The Critical Essay

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The Critical Essay

• From working thesis to final draft

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Writing is a process of.
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making choices
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You choose

• topic
• organization
• words
• emphasis on details
• selection of examples

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Professional writers make the same choices as you
do when you write.
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The critical or literary analysis essay

• analyzes
• explains
• interprets
• the choices that writers make

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A literary analysis essay

• Offers an interpretation of a work of
  literature
• Uses quotations and examples from the
• literature to support the interpretation
• Convinces the reader that the interpretation is
  correct

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A literary analysis essay contains

• An introduction with a thesis sentence as the
  final sentence of the paragraph
• At least three supporting body paragraphs
• A conclusion

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Thesis sentence

• A thesis sentence does not appear out of the
  clouds.
• A thesis sentence isnt always perfect the first
  time you write it down
• A working thesis is needed before you start to
  write

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THE WORKING THESIS

• guides you as you begin your draft
• can be tentative
• can be changed or refined

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Create a Working Thesis

COMMENT
TOPIC


WORKING THESIS
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EXAMPLES

• The first week of high school is filled with
  unexpected challenges.

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EXAMPLES

• Recent studies of depression suggest that this
  illness is much more closely related to an
  individuals biochemistry than previously
  believed.

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EXAMPLES

• Although the special effects hold our eyes, it
  is the contrast between good and evil that truly
  holds our attention in the Star Wars series of
  films.

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Girl in Hyacinth Blue

• Artits monetary aesthetic value
• Love
• Silence
• Ways of looking and understanding
• Beliefs and ideals of the historical period

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EXAMPLE

• Topic Art
• Comment
• Art is very important in the novel Girl in
  Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland.

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EXAMPLE

• Topic Art
• Comment
• The painting teaches an important lesson to
  several characters in Susan Vreelands novel Girl
  in Hyacinth Blue.

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EXAMPLE

• Topic Art
• Comment
• The painting of the young girl sitting by a
  window in Susan Vreelands novel Girl in Hyacinth
  Blue teaches several characters that beauty and
  imagination is as necessary to life as eating and
  sleeping.