Critical Essay Writing

We are going to spend the second half of today planning

and beginning to write a critical essay.
I am going over the format of an essay to help you with
your essay resist (or 1st sitting in some cases).
We may not have time to complete this in class. This
essay should be on a separate sheet of lined paper and
will be due on Monday 7th September if not completed
today.
 Remember:
• In an exam, you would have 45 minutes to complete
this.
• This will be marked out of 20.
• Marking grid: http://
www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/EnglishCriticalReadingSQP
N5.pdf
 Critical Essay Planning

We are going to create a plan for this essay

question.
1. With the person next to you bullet point at
least 6 things you might mention in this
essay.
 Critical Essay Question

Choose a short story in which suspense

or tension is created. Show how this
suspense or tension is built up and what
effect it has on your appreciation of the
short story.
 Unpacking the Question

Choose a short story in which suspense or tension is created. Show

how this suspense or tension is built up and what effect it has on
your appreciation of the short story.
1. What is the question actually asking you to do? Copy the question
and underline the important parts.
Choose a short story in which suspense or tension is created. Show
how this suspense or tension is built up and what effect it has on
your appreciation of the short story.
 Ideas

• Title – first warning because of connotations of ‘Lighthouse’

• Megan and Bobby quickly fall out and Megan bullies Bobby
• Foreshadowing – ‘a monster will get you’
• Setting – ‘deserted beach’ causes the reader to be immediately concerned
• Stranger on golf course – non-threatening, Megan still worried, irony of his
warning
• Foreshadowing of the body in the water at the Lighthouse
• Confirmation of the threat the stranger poses always delayed, but hinted at-
‘hovering around Bobby’, ‘bent to hear if Megan was breathing’ – only very
subtly realised right at the end that he is murdering Megan and kidnapping
Bobby.
• Setting adds to the tension as it absorbs Megan at the end
 Essay Plan

• Step 2: Select the points that are relevant for your essay
choice and start to put these into a sensible structure. About
4/5 should be enough.
• Step 3: Write down topic sentences for the beginning of every
paragraph.
1- use the words of the question.
2 – introduce the paragraph focus.
• Step 4: include the quotations that you plan to use in each
section
 Critical Essay Introduction

Introduce the text and author

• Refer to the question and its keywords
• Have a clear line of thought / argument that is explicitly relevant
to the question
• Be specific – briefly mention specific parts of the text you will
cover in your essay
• Try to mention the central concerns, themes and techniques you
will analyse – but do not list them.
• Don’t say ‘in this essay I will …’, use ‘I’, ‘essay’, ‘point’ or list
your arguments.
1. Write your introduction using this guide.
 Sample Intro
Use words of the question – nothing
wrong with this.
Agnes Owen’s short story ‘The Lighthouse’ effectively creates suspense
and tension throughout. The short story focuses on two young children
who have been left by their parents to play on a deserted beach. The
older sibling, Megan, decides that they should walk to the far
A BRIEF summary
lighthouse, of points
but her that are
younger brother, Bobby, does not wish to go. The
relevant to your essay – nothing else.
two argue and Megan abandons Bobby to pursue her goal. Upon
reaching the lighthouse she realises her mistake but unfortunately
arrives back too late to save them both from a strange man. The short
story uses a variety of techniques such as setting, characterisation and
foreshadowing in order to maintain the suspense and tension
throughout. Line of argument – what I will be SHOWING the
reader throughout
 SEAL Paragraphs
Now write up your body paragraphs using
this structure.

STATEMENT – this is your topic sentence or sentences. Use it to make

your point. Introduce the important character/setting/scene and say
why it is important.
EXAMPLE – quote a specific example or examples. You should give a
quote as evidence in every genre.
ANALYSIS – analyse your example. Explain clearly and in detail what
your example proves. Think about why you chose it and how the writer’s
message is made clear.
LINK – link back to the question and the writer’s central concerns.
Explain how you have used this point to answer the question. Make sure
you give your opinion on how well the writer has conveyed his/her
message through the character/language/scene you have focused on.
 Conclusion

• Use this to round up your points – briefly

summarise what you have said.
• Refer to the question and try to show how you
have answered it.
• Give your overall opinion of the text and the
writer’s message.
Now write your conclusion.