Transcript Slide 1

The Critical Essay
Structure
How will my essay be structured?
1. Introduction
2. Main Body- usually 3 or 4 paragraphs.
3. Conclusion
We are Learning...
How to write an effective
introduction.
Use this method:
1. Give the name of the text, the name of the
author and mention words from Part One of the
essay question.
2: Briefly summarise what the text is about (adapt
according to the essay question).
3: Mention what you will be writing about in your
essay and refer to Part Two of the essay question.
Try to refer to the theme(s).
Example Introduction
Text: “Glasgow 5 March 1971” by Edwin Morgan
Essay Question:
Choose a poem in which setting is a significant
feature.
Explain briefly what the setting is and then go
on to describe the importance of the setting
to the poem’s central concerns.
Example introduction
A poem in which setting is a significant feature is
“Glasgow 5 March 1971” by Edwin Morgan.
The poem is set in Sauchiehall Street in
Glasgow and describes a violent assault that is
committed on an innocent young couple by
two criminals during a robbery, causing them
severe injuries. This essay will discuss the
different techniques that Morgan uses so
effectively to convey this horrific assault, such
as metaphor and onomatopoeia, and how the
poem portrays the violence of Scottish society.
Example
Text: “Shooting Stars” by Carol Ann Duffy
Essay Question:
Choose a poem in which setting is a significant
feature.
Explain briefly what the setting is and then go
on to describe the importance of the setting
to the poem’s central concerns.
Example introduction
A poem in which setting is a significant feature is
“Shooting Stars” by Carol Ann Duffy. The poem is set
in a Nazi Concentration Camp during the Holocaust
and, through the voice of the speaker, we are told of
the atrocities that took place and of the torture and
murder the prisoners inside were forced to endure.
This essay will discuss how Duffy effectively evokes
the Concentration Camp through her use of
techniques such as imagery, emotive language and
word choice and how, in doing so, she is able to
explore the themes of human suffering and the
inhumanity of mankind.
We are Learning...
How to write paragraphs using P.Q.E
The main body of your essay is where you develop
your essay and go into detail with your
Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation.
All the paragraphs in the main body of your essay
should be written using P.Q.E.
This will help to ensure that your paragraphs have a
good structure, and your essay is well organised.
Point
Quote
Explain
Quote Again
Explain Again
Point (topic sentence)
You write one sentence and you do 3 things:
• Make a point about the text which indicates what you
will be focusing on in your paragraph.
• Refer to the essay question (try to paraphrase).
• Refer to the theme of the text (directly or indirectly).
Quote
Write one sentence:
• Provide a quote from the text that supports
your Point (remember your inverted commas!)
• Put your quote in context (so that it can be
clearly understood).
(Remember: you usually do this twice in each
paragraph)
Explain
Write 3 or 4 detailed sentences:
• Analyse and evaluate the techniques that have been
used, using critical terminology.
• Refer to the essay question.
• Refer to the theme (s) of the text (directly or
indirectly)
(Remember: you do this twice in each paragraph)
Example paragraph
Text: “Glasgow 5 March 1971” by Edwin Morgan
Essay Question:
Choose a poem which describes a scene or
incident vividly.
Explain briefly what happens and then show
how the poetic techniques used make the
description vivid.
Morgan vividly conveys the violence of the attack on the
young couple and, in doing so, helps the reader to
understand that we live in a violent society. He
describes how “the young man’s face/is bristling with
fragments of glass” after he is attacked and pushed
into the shop window. This metaphor clearly illustrates
how the broken glass has embedded itself into the
man’s face, covering it like a beard. We can imagine
the pain and suffering that the man would have
experienced as the tiny fragments of glass would be
cutting into his flesh, covering him with blood and
horribly disfiguring him with scars.
... Morgan also explains that, after she is pushed
through the window, “the girl’s leg...spurts
arterial blood”. The onomatopoeia in the word
“spurts” enables the reader to almost hear the
sound of the blood gushing out of the possibly
fatal wound in the young lady’s leg. The blood
is escaping her body uncontrollably as the
broken glass has viciously torn open an artery
and the girl would undoubtedly be in both
terror and agony as her life drains away due to
this unprovoked attack on a busy street in
Glasgow.
Example paragraph
Text: “Shooting Stars” by Carol Ann Duffy
Essay Question:
Choose a poem in which the creation of mood
or atmosphere is an important feature.
Show how the poet creates the mood or
atmosphere and explain how it helps to
convey the poem’s main themes.
The atmosphere of death that permeates the poem is made
apparent to the reader through Duffy’s depiction of the pain
and suffering that the Jews were forced to endure as a result of
the inhumanity of their Nazi captors. The speaker would have
been constantly reminded of her imminent death as she
informs us that she was forced to live “beneath the gaze of men
with guns”. Duffy’s use of emotive language with “guns” clearly
demonstrates the persistent threat of violence and aggression
that the Nazi soldiers represented. These men were able to
maintain control and dominance over their prisoners through
terror as they were in possession of weapons which could end
the Jews’ lives at any moment. Duffy’s use of word choice with
“beneath” also effectively conveys the extent to which the Jews
were perceived to be inferior and less than human by the Nazi
soldiers who kept them imprisoned, and that the soldiers firmly
believed that they had not only the power but also the right to
murder them without fear of reprisal.
...This atmosphere of death is further conveyed by Duffy
when the speaker reveals that “strong men wept” due to
the suffering, torture and murder being inflicted upon the
innocent people inside the camp. Duffy effectively
illustrates the emotional turmoil that the Jews endured in
the knowledge that their lives, and the lives of those that
they love, were soon to reach an unjust and premature
end due to the Nazis’ genocide. Her contrast of the words
“strong” and “wept” makes the reader understand that
these men who are usually brave, stoic and resilient could
no longer cope and were engulfed by overwhelming
sorrow, despair and anguish due to the death and horror
that was surrounding them every moment in the camp.
We are learning...
How to write an effective conclusion
Your concluding paragraph should include the
following, in any order:
• Use the words in the question to make a
statement of conclusion.
• Sum up your main arguments.
• Refer to the theme(s) and techniques you have
discussed.
Example conclusion
Text: “Glasgow 5 March 1971” by Edwin Morgan
Essay Question:
Choose a poem in which setting is a significant
feature.
Explain briefly what the setting is and then go
on to describe the importance of the setting
to the poem’s central concerns.
Throughout the poem, “Glasgow 5 March 1971”,
Edwin Morgan uses a variety of effective
techniques to successfully convey the horrific
attack that took place on an innocent young couple
in Glasgow. The poem is dramatic from the
opening, and it goes on to illustrate the sheer
violence and cruelty of the assault which changed
the lives of two innocent people forever. Through
his description of the life-threatening injuries the
couple received and his portrayal of the wilful
blindness and self-obsessed nature of the public,
Morgan makes a powerful statement to the reader
about the violence and cruelty of Scottish society.
Example conclusion
Text: “Shooting Stars” by Carol Ann Duffy
Essay Question:
Choose a poem in which the creation of mood
or atmosphere is an important feature.
Show how the poet creates the mood or
atmosphere and explain how it helps to
convey the poem’s main themes.
Throughout the poem “Shooting Stars” by Carol Ann
Duffy, the poet effectively evokes a powerful
atmosphere of death through her skilful use of
techniques such as simile, word choice and
onomatopoeia and, in doing so, she makes a powerful
statement about the inhumanity of mankind and the
human suffering it causes. Duffy vividly depicts the
horrific conditions inside the concentration camp and
the cruel and barbaric acts of the Nazi soldiers. She
also effectively conveys the main message of the
poem- that we must never forget the horrors of the
Holocaust or allow this type of tragedy to happen
again.