the exam, you will have to independently select two tasks which are suitable for the texts you have studied throughout the year. Therefore, it is extremely important that you understand how the tasks are made up and what they are asking you to do. KEY POINTS Know what TYPE each of your texts are: DRAMA, PROSE (Fiction or Non-fiction), POETRY or MEDIA Make sure you fully understand the question and what it asks you to do. You MUST, MUST, MUST make sure everything in your essay is relevant to the task – DO NOT lose sight of the task!

The Two Parts to the Task Choose a poem in which an incident or character or an experience is vividly described. Briefly state what the poem is about and go on to show how the techniques used make the description vivid. In your answer you must refer to the text and to at least two of: word-choice, imagery, mood, structure, characterisation or any other appropriate feature. This part ONLY helps you select the text you are going to write about. Type of text Open question, text can fit any of these Choose appropriate text This part tells you what your essay must do/cover. This is the bit you must refer to at all times in your essay. Show your understanding The Analysis The focus of the task. Also, why is it vivid? This bit gives you a little more direction and reminds you of techniques to look at. It now appears in a box above the tasks.

The Critical Essay Structure INTRODUCTION The function of the introduction is to clearly introduce the topic of the essay and set up the line of argument. KEY COMPONENTS: Title of the text Type of text Author/Poet/Dramatist’s Name Introduce focus of essay (the line of argument) – do this by referring to the task Outline key points of argument – areas the essay will cover

Lead into Argument Depending on the style of task, you may wish to give a little detail about the text in order to lead into your main analysis – The State what the poem is about part of task. This should not be a full blown plot summary but should clearly concerned with the main focus of the task and argument. DO NOT retell the story at any point in your essay, only explain parts of the plot that are essential to the point you are making about the writer’s technique. (avoid storytelling without any clear point of analysis)

Main Argument You should ALWAYS clearly plan out the aspects of the text that you are going to deal with in the main argument before you start writing. Your argument needs to be clear, logical and well thought through. Consider: What is relevant to the task The key points you want to make in each section Which quotations or textual evidence are you going to use to illustrate your points. The appropriate order of the points/paragraphs How you are going to link the points/paragraphs together.

Basic Structure of Paragraphs Topic Sentence – introduces topic of paragraph. Should be clearly focussed on argument and task 1 st Point for analysis – Make a statement asserting your understanding of text and technique. Textual Evidence – illustrate point made by referring to text (quotation) Analysis – Full and thorough explanation of effect achieved and purpose of technique’s effect. Repeat process for all other points on same topic Sub-Conclusion – Bringing together all points from paragraph in order to re-focus on argument/task and link into next paragraph.

Conclusion The conclusion should bring the essay to a close and sum- up the argument in an assertive, clear and concise way. The conclusion is very similar to the introduction in some ways: Re-state Title, Type and author of text Clear reference to the task Re-assert argument with particular focus on task and overall purpose of the text (Evaluative stance) There should be NO new points of analysis or any quotations in the conclusion