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The Analytical Essay
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DOMENIC MACAULAY
Introduktion
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—  Lidt om mig selv
—  Lidt om mine elever
—  Hvorfor skrev jeg Creative Writing
Planen for i dag
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—  Hvad er et essay i faget engelsk?
—  Metoden P-Q-C
—  Praktisk øvelse
—  Analytisk essaystruktur
—  Analytiske begreber man skal kende
—  Opgaveformuleringer i det analytiske essay (UM)
The analytical essay og The personal essay
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The analytical essay
The personal essay
—  Baseret på teksten og skal
—  Behøver ikke indeholde
indeholde citater fra denne
citater fra teksten
—  Ikke et referat
—  Har ingen fast struktur
—  Har en fast struktur
—  Man bevæger sig fra det
¡ 
Introduction, body, conclusion
—  Man bevæger sig fra det
generelle til det specifike
—  Ikke personlige holdninger
uden dokumentation i teksten
konkrete til det abstrakte
—  Ambitiøst essay som
reflekterer over et emne på en
personlig men ikke privat
måde
Metoden P-Q-C (the body of the essay)
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—  P-Q-C = Point – Quotation – Conclusion
—  Start med at udvælge et citat
- Interesting, puzzling, controversial or misleading
—  POINT: Find en pointe med citatet
—  QUOTATION: Afskriv citatet
—  CONCLUSION: Skriv en konklusion som
understreger pointen
Brug P-Q-C gennem hele essayet
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— 
The Basic Structure of Your Essay
— 
1. An opening introductory paragraph
— 
2. The main body of the text is a series of
— 
How to Start
— 
Because your essay starts with an
introductory paragraph, you would think that
it would be easiest to begin writing that first.
But this is not the best way to begin work on
your essay.
— 
Before beginning to write your essay examine
the text carefully and choose a few passages
that have struck you as puzzling,
controversial, interesting or maybe
misleading.
— 
You will have to read the entire text a couple
of times to find these key passages and as you
become more practised at analysing texts,
you will find it easier to choose the
appropriate passages. The main body of your
essay should centre around these passages.
paragraphs made up of
— 
P-Q-C statements,
— 
e.g.,
— 
a. Point-Quotation-Conclusion
— 
b. Point-Quotation-Conclusion
— 
c. Point-Quotation-Conclusion
— 
d. etc.
— 
3. A concluding paragraph
Eksempel: find et citat
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The National Front
The National Front is the Party dedicated to the
promotion of British Racial Nationalism.
We reject multi-racialism absolutely and we recognize
that the great achievements and unique character of the
British people can, to a great extent, be attributed to its
racial composition.
The National Front is committed to the ending of all nonWhite immigration and to the phased and financially
assisted repatriation of all non-Whites, together with
their dependents and descendants. White people would
have no automatic right of entry but discretionary entry
would be allowed according to the circumstances of each
case, with a preference for those of recent British
descent. Europeans who have already settled here will
not be subject to repatriation but those who are resident
here by virtue of Common Market membership will no
longer have an automatic right of residence.
The anti-British Race Relations Act will be repealed and
its Pro-Black, “positive discrimination” policies ended…
—  Først læser man teksten
—  Så udvælger jeg et citat
—  Hvordan skal jeg finde et
væsentligt ”quotation”?
- Nøgleord:
Puzzling
Controversial
Misleading
Interesting
Eksempel: Find en pointe med citatet
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—  Hvad vil jeg sige om citatet?
—  Ordet ”repatriation” er interessant,
eller måske endda ”misleading”.
—  Skal jeg skrive en observerende
sætning eller en påstand? (Jeg har
valgt en påstand)
—  Hvad har jeg lagt mærke til? Er det
på sætningsniveau eller på
ordniveau?
—  Hvad er min pointe?
— 
Denotationen: hjemsendelse er
skjult i indpakningen ”repatriation”.
—  Mit ”point” er en påstand og jeg har
fat i et enkeltord.
—  Point: The National Front is quite
clear about its goals, but instead of
stating it in straight forward
language, it chooses words that
soften its radical policies.
Eksempel: Find en konklusion
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—  Så skal der konkluderes.
—  I konklusionen kan man ofte
begynde sætningen med notice
the word eller omskrive det til
noget lignende.
—  Her er der benyttet en
omskrivning: (conclusion)
The Keyword is
”repatriation”, which
means ”sending back to the
country of origin.” By
using a rather unusual
word, instead of using
simple language, the
National Front is trying to
soften the effect of the
statement.”
Eksempel: afrunding
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Point:
The National Front is quite clear about its goals, but
instead of stating its policy in straightforward language, it
chooses words that soften its radical policies.
Quotation :
.. the phased and financially assisted repatriation of all
non-Whites, together with their dependents and
descendants.
Conclusion:
The key word is "repatriation", which means "sending back
to the country of origin". By using a rather unusual word,
instead of just using simple language, the National Front is
trying to soften the effect of the statement.
Nu er det jeres tur
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—  Praktisk øvelse (ca 40 min. Optimistisk) Øvelsen tager væsentligt
længere tid med elever.
—  Tekst: The Sampler (se ”handout”)
—  Læs teksten (5 min)
—  Skim teksten med det formål, at nedskrive 2 centrale citater, der
udvælges udfra nøgleord som: puzzling, interesting, controversial or
misleading (10-15 min)
—  Skriv et “point” til hvert citat (5-10 min)
—  Skriv en “conclusion” til hvert citat (5-10)
—  Sæt det sammen til de to “P-Q-C-paragraphs”
Linking sentences
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—  En linking sentence er en sætning, der forbinder
P-Q-C afsnittene
—  Problemet er nu, hvordan man forbinder de to P-Q-C
paragraphs.
Nøgleord for bedre analytisk tænkning
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Der er en række ord, der er gode til at skabe
sammenhæng og analytisk tænkning.
(Sætningerne, der indeholder et af disse småord
indbefatter to ideer, dvs. sådanne sætninger er
per definition analytiske. Når man har to ideer,
er man nød til at tænke, og forholde sig til “den
ene side” og “den anden side”.
— 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
John Loves Hannah
§ 
— 
— 
John loves Hannah, but he does not want to
marry her
— 
— 
— 
Although John loves Hannah he does not want
to marry her
— 
So
But
Because
Despite
Although
Unless
If
For instance
For example
Specifically
Therefore
In conclusion
Eventually
Given these facts
Despite the fact that
(The Atlantic Monthly, www.theatlantic.com,
”The Writing Revolution”, Peg Tyre, Oct.
2012).
The structure of the essay as a whole = P-Q-C structure
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—  Når Body-delen er færdigkonstrueret og skrevet
sammen skulle den gerne bestå af en række P-Q-C
afsnit samt nogle “linking sentences.”
—  Så kan man gå i gang med introduktionen.
Overordnet struktur af et analytisk essay
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—  An opening introductory paragraph
—  The main body of the text is a series of paragraphs
made up of P-Q-C statements
—  A concluding paragraph
Body-delen
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—  A series of P-Q-C paragraphs with linking sentences:
¡  Point
¡  Quotation
¡  Conclusion
¡  Linking sentence
¡  Point
¡  Quotation
¡  Conclusion
¡  Linking sentence
¡  osv
Introduktionen
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—  Introduktionen: skrives altså efter Body-delen er færdig,
og består af en præsentation af ens idéer. Disse idéer er
blevet til under arbejdet med citatudvælgelsen og
kreationen af “points” og “conclusions”. Igennem
arbejdet med ens P-Q-C´s har man forholdt sig analytisk
til teksten, og er nået frem til nogle pointer og
konklusioner, som gerne skulle lede en på sporet af nogle
ideer, som man så kan bruge i sin introduktion.
—  Konkret øvelse til introduction. S 76, b.
Linkers for the intro & the conclusion
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—  Linkers create cohesion in your writing and should be
used in different places in the essay:
— 
—  In your introduction you could use these types of linkers:
Certainly, despite the fact, in general, similarly, in the
same way, likewise and sometimes.
— 
—  In your conclusion you could use these types of linkers:
even though, despite, though, in conclusion, as, all in all,
all together, as a result, basically, finally, in brief, in other
words, in short, in summary, on the whole, that is,
therefore, to put it differently, to summarize.
Konklusionen
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—  Konklusionen skrives efter, at man har skrevet
introduktionen. Her understreger man sine pointer
(ideer) fra introduktionen, og det er tilladt at vise sine
egne holdninger eller at forholde sig til den overordnede
problemstilling, som man har behandlet i sit essay. Man
kan fx drage paralleller til relaterede emner i den
virkelige verden, eller til andre tekster.
—  Konkret øvelse til konklusionen. S 76, c.
Analytiske begreber man skal kende & learning
by doing/think like a writer…
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Fiction – 7 terms you need to know
Non-fiction – 5 terms you need to know
—  Plot: the skeleton of a story: the bare
§  Message: what the sender wants the
— 
§ 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
events of a story.
Theme: subject or topic that the text is
about at a deeper level.
Setting: the place, time and social
circumstances in which a narrative
takes place.
Characters: made up persons that the
author has created.
Point of view: an angle from which a
story is told.
Language: The ways a writer uses
language can be examined if we look at
the following terms: Implicature,
telling, showing, denotation,
connotation and figurative language. (p.
26- 39)
Dialogue: Is a conversation between
two or more people.
§ 
§ 
§ 
receiver to do or think.
Sender: the person or persons behind a
piece of writing.
Receiver: the person(s), reader(s) or
group(s) the sender is addressing.
Bias: partial perspective at the expense
of alternatives.
Rhetorical Techniques: 5 central
techniques a writer can use are:
1)Oppositions/contrasts, 2)repetition, 3) the
appeal form ethos (being honest), 4) the
appeal form pathos (emotion or feeling) and
5) the appeal form logos (facts and
information). (p. 58)
Opgaveformuleringer
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—  Answer A or B
A
—  Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you analyse and interpret Simon Van
Booy´s short story ”Save as many as You Ruin”.
—  Part of your essay must focus on the mood and on the use of contrast in the
short story.
—  Text: ”Save as Many as You Ruin”, a short story by Simon Van Booy, 2007…..
B
—  Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you analyse and comment on Eula
Biss´essay ”Time and Distance Overcome.”
—  Part of your essay must focus on the composition of the text and on the writer´s
intention.
—  Text: ”Time and Distance Overcome”, an essay by Eula, 2008.
Opgaveformuleringer
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A
A
— 
Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you
analyse and interpret Mary-Louise Buxton´s short
story ”Mount Pleasant”.
— 
Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you
analyse and interpret Robin Black´s short story ”…
Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.”
— 
Part of your essay must focus on narrative technique
and on the narrator´s language.
— 
Part of your essay must focus on the structure and
the use of symbols in the short story.
— 
Text: ”Mount Pleasant”, a short story by Mary-Louise
Buxton, 2005.
— 
Text: ” …Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”, a short
story by Robin Black, 2010.
B
B
— 
Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you
analyse and comment on President Barack Obama´s
speech ”Back to School”.
— 
Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you
analyse and comment on Russell Brand´s
commentary ”Big Brother isn´t watching you.”
— 
Part of your essay must focus on the way on
President Barack Obama addresses the audience and
on the values he advocates.
— 
Part of your essay must focus on the style and the
writer´s attitude to the 2011 UK riots.
Text: ”Prepared Remarks of President Barack
Obama: Back to School Event”, a speech delivered at
Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, on
September 8, 2009.
— 
— 
Text: ” Big Brother isn´t watching you”, a
commentary by Russell Brand from The guardian
website, 2011.
Tak for i dag
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Domenic Macaulay
Creative Writing
From text analysis to producing texts
Systime