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CRITICAL ESSAYS

CRITICAL ESSAYS. Don’t get caught in a rut making the same mistakes. Let’s shake things up a bit. NUMBER 1 PRIORITY. Your number one priority should be to explore ALL the implications of your chosen task / question. WHAT ABOUT U,A,E?!?!.

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CRITICAL ESSAYS

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  1. CRITICAL ESSAYS Don’t get caught in a rut making the same mistakes. Let’s shake things up a bit.

  2. NUMBER 1 PRIORITY • Your number one priority should be to explore ALL the implications of your chosen task / question

  3. WHAT ABOUT U,A,E?!?! • If you fully answer the question in a way that lets you address the central concern(s) of your text, then the performance criteria will be fulfilled naturally. • This doesn’t mean you should forget about U, A and E – but they should be coming naturally if you’re fully exploring your question.

  4. WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOOT? • If you choose your question carefully and spend time thinking about all of its implications, then your answer will be much more relevant • Who has been told “You’re not being relevant to the question!” or asked “How is this relevant?!” before? This usually happens because you’re too focused on quoting and then showing you can analyse the life out of the quotations. Don’t lose sight of the BIGGER PICTURE.

  5. THE BIGGER PICTURE? • The bigger picture is your text’s overall meaning, or its CENTRAL CONCERN(S) • Your text is like an organism, and all the elements play vital roles in the organism’s success

  6. TRACING IT BACK • Whenever you talk about a literary or linguistic technique, you must be able to trace it back up the spine to the central concern • In the same way, whenever you talk about something in your essay, you must be able to trace it back to the task • In this way, you can see that no aspect of a good text (from the central concerns down to a specific word) exists on its own. They are all dependent on each other: if you chop off a finger, you could potentially bleed to death. Everything plays a specific role. • OBVIOUSLY, THEN: Your task and your central concerns should be able to be aligned in order for you to really have success

  7. ALIGNING YOUR TASK/CENTRAL CONCERNS • Basically, this means making sure that the task you choose will let you explore the bigger picture of your text

  8. EXAMPLE PROSE QUESTIONS Here, there are a few questions that make me think of ‘Gatsby’ – but which of them really get at the central concern(s)? POSSIBLE CENTRAL CONCERN OF GATSBY: The inherent problems associated with the American Dream and becoming obsessed with attaining a certain goal.

  9. LOOKING CLOSER… • At first glance, question five looks tempting: • …but is ‘Love’ really at the centre of Gatsby? (Is it even love that Gatsby feels? Maybe…but for me, it’s more

  10. LOOKING CLOSER… • But what’s this?!?! • I can immediately think of the deeper meaning behind MANY of the physical settings and especially the setting in TIME. • AND it’ll let me talk about the CENTRAL CONCERNS – easily.

  11. IMPLICATIONS • What are the implications of this question? PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ACTUALLY GET AT ALL OF THE IMPLICATIONS • A big problem is when people only half address the question

  12. POTENTIAL PROBLEM • Notice that it says “…of character and theme” • Now, we know that Gatsby (character) and the central concern (theme) are so heavily linked that they’re almost the same, but we need to be careful here to not assume that the SQA markers will just pick up on that. • In my discussion, I’d NEED to make sure I make this connection clear and/or discuss both of them, otherwise I’m NOT EXPLORING ALL THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS QUESTION

  13. LINE OF ARGUMENT • Once I’ve thought about what I need to talk about in my essay, I need to think about how I’ll stick it all together. I should think about creating a clear line of argument where all my sections flow naturally on from each other, building on what was said previously by LINKING. • Linking can take many forms: it can be a simple as explaining why you’re moving on / what you’re moving on to at the end or the start of a paragraph OR it could be more extensive – its own brief paragraph designed to bridge the gap between sections • EITHER WAY, links are like the glue that hold your essay together

  14. LINE OF ARGUMENT • TIME • VALLEY OF ASHES • EAST/WEST EGG • NEW YORK • GATSBY’S MANSION • NICK’S HOUSE • ETC • Which of these should I choose? • In what order should I present them? • Is there an advantage to doing ‘time’ • before any of the others? Why? • (establishes context) • How can I glue them together?

  15. EXAMPLE OF GOOD STUFF! In the following example, look how all of this is put into action. • You’ll see that all the implications of the question are explored in a way that lets the person address the central concerns of their text • You’ll see that the essay has a clear line of argument and clear links between sections • This person got 25/25!

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