National 5 Revision Tutorial

Critical Essays

Critical Reading: Section 2

• How Long?

• How Many Marks are Available?

• How Many Questions?

• Dos and Don’ts?

Process

• Selecting a Task

- Look through relevant ‘Genre’ Sections

DRAMA PROSE POETRY

FILM & TELEVISION

DRAMA

LANGUAGE STUDY

Deconstructing the Task

• How many parts are there to each task?

Answers to questions in this section should refer to the text and to such relevant features as: characterisation, setting, language, key incident(s), climax/turning point, plot, structure, narrative technique, theme, ideas, description…

3. Choose a novel or short story or non-fiction text which deals with an important issue (e.g. social, political, moral, religious…).

Identify the issue and, by referring to appropriate techniques, show how the author deepens your understanding of it.

• What is the function of each part of the task?

• What decisions do you have to make and when?

Helps Planning Response

Helps Planning Response

Helps Choose

Task

Planning and Writing your Response

• Good idea to do a quick/basic plan first

• Put a line through the plan when finished

• Could make a quick note of quotations you will use

• Be clear about your line of argument – what are you proving/arguing in your essay?

Your Response Should Demonstrate (success criteria)

• UNDERSTANDING (What the text is about)

- of the text ‘as a whole’

- of the ‘central concerns of the text’

- of the task

Your Response Should Demonstrate (success criteria)

• ANALYSIS (Techniques/Effects/How created)

- ‘thorough awareness’ of the writer’s techniques

- ‘confident use of’ critical terminology

- ‘very detailed/thoughtful’ explanation of how stylistic devices create certain

effects/meaning

- ‘a range of’ well chosen references/quotations

Your Response Should Demonstrate (success criteria)

• EVALUATION (How effective text & techniques are)

- ‘very well developed’ commentary of what has been enjoyed/gained

- genuine engagement with themes/purpose

- success of techniques and effects

- ‘a range of well-chosen’ references to relevant features

Your Response Should Demonstrate (success criteria)

• EXRESSION (clarity & sophistication of response)

- clear line of thought through use of language

- spelling/grammar/punctuation/sentence construction ‘consistently accurate’

- structured effectively – enhances meaning/purpose

- paragraphing ‘accurate & effective’

REMEMBER!

A Critical Essay IS A Discursive Essay

Arguing/Proving something about Text

Must have a clear line of argument throughout

Must have Evidence to support points

Clear & logical Structure

Explain significance of evidence = analysis

Conclusion – conclude line of argument

Topic Sentences/Linkage/Transitional

Markers

Introduction – set up line of argument

INTRODUCTIONS

TITLE

(in inverted commas, with capitals)

Type of Text

(‘genre’ – poem, novel etc.)Writer’s Name

(first time in full, thereafter just surname – remember caps)

Reference to Task

(set up line of argument which should be based around words of task)

Some context

(demonstrate your knowledge of text)

Reference to Key Themes/Message/Pur

pose

(again show understanding – might

be built into task)

Evaluative Language

(show your engagement)

‘The Veldt’, by Ray Bradbury, is a thought-provoking short story which deals with an important social issue, which is society’s over-reliance on technology and the damaging effects this can have. Despite being written in the 1950s, a time when the television was enjoying a Golden age and becoming more common in people’s homes, Bradbury still successfully delivers a powerful and ominous message which is still pertinent in today’s society. Through a variety of clever techniques, Bradbury effectively warns us that an over-reliance on technology can severely damage our relationships and leave us unable to do things for ourselves.

MAIN PARAGRAPHS

Topic Sentences

Main Points of Analysis

Evidence – at least one quotation

Sub-conclusion

Evaluative Language

TOPIC SENTENCES

Introduce Focus of

Paragraph

Link To Task

Create sense of Linkage/Progression

= Transitional Markers

Use Writer’s name to stay

analytical

Evaluative Language

Furthermore, Bradbury’s effective use of imagery helps to convey his warning by creating a sinister and ominous atmosphere around the technology in the house and nursery.

QUOTATIONS

Must be followed by an analytical comment – explanation of what it suggests/shows and

how

Must be properly

integrated

Introduce Focus of

Paragraph

Evaluative Language

Vary/avoid ‘This Shows’

Bradbury suggests the realistic nature of the nursery by using the senses to create a vivid and overpowering impression. We are told that George ‘could feel [the hot sun] on his neck like a hot paw’. Here, the physicality of the comparison emphasises how real the African Veldland seems, whilst the idea of the paw conjures up the image of the lions and makes even the sun seem threatening, as though it could pounce at any moment.

Bradbury suggests the realistic nature of the nursery by using the senses to create a vivid and overpowering impression. Whilst in the nursery, George takes in his surroundings:

‘That sun. He could feel it on his neck like a hot paw’.

Here, the physicality of the comparison emphasises how real the African Veldland seems, whilst the idea of the paw conjures up the image of the lions and makes even the sun seem threatening, as though it could pounce at any moment.

SUB-CONCLUSIONS

Refocus on the Task

Sum up/bring together the points of the

paragraph

Use Writer’s name to stay

analytical

Evaluative Language

Relate points to theme/purpose –

may be necessary to task

By combining vivid similes and metaphors when describing the technology within the house, Bradbury creatively delivers his warning and implies the potential threat that an over-reliance on technology could have within society.

CONCLUSIONS

Sums up main line of

argument

Refocuses On Task

Sums up main points relating to

task/argument

Restate title, writer’s full

name, type of text

Evaluative Language

Overall, Ray Bradbury successfully explores an important social issue in his powerful short story ‘The Veldt’. Through a combination of clever characterisation, vivid imagery and an ironic ending, Bradbury delivers a stark warning about the danger of relying too heavily on technology. The story skilfully leaves us wondering whether the seemingly exaggerated ‘Happylife Home’ is in fact closer to modern living than Bradbury could ever have imagined.

Varying ‘This Shows’• Conveys

• Implies

• Reveals

• Indicates

• Highlights

• Illuminates

• Depicts• Embodies• Evokes

• Suggests

• Reinforces

• Emphasises

• Portrays

• Here Bradbury indicates…

• By comparing… Bradbury suggests that…

• The image of… embodies the idea that…

Evaluative Language• Successfully• Effectively• Skilfully• Creatively• Cleverly• Imaginatively• Powerfully• Emotively• Evocatively• Realistically• Harrowingly• Disturbingly

and in honour of Miss Ross…

• Poignantly

• This successful portrayal of…

• The powerful way in which…

• The setting is effective in…