By: Phillip Mattie
Today I am going to be tackling a new, fearsome beast: the critical/analytical response. English 30-1 students will wrestle with this particularly crafty animal during their Diploma exam, and let me tell you, it is much different than any personal response question will ask.
However, with the appropriate equipment, the right attitude, and the proper preparation, this animal will be easy pickings. With that said, it is important to understand what is needed to successfully write a critical/analytical response. So, in this article, you will find out how to best prepare for such a response. Let’s go hunting.
Diploma Exam Preparation Tips
Example Examination Question
The first thing you need to do is actually read an example examination question. However, you need to do this well before you walk into the examination room. If you understand the fundamentals of what the exam will ask of you before even going into the exam room, consider yourself ahead of the game–and that’s why I’m here, to get you ahead. Here’s an example topic so you can get a feel of what will be asked of you:
Consider how our response to the changeable nature of life has been reflected and developed in a literary text(s) that you have studied. Discuss the idea(s) that the author(s) develops about the impact of our response to the changeable nature of life.[i]
Notice that the question allows you to choose a text for yourself. Shakespeare, Safran Foer, Conrad, all the typical High School English texts are up for grabs in this exam question. Short stories you have studied can also be used, here. The exam question you receive on your Diploma exam will most likely have this identical characteristic, however the topic may be different. Your English tutor may help with this.
On that note, identify the topic of the response.
In this case, it is the changeable nature of life. It is critically important to identify the topic. If you fail to identify the topic properly and write on how life is stagnant and remains the same, you will receive an insufficient mark and fail this portion of the exam. Remember, this is not a personal response, so you are not talking about how your life is always the same, that it is your personal experience that people cannot change/can change. Discuss how the authors and writers you have studied in your class have developed the idea of the changeable nature of life.
Your exam topic may ask you to write on a specific text, though that is not likely. However, it is a good idea to pick two or three texts to review before the exam. Variety is the spice of life, after all. The texts that you plan to write on should be texts you know extremely well, thematically and contextually.
Obviously, do not choose a text/texts that you are unfamiliar with. Write what you know, as the old adage goes.
If I might make one suggestion here, it would be that a thorough knowledge of the characters in whatever literature you have studied is needed. How characters change and the themes attached to each character. These ideas will serve you extremely well when writing the exam.
With that said, you need to analyze characters and how themes are attached to them. You can do this by selecting one or two characters from the texts you plan to write on. Make sure that the character(s) you choose is(are) developed in detail by the author. Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, etc..
From there, select quotes from the text that are thematically and contextually relevant.
You have studied themes and literary devices in great detail. So, when you are preparing for your exam, take your time and find some good, juicy quotes that the characters say. Underline those quotes, earmark the page, put a little sticky note on the page where you found the quote. Do whatever you need to do to remember and easily reference that quote. Find a handful of the best, most thematic and potent quotes that best represent a character.
Pro tip:
Find one quote at the beginning of a text, one in the middle, and one at the end. Better yet, remember plot analysis? Exposition, complication, conflict, climax, resolution? Choose quotes from these segments of the play or piece of literature, one from each. Finally, you will be in excellent shape.
And before you ask, yes, every piece of literature will have these plot elements in them. Complete this task with two or three additional texts of your choice. Just keep in mind that those texts need to have been studied in class–and you are set.
I fully realize that the diploma exam topic I have covered in this article is broad. The exam topic you receive will be similarly broad, and the question is purposefully phrased to be that way. It is up to you, the writer, to get a little specific. You can prepare for such an unwieldy question as posed above. Narrow the focus of your response by selecting characters and using them as examples in your response.
Select text to write on
However, when you do walk in to the exam room and read your topic, it will be up to you to select the appropriate source material. In preparing for the diploma exam, you will have analyzed and found quotes from three texts. After receiving the topic of the exam, I highly suggest selecting one–and only one–text to write on. More specifically, select one character to write on. By selecting only one text, you have effectively limited the amount of mistakes you could possibly make. Also, you have made your response much easier to organise. Selecting one topic will effectively make your response more focused and easier to write. This is one of the most important tips for English exams.
The critical/analytical response on the English 30-1 exam is all about preparation. Selecting the proper texts that you analyzed in class, picking important characters and finding relevant and thematic quotes from them will serve you well. Doing these things before the exam takes the stress out of it, allowing you to write more freely than you could have otherwise. Happy studying.
[i] Example Critical/Analytical Response Exam Question (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2013, from http://resource.rockyview.ab.ca/rvlc/ssela301/diplomaexams/samples/example_ela301_A.pdf