The Critical/Analytical Response to Text The Craft of Writing an Essay – Part 1

1. The Critical/Analytical Response to TextThe Craft of Writing an Essay – Part 1 PLANNING THE ESSAY WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT A Think Aloud Process

2. Deciding on your thesis statement: The first step to planning your essay • The assumption is that you know your text inside out and have developed your own ideas in relation to the text • For a literary essay, you are asked to make a debatable claim that demonstrates your insight on a specific topic (essential question). Your claim should strike the reader as an “aha” rather than a “duh” observation

3. Diploma exam • For your Diploma exam, you will be given an essential question that can be related to a wide variety of texts. For example: • Discuss the idea(s) developed by the text creator about the effect an individual’s perspective has on personal beliefs.

4. STEP ONE Interpret the question (work the prompt) • Underline the key thematic words (perspective/ personal beliefs ) and the key words (effect) • develop your own interpretation: • Individual’s Perspective • Individual’s Beliefs • Effect of one on the other

5. STEP TWODecide on a text and create the question • Change the statement into a question (that you can answer) related to a specific text of your choice • What effect do the perspectives of Willy and his sons have on their personal beliefs in Arthur Miller’s DOS? • (How/Why/When (under what circumstances) does Willy Loman’s perspective on life affect the beliefs of his sons in Arthur Miller’s DOS?

6. STEP THREEBrainstorm a subset of questions • As you do so, think of possible answers. Let your imagination roam over all possible questions: • What are the perspectives of Willy, Biff, Happy? • How are these perspectives developed? • Do their perspectives change throughout the drama? • How does Biff’s/Happy’s/Willy’s perspective affect his personal beliefs? • How does Willy’s perspective affect the beliefs of his sons? • Does this change in the drama? • Do any of the characters attempt to change the beliefs of another (Biff & Willy? • Do Willy’s beliefs affect the perspectives of Hap and Biff? • What is Linda’s perspective on Willy’s situation? • What is Willy’s peropective of Biff’s beliefs?

7. STEP FOURCreate your claim & blueprint your supporting arguments • Look for a pattern (group your ideas) in your brainstorming that leads to a potential claim • Think of an argument/claim (that contains potential for debate) • Create at least three supporting arguments that support your main argument/claim • Be specific – have specific incidents from the play to back up your point

8. STEP FIVEWrite your thesis • A good thesis is not only a debatable claim, but also suggests the structure of the paper. The thesis allows the reader to imagine and anticipate the flow of the paper • Your statement should: • State the topic • State your insight/interpretation/claim • Refer the text if you have not already done so in your introductory paragraph • State specific character(s) involved • Suggest a sequence of points that logically prove the essay's main assertion • Be expressed in the present tense

9. FORMULA SENTENCE(When in doubt, try this) Think about it this way: • By looking at ___, we see that ___ (unique insight) which is significant because … Write it this way: • In (name of text), the author (name) develops the idea that… Consider: • whether your statement implies cause and effect (a ‘leads to’ statement), makes connections or comparisons (an ‘is’ statement) or comments on a theme related to the prompt

10. STEP SIXTest your thesis against the 5-part MTS (magic thesis statement) formula: • Identify what you are looking at (the effects of characters’ perspectives on their own or others beliefs) • identify the situation you can see / are describing • State where that leads • Point out the significance • Be able to restate your thesis in other words – literally write a sentence following your thesis that begins with “in other words”

11. Test your thesis (CSSMI) Clarity: • Use straightforward language – avoid reference to philosophers/philosophies or anything esoteric Specificity: • Is your thesis it too vague? For example, the statement "Shakespeare's characterization demonstrates his incredible insight as a playwright" is too vague because your reader can't be sure what you mean by "insight" or how it relates to "characterization" Strength: • Make sure you have at least three arguments (in mind) that support your thesis • Make sure you have evidence for each argument • Each argument should be the material for future body paragraphs Manageability: • Can you handle the topic within the time frame/space provided? Interest: • Does it state the obvious (“duh”)? If it's so obvious that nobody could fail to see it, it's probably not worth writing about

12. Write Your First Paragraph(there is flexibility in the order!) • Opening Hook • Statements that narrow the focus (work the prompt) • Offer interpretation of key theme words/ideas • Massage interpretation to suit the text • Thesis statement • In other words… • Blueprint • Transition

13. Honour & Certainty Level 3See next slide on how to change to a level 5 • King Lear is a man who has been forcibly removed from his exalted position by those who should revere him most – his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan. As such, Lear is the protagonist whose world holds no true degree of certainty or honor throughout William Shakespeare’s King Lear. However, by looking at King Lear’s fall and return to grace it becomes overt that introspection and self realization enables Lear to regain honor and certainty; the bathos, eventual insight and his daughter Cordelia are ultimately the facilitators to his redemption. Good opening hook. There is no interpretation or explanation given of honour and certainty or any context for the assertion that that KL’s world lacks honour and certainty . The implication that honour and certainty were lost and regained is also without context thus weakening the thesis statement. Blueprint needs clarification. Expressions such as “becomes overt” could be reworked for clarity and voice.

14. Honour & Certainty Level 3changed to a level 5 • King Lear is a man who has been forcibly removed from his exalted position by those who should revere him most – his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan. For Lear, a world of certainty means retaining the trappings of status in the form of an entourage of knights while honour is bestowed on him by his kingly status and acknowledged by the love and respect of his daughters. However, Lear’s world holds no true degree of certainty or honour throughout William Shakespeare’s King Lear, for at the outsethe is strippedof the dignity, wealth and power that would provide the honour and certainty he desires. By looking at King Lear’s fall and return to grace it can be seen thatLear’s own introspection and self realization enables him to re-interpret what it means to be honourable and thus regain the honour he lost.This can be seen in through Lear’s interactions with poor Tom and Gloucester on the heath, the bathetic scene where he mistakes his daughters for stools and his final reunion with Cordelia . Ultimately (in other words) Lear’s transformation and eventual insight is gained through the suffering he endures and his own realisation that his daughter, Cordelia, plays a part in facilitating his redemption.

15. EXAMPLE 1 (LEVEL 2-3)The struggle to restore honour and certainty • Decisions can change a life. We do not know if anything graceful or miserable will come of our decisions. The choices that we make may cause death or fatal disasters. However, honour and certainty will also be established during the process of our decisions making. Inner conflict is one of the most important ways to develop our ideas about making choices. It provides the right direction to take actions and helps us achieve certain goals. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s decision to avenge his father’s death helps him restore honour and certainty. • Level 2-3 –thesis needs clarification – “in other words…” and paragraph needs blueprinting

16. EXAMPLE 2 (LEVEL 4)The struggle to restore honour and certainty • The definition of honour is laden with irony. In one sense, to be honourable is to find “personal integrity” or allegiance to moral principles”; in another sense, it is society that judges one’s possession of the virtue. In fact religious and societal beliefs determine what makes an action honourable or not. In contrast, certainty is characterized the degree of security felt by an individual. The play Hamlet focuses on an individual plagued by uncertainty who finds himself forced to make several significant decisions despite the ambiguity around him, and realizes in the process that the faith in Christianity he held so strongly merely complicates his decisions, rather than showing him which direction to take. Throughout the course of the play Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet find that in order to restore certainty they must compromise their honour which, considering the time period in which was out of the question. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the characters demonstrate that honour and certainty often conflict. Shakespeare uses Hamlet to show that in order to achieve certainty, it is necessary for honour to be compromised. In other words, an individual must be able to reject societal beliefs in order to find truth. • Level 4 – a good claim but is this possible to demonstrate in the play? Does not address “the struggle to restore.” This paragraph would also be stronger if it contained a transition: “This can be most clearly seen in Hamlet when…”.

17. EXAMPLE 3 (LEVEL 4-5)The significance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life • Materialism: the philosophical belief that a conclusive connection between material wealth and happiness not only exists, but is in fact the pathway to spiritual enlightenment. This belief was highly embraced by the Roman Catholic Church during the 15th and 16th century, much to the dismay of Protestants trying to establish their religious rights. Queen Elizabeth was responsible for nationally recognizing the rights of Protestants in England, and peace was found between Protestants and Catholics. William Shakespeare, a playwright adored by both Queen Elizabeth and James I, was a Protestant, and he portrayed these contrasting beliefs into his plays in subtle ways. Protestants believe in idealistic thought; idealism being defined as the opposite of materialism: the path to enlightenment is though the mind. Another related belief of theirs is that if one can find truth in life, they will discover salvation. Truth’s definition is personal and different for everyone—one is expected to define it for themselves. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet juxtaposes these two beliefs between characters; both idealistic thought and the search for truth in life prove to be significant to the lives of King Claudius, Hamlet, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. King Claudius’ belief in an idealistic nation of Denmark leads him to killing his brother; Hamlet’s search for truth in life allows him to come to conclusions about life, death and murder; and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern’s idealistic and naive truthful outlook on life land them in mortal danger. Level 4 that is on its way to a 5 – the thesis needs to make a claim not be an observation

18. EXAMPLE 4 (LEVEL 5-almost)The significance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life • Hamlet could be seen as an unorthodox medieval detective. He is preoccupied, almost obsessed with uncovering the truth: the truth behind his father’s murder, and the truth of the ghost’s identity and words. He is also struggling with ideals – notions about how he should behave in the presence of his God, his peers and family, and how he should act to restore good to his kingdom in the wake of his father’s murder. It is also important to note Hamlet’s struggles with the contradictions between certain ideals. Hamlet could be accused of being indecisive, but this is a very superficial view. To ask: “Why is Hamlet indecisive?” is the more effective approach. By looking at Hamlet’s character and his internal struggles, it becomes clear that his questioning of the truth, his own idealism, and his struggles with contradicting ideals result in his tragic hesitancy. • Level 5 – almost; thesis needs clarification

19. The Five Paragraph Essay • See “The Craft of Essay Writing Part 2”