1. “A Hanging” – Critical Essay

2. “A Hanging” – Essay Question Essay Question Choose a prose text (fiction or non-fiction) in which the writer expresses his opinion on an issue he feels strongly about. Show how the writer’s presentation of the issue makes an impact on you, and helps you to understand it in greater depth.

3. Critical Essay - Introduction Purpose The Introduction section of a Critical Essay should explain to the reader what the Critical Essay is about. Content The Introduction section should typically include the following information: The title(s) of the text(s) you are writing about (put this inside quotation marks, e.g. “The Great Gatsby”). The author(s) of the text(s) you are writing about. The genre of the text(s) (e.g. novel / drama / poem / short story) The themes of the text(s) you are writing about (e.g. friendship, poverty, the importance of history, bullying, racism, etc) A reference to the question that the essay attempts to address.

4. Which of these two introductions is better and why? Essay Question: Choose a poem which deals with a real or imaginary place. Show how the place is introduced and how the techniques used give a convincing portrayal of that place. Introduction 1: “Visiting Hour”, by Norman MacCaig, is an interesting poem that addresses the themes of death and grief. The following essay will show how the poem introduces a real or imaginary place and uses various techniques to give a convincing portrayal of that place. Introduction 2: “Visiting Hour”, by Norman MacCaig, is an interesting poem that addresses the themes of death and grief. The following essay will show how the poem introduces the ward and hospital in which the events of the poem take place, and makes effective use of structure, word choice and imagery to create a realistic impression of it.

5. Write Your Introduction Now write your own Introduction to the Critical Essay on “A Hanging” Make sure you do the following: a)Include all five key pieces of information: Title Author Genre Theme(s) Reference to Essay Question b)Make your reference to the essay question specific to the text you are writing about.

6. Cross-marking Exercise 1.Swap your Introduction with the person sitting next to you. 2.Check your partner’s Introduction to make sure they have done the following: a)Included all five key pieces of information: Title Author Genre Theme(s) Reference to Essay Question b)Made the reference to the essay question specific to the text they are writing about.

7. Critical Essay – Plot Summary Purpose The Plot Summary section of a Critical Essay should briefly explain to the reader what happens in the text(s). It should be assumed that the reader has not read the text(s) which are summarised. Content The plot summary should be kept very brief (five or six sentences at most). One way to approach writing a Plot Summary is as follows: a)State the setting of the events of the essay (when and where they take place). b)State the main events that take place: i.at the start of the text; ii.during the text; iii.at the end of the text.

8. Which Plot Summary is better and why? Plot Summary 1: The story is set during the Great Depression of 1930s America, and centres on the experiences of a train engineer. The engineer drives through the same town every day, and every day the engineer waves to a woman and her daughter who live in a cottage on the outskirts of the town. The two women always wave back and, over time, the engineer starts to feel great affection for them. Once the engineer retires he decides to go and visit the two women. However he is cruelly disappointed when he discovers that they are cold and hostile towards him, and leaves their cottage a broken man. Plot Summary 2: The setting is the Great Depression in 1930s America. The story starts with an engineer driving his train through a town. The events during the story are: the engineer experiences lots of horrible tragedies during his career; two women wave at the engineer; the engineer starts to feel that he has a relationship with the women; the engineer decides to visit the women; the engineer arrives in the town and decides that it isn’t as pleasant as he thought it was when he was on his train. The story ends when the engineer visits the women and they treat him in a hostile manner and the engineer leaves them a broken man.

9. Write Your Plot Summary Now write your own Plot Summary to the Critical Essay on “A Hanging”. Make sure you do the following: a)State the setting of the events of the essay (when and where they take place). b)State the main events that take place: i.At the start of the essay ii.During the essay iii.At the end of the essay c)Link these ideas together to form a narrative account of the events of the essay.

10. Cross-marking Exercise 1.Swap your Plot Summary with the person sitting next to you. 2.Check your partner’s Plot Summary to make sure they have done the following: a)Stated the setting of the events of the essay (when and where they take place). b)Stated the main events that take place: i.At the start of the essay ii.During the essay iii.At the end of the essay c)Linked these ideas together to form a narrative account of the events of the essay.

11. The Body Section

12. Critical Essay - Body Purpose The Body section of a Critical Essay should attempt to answer the essay question that has been set. Content The Body section should consist of a series of Points about the text which attempt to answer the essay question. Each of these Points needs to be supported with Evidence. –This Evidence should be a brief Quotation from the text(s) being written about. –In order for the reader to understand the Quotations (remember, they may not have read the text(s) being written about), the Context of each Quotation in the texts(s) should be provided. There should be an Explanation of how each piece of evidence supports the Point being made.

13. Critical Essay - PCQEs Like other sections of the Critical Essay, there are ways in which the Body section can be broken down into structural elements, or building blocks. One of these ways is called the PCQE. PCQEs are building blocks which can combine to form the body of a Critical Essay. POINT CONTEXT } EVIDENCE QUOTATION EXPLANATION

14. Critical Essay – PCQE Example From the start of “Valentine”, Duffy makes it clear that her poem will present love in an unsentimental manner. This is evident in the opening line of the poem, when Duffy clearly indicates what her gift to her lover will not be: “Not a red rose or a satin heart.” This rejection of typical, clichéd romantic gifts represents Duffy’s attitude towards romance as a whole. In the same way that she refuses to give her lover a traditional, clichéd gift, her perspective on love is neither clichéd or traditional, as indicated throughout the poem.

15. Part One – Depiction of the Prisoners 1.Copy the following topic sentence into your essay: One of the ways that Orwell shows that he is strongly against capital punishment is by arousing his readers’ sympathy for the prisoners that are to be executed. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your notes.

16. Part Two – Depiction of the Guards 1.Copy the following topic sentence into your essay: Our sympathy for the prisoners is increased by the ways in which the guards are depicted throughout the essay. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your notes.

17. Part Three – The Dog 1.Copy the following topic sentence into your essay: Orwell’s description of a dog which interacts with the guards and the condemned man is used to illustrate his strong belief that capital punishment is wrong. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your notes.

18. Part Four – Use of Irony 1.Copy the following topic sentence into your essay: Throughout the essay, Orwell makes extremely effective use of irony to illustrate his view that capital punishment is wrong. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your notes.

19. Part Four – Orwell’s Statement of his Views 1.Copy the following topic sentence into your essay: As Orwell describes the journey from the prisons to the gallows, he clearly states his view on capital punishment. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence.

20. Part Three – Tone 1.Start your new paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly explains what this part of the Body will be about. 2.Using your answers to questions 8 and 9, do the following: a)provide a quotation that supports the point you made in the topic sentence, remembering to include the context of the quotation you use. b)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you selected supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your answers to questions 8 and 9.

21. Part Four – Imagery 1.Start your new paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly explains what this part of the Body will be about. 2.Using your answers to question 10, do the following: a)provide a quotation that supports the point you made in the topic sentence, remembering to include the context of the quotation you use. Take care not to use any quotations you have already included in your essay. b)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you selected supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your answers to questions 10.

22. Part Five – Sentence Structure 1.Start your new paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly explains what this part of the Body will be about. 2.Using your answers to question 11, do the following: a)provide a quotation that supports the point you made in the topic sentence, remembering to include the context of the quotation you use. b)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you selected supports the point made in the topic sentence. 3.Repeat stage 2 for several more quotations you included in your answers to questions 11.

23. Part Five – The Ending of the Essay 1.Start your new paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly explains what this part of the Body will be about. 2.Support the point you have just made, by doing the following: a)Provide the context for a quotation from your notes which supports the point you made in the topic sentence. b)Include the quotation that you have just contextualised. c)Provide an explanation of how the quotation you included supports the point made in the topic sentence.