What do I have to do?
In the Higher English Critical Essay paper you are required to write two essay answers. One and a half hours are allocated to this paper (i.e. 45 minutes for each essay). Each essay is worth 25 marks. You must answer on two of the following four separate genres (i.e. on different types of text).
Section A: Drama
Section B: Poetry
Section C: Prose (either fiction or non-fiction)
Section D: Film and TV drama
The following areas are being assessed:
Section A: Drama
Section B: Poetry
Section C: Prose (either fiction or non-fiction)
Section D: Film and TV drama
The following areas are being assessed:
- The relevance of your essays to the questions you have chosen, and the extent to which you sustain an appropriate line of thought
- Your knowledge and understanding of key elements, central concerns and significant details of the chosen texts, supported by detailed and relevant evidence
- Your understanding, as appropriate to the questions chosen, of how relevantaspects of structure/style/language contribute to the meaning/effect/impact of the chosen texts, supported by detailed and relevant evidence
- Your evaluation, as appropriate to the questions chosen, of the effectiveness of the chosen texts, supported by detailed and relevant evidence
- The quality of your written expression and the technical accuracy of your writing