1. The Critical Essay: how to write a good one
Learning intention: to understand what makes a high- band Critical Essay in the exam
Learning outcome: to plan your own response to an essay

2. How much is the Critical Essay graded out of?
Band A is out of 20 and will be:
Relevant to the task
Show knowledge of the text
Show understanding of central concerns
Show personal insight/reaction
Demonstrate awareness of Technique/Genre
Use Critical Language/Literary Terms
Use quotations and textual evidence

3. Whiteboards ready!!!
Complete the following sentences as if you were writing it in an essay.

4. Sum up the relationships of these characters
Rosinella and Massimo
Hughie and Lucia
Bridget and Franco _______________________________
Rosinella and Lucia

5. Sum up the relationships
Rosinella and Massimo They share a loving marriage although it is not without its conflict, brought on by Rosinella's character flaws. They are the guardians of their niece Lucia.
Hughie and Lucia Their relationship develops from dislike, to friendship and finally to love
Bridget and Franco They are passionately in love. Following Franco's death, Bridget cannot overcome her loss. _____________________________
Rosinella and Lucia

6. In Act 1, how do we know Rosinella puts her family first?
Massimo says: “Last year when I gave you money for a coat you bought jumpers to send to Italy.”

7. A major theme of “Tally’s Blood” is…

8. The turning point of the play is when...

9. Rosinella is: Family-orientated Loving Controlling Traditional
Patriotic
Prejudiced

10. Massimo is:
A family man
Loving
Hard working
Generous

11. Lucia is…
Spoiled
Manipulative

12. Hughie is…
Kind
Self-conscious
Hard-working
Determined

13. Franco is…
Loving
Family- orientated
Ambitious

14. Essay Question #1
Choose a play in which there is a character who suffers from a human weakness such as ambition, selfishness, lack-of-self knowledge, jealousy, pride or lust…
By referring to appropriate techniques, show how the character comes to be involved in this conflict and how the conflict develops throughout the text.

15. What are “appropriate techniques”?
Characterisation
Key Scene(s)
Structure
Climax
Theme
Plot
Conflict
Setting

16. Essay Question #1
Choose a play in which there is a character who suffers from a human weakness such as ambition, selfishness, lack-of-self knowledge, jealousy, pride or lust…
By referring to appropriate techniques, show how the character has this weakness and how it is seen throughout the text.

17. Unrealistic Expectations
Rosinella’s selfishness leads her to have unrealistic expectations on her loved ones. One example of this is Franco; she thinks that he should settle down with an Italian girl. “It’s one thing to play around with them, so long as you marry your own kind.” Rosinella is insistent that Franco marries an Italian, as the Scottish girls would sleep around, unlike a virtuous Italian girl: “You watch none of them catches you. That’s the kind of thing they do here.” Her dislike of Scotland’s local ladies is clear and unjust, as later on we see Bridget faithfully loving Franco after his death.

18. Essay Question #1
In the play “Tally’s Blood” by Ann Marie Di Mambro, the character of Rosinella suffers from several weak attributes: she is selfish and proud. Through the themes of love, family ties and war, the audience watches the characters grow and develop, reaching a climactic key scene where Rosinella realises her weaknesses and aims to change the outcome of her poor decisions.