Choosing the Right Question

Know your question

Choosing the right question

The most important part of the Higher Critical Essay paper is choosing a question that helps you focus on a specific text. You have to narrow down your choice among the novels, short stories, plays and poems that you have studied and apply the question to one of them.

When you are looking at the exam questions it is important that you read them through very carefully. It's tempting to hunt frantically for the first question that looks as though it might suit the texts you know and plunge straight into it without even glancing at the other questions. Remember your answers must be relevant to the questions.

Spend a few minutes reading through the paper and make sure you understand all the questions. Once you have considered every question on the paper and put a mark against the 'possibles', you have to make your final choices.

Understanding the question

It's important that you understand the question and that you know precisely what it is asking you to do. Look at the following question.

Question

Choose a novel which is influenced by the presence of a powerful or overbearing character.

Show how the writer creates this impression of the character and discuss to what extent you sympathise with him or her.

There are two parts to the question:

1. Here the question demands that your essay focuses on a novel influenced by a powerful or overbearing character. If you have to search hard to find one, then it is highly probable that you won't have enough information on that character to write an essay with sufficient depth.
2. The second part could be described as the 'body' of the question. This is the most important part of the question and asks you to take your knowledge of the novel and use whatever information you feel is relevant to answer the question. In this case you are asked to look at how the author presents a character to the reader with emphasis on what makes him or her powerful or overbearing. This should reveal how a character's actions or what they say in a text confirm your impressions. You are also asked to what extent you sympathise with the character. Here you should base your opinion on a critical assessment of how effective the author has been in their depiction of that character.

At the beginning of the exam paper, before you even get to the questions you are reminded about certain things which you must do in every answer. You are instructed to refer closely to the text and reminds you of things you should include in your essay. This means that you must provide evidence for the observations you make by quoting what the writer or some of the characters say. You should also make specific reference to incidents, conversations and parts of the narrative. In these you do not actually have to quote from the text but it is important that you identify exactly which part of the novel you are using as evidence for your argument.

You are asked to evaluate and analyse by making reference to some of the techniques or features contained in the box at the head of each Section. These are meant to help you.

In the case of the question we are dealing with, focusing on characterisation would most obviously be part of your essay. Any of the others mentioned in the box or any techniques of your own choosing could be considered in your answer.

Essay question exam skills

Example 1 - Novel

Now let's try to break down a question to make sure we understand exactly what it is asking us to do. Let's imagine you have studied Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song. You have looked through the questions and you find one that you think is relevant to the text.

Question

Choose a novel in which a main character is seen to grow or mature in the course of the story.

Show how the novelist engages your interest in the character and his or her development.

The question is ideal for writing about Sunset Song. The novel is an account of the life of Chris Guthrie. At the beginning she is a girl and by the end she is has a young family of her own. So no problems with relevancy.

The next part of the question asks you to describe how compelling you find the way the author has depicted her growth to maturity. Are you engaged by Chris Guthrie's story? Why? How has Grassic Gibbon created that interest?

Remember that you have to refer to specific parts of the text. This is where you have to justify your opinion by quoting from the novel and describing incidents that will illustrate your answer. In your analysis you will probably have to refer to one or two of the techniques or features in the box at the head of the Section.

In this case you would clearly write about characterisation. You might also want to write about the way the novel is actually structured around the periods of Chris Guthrie's young life, or that the omniscient narrator helps us sympathise with her suffering.

Example 2 - Play

Let's imagine you have studied Shakespeare's Hamlet. You choose a question on the exam paper that will best show your understanding of the text.

Question

Choose a play in which a character struggles with her or his conscience.

Outline briefly the reasons for the character's dilemma and go on to discuss how successfully the dramatist engages your sympathy for her or him.

Well you couldn't really find a more relevant question for Hamlet. The focus of the play is the tragic hero's struggle to find the resolve within himself to exact revenge for his father's death.

The 'body' of the question asks you to explain why Hamlet is unable to make up his mind. Be careful here. You are not being asked to retell the story but to describe his inner dilemmas. Here you are also asked to describe how Shakespeare has been effective in making us sympathise with Hamlet.

Remember that you have to refer to specific parts of the text. This is where you have to justify your opinion by quoting from the play and describing incidents that will illustrate your answer. In your analysis you will probably have to refer to one or two of the techniques or features in the box at the head of the Section.

In this case you might focus on the famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy scene, illustrating how Hamlet tries to find resolution from his inner conflict. You might also write about the way Hamlet's descent into madness seems to be the price for his inability to take revenge.

Plan your answer

Selecting the relevant material

You have established the question and the text you are writing about in the Higher Critical Essay paper. Now you have to start planning. This means selecting the relevant information for the essay. Resist the temptation to write everything you know about this text or paraphrase the story.

Your task, before you start answering the question, is to select the relevant items of information from a range of possibilities. The features and techniques used in the text might include:

• theme/minor themes
• characterisation: main/minor characters
• setting: time; period; place
• plot and structure: parallels; repetition; key scene; cliffhanger; turning point; resolution
• narrative technique: first/second/third person
• language: dialogue; poetic devices; tone
• symbolism: imagery; simile and metaphor
• Organising your material
• The exam gives you one hour and 30 minutes to write two essays. The next thing to consider then, is 'budgeting' your time. How long can you spend on each essay? Remember to allocate your time equally. If you run out of time, move on. The length of your essays is not the important thing; perceptive critical argument will be rewarded before word count. You can always gain extra marks if you use five minutes reading through each essay at the end to check spelling, grammar, punctuation and sense.
• It's vital that you organise your material before you begin writing your essays. It can be helpful to make a sketch or plan of what you are going to do in the questions: notes, scribbles, arrows, key words or anything else that helps you to focus on the demands of the question. One of the best ways to do this is using web diagrams. These are easy to interpret and should help you organise the information you want to use. Remember selecting the key information is your main priority. Use PEER:
• Point,
• Example,
• Explain by Analysis,
• Respond in a way the is Relevant to the task
• to structure your paragraphs. Don't be tempted to squeeze something irrelevant into the essay however brilliant your idea!
• Let's look at some examples.

Novel

Question

Choose a novel which you think has a definite turning point or decisive moment.

Explain briefly what happens at that point or moment and go on to explain why you think it is so important to the rest of the novel.

Writing an essay in response to this question demands that you show detailed knowledge of a key incident in the novel. You must show that you understand the incident in terms of its importance to the novel as a whole and identify the relevant aspects of the text. The structure of the novel would probably suggest ideas about the positioning of that key incident. The incident is probably associated with a main character or with the development of a theme within the novel.

Your notes might look like this:

Example: Web diagram - Novel

• theme
• what are the central ideas in the novel?
• does the key incident draw on these ideas?
• is the theme specific to the novel/ does it echo universal ideas?
• characterisation
• who is involved in the key incident? characters - major and minor
• narrative
• who tells the story? narrator - 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd person
• structure
• is the incident a key point in the structure of the novel? when does it come?
• plot
• does the incident affect the action of the novel? why is it important?
• setting
• where/ when does the incident occur? time/ period/ place - are any of these a focus of the novel?

Poetry

Question

Choose a poet who reflects on the idea of change.

Show how the poet explores the subject in one or more of his/her poems, and explain to what extent your appreciation of the subject was deepened.

In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to at least two of: theme, structure, imagery, tone, or any other appropriate feature.

Here you would be likely to base your answer on the thematic concerns of the poem and, as you would be discussing 'change' as an element of the text, it is highly likely that an important feature of the poem's structure would be a turning point. The 'deepening appreciation' aspect of the question is probably going to involve you in discussing the effective use of language and poetic devices, such as imagery. The list of techniques in the box at the head of the Section will help to remind you of the possibilities.

In a web diagram your notes might look like this:

• theme
• how is change the central idea within the poems?
• how does the poet reflect on change?
• imagery
• how does the poet use imagery and symbolism?
• what kinds of similes and metaphors are used?
• language
• what features of language and poetic devices does the poet use?
• tone
• what is the voice of the poem?
• what atmosphere/ mood does it convey?
• is it the poet's voice, or another from within the poem?
• personal response
• how effective do you think the poet is in exploring the subject of change?
• structure
• do the poems have an obvious structure?
• is it important to the overall meaning?
• is the theme reflected in the 'shape' of the poem?

Play

Question

Choose from a play a scene in which one character makes an accusation against another character.

Explain the dramatic importance of the scene and discuss how it affects your sympathy for either or both of the characters.

The way you have studied a text will shape the features and techniques you focus on in the exploration of the play, but are likely to include things like characterisation, setting, narrative and symbolism. You might approach this essay by looking at the theme and then show how the characters exemplify the idea of evil in the play. Depending on the text you have studied, setting and narrative might add to the exploration. You might then be able to look at the way the evil is symbolised throughout the novel.

In a web diagram your notes might look like this:

Example: Web diagram - Play

• theme
• what are the important central ideas in the play?
• are they reinforced in the scene?
• characterisation
• which characters in the play are involved in the key scene?
• what is their importance to the play?
• major and minor?
• language
• what features of language are important in the play - is language used in any way that is remarkable?
• dialogue
• what can we learn from the interaction between the characters?
• symbolism
• what forms of imagery are used in the play? how does this symbolise the key themes of the play?
• setting
• where does the action of the play take place? time/ period/ place?

• PEER
• Here is an example of how you might use the PEER structure to plan an answer.
• Point,
• Example,
• Explain by Analysis,
• Respond in a way the is Relevant to the task
• Question
• Choose a poet who reflects on the idea of change.
• Show how the poet explores the subject in one or more of his/her poems, and explain to what extent your appreciation of the subject is deepened.
• In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to at least two of: theme, structure, imagery, tone or any other appropriate feature.
• This question suits Blackberry Picking well, as Heaney uses the poem as a means to reflect on how growing up naturally changes how we see the world. His experiences of childhood summers spent picking fruit - only for the vast amount of it to rot - serves as a metaphor for life in general, where optimism and the focus on immediate pleasure are replaced by a natural conservatism and pessimism. There is a clear theme of change in the poem, as Heaney looks back on his younger self through the eyes of an adult, to see how life has changed.
• Here is a sample paragraph using the PEER structure that deals with the imagery in the poem:
• (P) Heaney is convincing in his use of the extended metaphor, which brings to life his observation that childhood innocence must give way to adult realism. Just as the berries inevitably rot when picked from the bushes, we cannot escape the changes we go through when growing up. (E) After wildly picking every berry in sight, the persona and his friends return to the byre the next day, only to find the "glossy purple" berries have been transformed by a "rat-grey fungus". It becomes apparent in that moment that the berries are rotting and that in the childrens’ "lust for picking" they have failed to consider what might happen to the fruit. (E) By his use of the word "lust", Heaney is suggesting that the children pick the berries with a wild sense of abandon and that their desire to collect them in as vast a quantity as possible is almost uncontrollable. The berries have been transformed from "glossy purple" - connoting life, vitality and freshness - to "rat-grey" – a colour associated ultimately with decay and death. In the context of the poem, this experience clearly highlights the human condition itself, which can be summed up as the passage from innocence to experience. (R) It is only when the children have seen what has happened as a result of their efforts that they accept life isn’t always fair. Heaney leaves the reader pondering the fact that change – whether in terms of the berries or life in general - is inevitable, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.

Techniques

Understanding techniques

Sometimes, when writers deal with specific situations or people, they are also trying to address major themes about life and the world in which we live. Techniques are the elements that a writer brings to his or her story to emphasise the theme on which they are focusing.