Writing a Critical Essay. English Mrs. Waskiewicz

Transcription

1 Writing a Critical Essay English Mrs. Waskiewicz

2 Critical Essays (Also called Analysis Essays) In critical essays you have to show your knowledge and understanding of a text that you have studied a novel, play, poem, short story, etc. You should also to be able to explain some of the ways in which the author achieved what he or she wanted to with that text.

3 What Will Be Considered? Understanding means how well you understand and know the text you have studied Analysis means being able to examine the way the writer writes and the techniques he or she uses Evaluation means having a personal response to and a personal opinion about what you have read. Expression is how well you use the English language in your writing. This includes your spelling, grammar and punctuation. It also means that your essay has to be well linked together, and that the language you use should be formal.

4 Video

5 Organizing Your Essay Introduction paragraph Summary paragraph Body paragraph Body Paragraph Body Paragraph Conclusion

6 Writing Your Introduction Paragraph The first paragraph you write in the essay will be your introduction. Whenever you write a critical literature essay, three things should appear in the introduction: the title of the text you read the name of the author a clear indication of what you will be writing about.

7 Writing Your Summary Paragraph After the introduction, it s a good idea to write a short summary of your text. Writing a short summary paragraph will give the reader a little bit of context and background, making it easier for him or her to understand comments you make about that text in your essay.

8 Writing The Main Body Paragraphs Once you ve written the introduction and summary, it s time for the main body of your essay. This main body will be made up of several paragraphs three or four will be enough.

9 How Do I Do This? A good way to tackle this essay is to write a couple of paragraphs dealing with the first main thing, looking at how the story builds up to the turning point or climax. Then you could write two or three more paragraphs saying how this turning point or climax is significant for the rest of the story. As you write these paragraphs: every one of the main body paragraphs must help you to do what your chosen task tells you to do. every one of the main body paragraphs must use evidence from the text

10 Writing the Main Body Paragraphs You should begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence.

11 Writing Topic Sentences Topic sentences are called this for two reasons: they state the topic of your essay. they let the reader understand the topic of the paragraph you re on. Using a topic sentence at the start of the paragraph sets the direction of the paragraph.

12 Writing the Main Body Paragraphs You should write about the author s techniques.

13 Techniques Techniques are what the author uses to make his or her text worth studying in the first place. Remember that a technique is anything a writer deliberately chooses to do. Some techniques have specific names, such as simile, metaphor, alliteration and so on. Anything a writer does on purpose to have an effect on the reader is a technique.

14 Use Of Techniques You don t necessarily have to force a technique into every one of your body paragraphs. It s still more important to make sure that every paragraph you write is tied into your chosen task and helps you to answer the question. You just have to pick up and deal with appropriate techniques on your way through the essay as you answer the question.

15 Writing The Conclusion Paragraph After your introduction, summary and main body, you need to finish off your essay with a conclusion. The conclusion needs to do two things: Sum up and round off what you have written Summing up just means reminding the examiner what you have written about. Give your personal response.

16 Finally That s it!!! Now you know how to write a critical essay.