How to plan for the critical essay
Where to start
Before you write your critical essay, you should have a clear idea of:
- what you are going to mention in your essay
- where this information should be included
Basic critical essay plan
No matter the text that you are studying, or the essay question that you have been given, it is helpful to have a basic or skeleton essay plan that you can adapt to fit different questions.
Here is an example of a basic essay plan:
Try it yourself
- Think about the essay text that you are studying in class.
- Choose one question from the correct section of a past paper that you think you could answer on in the exam.
- Spend 30 minutes adding the details for your text to the basic skeleton plan above.
Developed critical essay plan
You can develop your introduction, main body paragraphs and conclusion to create a developed essay plan.
Detailed critical essay plan
You can also go a step further by preparing a more insightful critical essay plan for your introduction, main body paragraphs and conclusion.
Challenge
What would you need to add to your basic essay plan to make it more detailed?
Example National 5 English critical essay plans
The table below gives an overview of the three skeleton plans, one for a basic essay; one for a more developed essay; and one for a detailed and insightful essay at National 5:
| Plan 1 (Basic) | Plan 2 (Developed) | Plan 3 (Detailed/Insightful) |
| Basic introduction: title, author, task, techniques | Developed introduction: title, author, task, techniques, a 3-sentence summary | Detailed/insightful introduction: title, author, task, techniques, 3-sentence summary, a 2 adjective description, contextual info |
| Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task, mention technique/device), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation (evidence), analysis (explanation), evaluation (reader response) | Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task, mention technique/device), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation 1 (evidence), analysis (explanation), linking words/phrase, quotation 2, brief analysis, evaluation (reader response, comment on writer’s success) | Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task and mention of technique/device being analysed), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation 1 (evidence), analysis (explanation), linking words/phrase, quotation 2, brief analysis, evaluation (reader response, comment on writer’s success, state wider/social significance) |
| Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure | Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure | Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure |
| Conclusion: link back to question, basic reader response to text as a whole, evaluate – state what has been enjoyed | Conclusion: link back to question, developed reader response to text as a whole, developed evaluation – state what has been enjoyed/gained | Conclusion: link back to question, sophisticated reader response to the text as a whole, sophisticated evaluation – state what has been enjoyed/gained/learned |
| Plan 1 (Basic) | Basic introduction: title, author, task, techniques |
|---|---|
| Plan 2 (Developed) | Developed introduction: title, author, task, techniques, a 3-sentence summary |
| Plan 3 (Detailed/Insightful) | Detailed/insightful introduction: title, author, task, techniques, 3-sentence summary, a 2 adjective description, contextual info |
| Plan 1 (Basic) | Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task, mention technique/device), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation (evidence), analysis (explanation), evaluation (reader response) |
|---|---|
| Plan 2 (Developed) | Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task, mention technique/device), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation 1 (evidence), analysis (explanation), linking words/phrase, quotation 2, brief analysis, evaluation (reader response, comment on writer’s success) |
| Plan 3 (Detailed/Insightful) | Paragraph one: topic sentence (link to task and mention of technique/device being analysed), context (what is happening at this point in text), quotation 1 (evidence), analysis (explanation), linking words/phrase, quotation 2, brief analysis, evaluation (reader response, comment on writer’s success, state wider/social significance) |
| Plan 1 (Basic) | Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure |
|---|---|
| Plan 2 (Developed) | Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure |
| Plan 3 (Detailed/Insightful) | Paras 1-5 should all follow this structure |
| Plan 1 (Basic) | Conclusion: link back to question, basic reader response to text as a whole, evaluate – state what has been enjoyed |
|---|---|
| Plan 2 (Developed) | Conclusion: link back to question, developed reader response to text as a whole, developed evaluation – state what has been enjoyed/gained |
| Plan 3 (Detailed/Insightful) | Conclusion: link back to question, sophisticated reader response to the text as a whole, sophisticated evaluation – state what has been enjoyed/gained/learned |
