How to write the Critical Lens Essay

How to write the Critical Lens Essay

Your Task:
Write a critical essay in which you discuss two works
of literature you have read from the particular
perspective of the statement that is provided for you
in the Critical Lens.

In your essay, provide a valid interpretation of the
statement, agree or disagree with the statement as
you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using
specific references to appropriate literary elements
from the works.

Practice assignment: Step by step
1. Choose a critical lens from the list below.
2. Choose a literary element from the list below
3. Use the Critical Lens Structure
•Introduction
•Body Paragraph 1
–Literary Work 1
–Literary Element 1
•Body Paragraph 2
–Literary Work 2
–Literary Element 2
•Conclusion
4. An example of a critical lens essay is found a the end of this posting

• Introduction - there are five steps to your introduction (1) Introduce/State the Quote (2) Interpret the Quote  (3) Agree or Disagree with the Quote (4) Write a Thesis  statement that includes the critical lens and the two works of literature (5) Mention a literary element you can write about in the Body Paragraphs

       What is the Thesis part of the Introduction:   copy and memorize this template for the Regents:
                         Both (title of literary work 1) by (author of literary work 1) and (title of literary work          2) by (author of literary work 2) support the idea that (insert critical lens or shortened idea about critical lens here)


• Body Paragraph 1 - there are FIVE steps to the body paragraph FIVE STEPS:
1.Topic Sentence:  The novel ________ shows that ________.
2.Transition Statement/Literary Element : One way (author/work) proves this point is through (insert literary element)
3. Define a literary element:  Theme is the central message revealed through a literary work.
4. Explain how the literary element can relate to the critical lens or your thesis statement
5. Write a concluding sentence:

•Body Paragraph 2 - same structure as body paragraph 1
     –Literary Work 2
     –Literary Element 2

• Conclusion - There are FIVE steps to the conclusion: FIVE STEPS:
1.Introduce/State Quote
2.Interpret Quote
3.Agree or Disagree with the Quote
4.Thesis
–The novel _________ by ________ supports/does not support the idea that (reword the quote).
5.Concluding Sentence (that ties the main ideas of the paper back to the critical lens)

Introduction:
FOUR STEPS:
1.Introduce/State Quote
2.Interpret Quote
3.Agree or Disagree with the Quote
4.Thesis


Literary Elements - Note the ones listed in BOLDFACE TYPE
•CHARACTERIZATION the various means an author uses to describe and develop characters (direct/indirect)
•CONFLICT a confrontation or struggle between opposing forces
(Man v. Man ; Man v. Self ; Man v. Nature ; Man v. Society)
•FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE descriptions that associate or compare distinct things
(simile ; metaphor ; alliteration ; personification ; hyperbole)
•FLASHBACK a scene that interrupts the present action to depict some earlier event
 •FORESHADOWING an author’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a story
•IMAGERY the use of language to convey a visual picture or represent a sensory experience
•IRONY a contradiction between what is expected (or what appears to be) and what actually happens
•PLOT  the sequence of events in a literary workexposition –rising action –climax –falling action -resolution
•POINT OF VIEW the perspective from which a narrative is told
first-person “I” ; third-person(omniscient/limited)
•SETTING the time and place of the action in a literary work
•SYMBOLISM anything that stands for or represents something else
•THEME the central messages revealed through a literary work
•TONE the writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject



Examples of ELA Critical Lens Quotations

Critical Lens Options:
•“In literature, evil often triumphs but never conquers.”

•“The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience.” -J.F. Clarke

•“Good literature substitutes for an experience which we have not ourselves lived through.” -Alexander Solzhenitsyn

•“It is not what an author says, but what he or she whispers, that is important.” -Logan Pearsall Smith

•“It is the responsibility of the writer to expose our many grievous faults and failures and to hold up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams, for the purpose of improvement.” -John Steinbeck

•“All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil.”

•“All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature.” -Duff Brenna Brenna

•“Good people… are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure” -William Saroyan

Click the link "Question 28"