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English 30-1

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Critical essay

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Critical essay. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Critical essay

English 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

  1. Literary essays are conventionally written in

    1. a) the future tense
    2. b) whichever tense the text uses
    3. c) the present tense when discussing events in a text
    4. d) the past tense throughout

  2. Which is the strongest thesis for a critical essay?

    1. a) Macbeth is a play about ambition and murder
    2. b) Ambition is an important theme in literature
    3. c) This essay will discuss ambition in Macbeth
    4. d) Ambition destroys Macbeth because he chooses it over every relationship that steadies him

  3. The main problem with a paragraph that retells what happens in the text is that it

    1. a) describes rather than analyzes
    2. b) uses the wrong tense
    3. c) repeats the thesis
    4. d) is too short

  4. A controlling idea is

    1. a) the central claim your whole essay develops
    2. b) the topic of the text you chose
    3. c) a summary of the plot
    4. d) the title of the essay

  5. A topic sentence should

    1. a) summarize the previous paragraph
    2. b) quote from the text
    3. c) introduce a new character
    4. d) state the paragraph's point and connect it to the controlling idea

  6. A strong critical essay conclusion

    1. a) extends the controlling idea to what it means beyond the text
    2. b) repeats the introduction almost word for word
    3. c) introduces a new argument
    4. d) summarizes the plot one last time

  7. The five scoring categories for the Critical/Analytical Response are Thought and Understanding, Supporting Evidence, Form and Structure, Matters of Choice, and

    1. a) Voice
    2. b) Matters of Correctness
    3. c) Ideas and Impressions
    4. d) Presentation

  8. After quoting, the most valuable sentence you can write is one that

    1. a) introduces the next quotation
    2. b) explains how the quotation supports your claim
    3. c) translates the quotation into simpler words
    4. d) gives the page number

  9. The Critical/Analytical Response asks you to write about

    1. a) the text provided on the exam paper
    2. b) a literary text you have studied, in response to the assignment's idea
    3. c) any topic you choose
    4. d) your personal experience

  10. A quotation is best integrated when it

    1. a) is as long as possible
    2. b) is woven into your own sentence and then explained
    3. c) replaces your explanation
    4. d) stands alone as its own paragraph

Answer key · Critical essay

English 30-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) the present tense when discussing events in a text — The literary present treats the text as always happening: Macbeth hesitates, then acts. Slipping between tenses is a common Matters of Correctness problem.
  2. d) Ambition destroys Macbeth because he chooses it over every relationship that steadies him — A thesis makes an arguable claim and hints at how it will be argued. Announcing what the essay will discuss, or naming a theme, commits you to nothing.
  3. a) describes rather than analyzes — Plot summary shows you read the text; analysis shows you understood it. The fix is usually to ask why the author made this choice and what it produces.
  4. a) the central claim your whole essay develops — Topic is what you are writing about; the controlling idea is what you are saying about it. Every paragraph should be traceable back to that claim.
  5. d) state the paragraph's point and connect it to the controlling idea — Reading only the topic sentences should reveal the argument's spine. If they read as plot events rather than claims, the essay has slipped into summary.
  6. a) extends the controlling idea to what it means beyond the text — A conclusion should leave the reader somewhere new: the significance of the pattern you traced, or what the text suggests about people generally. Repetition is a missed opportunity, and a new argument is a structural problem.
  7. b) Matters of Correctness — Thought and Understanding and Supporting Evidence carry the most weight, with Form and Structure, Matters of Choice and Matters of Correctness each worth slightly less. Correctness matters, but thinking matters more.
  8. b) explains how the quotation supports your claim — The connective work is the analysis. Paraphrasing the quotation restates what the marker just read; explaining its significance is what Thought and Understanding rewards.
  9. b) a literary text you have studied, in response to the assignment's idea — You choose the text, and the prompt supplies the idea you must address through it. Knowing two or three texts thoroughly beforehand is most of the preparation.
  10. b) is woven into your own sentence and then explained — Introduce, quote, analyze. A quotation dropped in without comment leaves the marker to do the analysis, and they will not do it for you.