F ICTION

G-EN270 Writing Critical Essays about Fiction

“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.”
—Sir Francis Bacon
Purpose and Value of Writing Critical Essays
Writing critical essays
• offers a means of discovery, a way to learn what you know or think about a work of fiction.
• teaches other interested readers about the story under examination.
• promotes better reading because it requires close examination of texts.
• exercises thinking and writing skills.
Qualities of a Good Essay about Fiction
A good critical essay
• calls attention to or clarifies significant matters that other readers might have overlooked or
only vaguely sensed. [If your readers will already know what you talk about in your essay
after having read the story once or twice themselves, then your topic is too obvious.]
• not merely presents information but argues a debatable thesis. [Argument or persuasion is
essential in the critical essay because good stories are so complex that no two readers will
read a story alike; therefore, you must persuade the readers of your essay of the validity of
your views by clearly and carefully presenting your reasoning and evidence.]
• supports its thesis with abundant evidence from the text and detailed analyses of relevant
lines and passages.
• meets the criteria for essays on page 5 of the course syllabus.
Discovering a Thesis
When developing a good essay, the initial thrust is half the battle. Some possible ways to get
started:
• ask the question “why?” about characters’ actions, a story’s setting, a title, imagery, point of
view—in short, ask “why?” about any element of a story.
• review a story that interests you, considering the elements of fiction as you do so. Which
element(s) seems dominant? Which elements play subtle or unnoticed roles? Re-read,
focusing your reading and notetaking on a single element.
Don’t be afraid to start writing before your thesis takes a final form. Plan to discover your true
thesis while writing. Your final essay will “know” more than you knew when you began. (If
you’re paying attention, you’ll note an underlying assumption here, namely, You cannot produce
an adequate critical essay in a single draft.
Consult the list of questions on the back for more help in developing a thesis.
Questions for Writing about Fiction
In addition to the questions that follow, consult page 1072 in Charters
Plot
• What is the source and nature of the story’s conflict? Is the conflict resolved at the end?
Would you characterize the ending as happy, unhappy, or somewhere in between?
• Where is the story’s climax? Are there several passages that might constitute the climax?
Compare how the different possible climaxes shape the story’s final meaning.
• Does the plot conform to a formula? Is it like those of any other stories you have read? Did
you find it predictable?
• Is the plot unified? Is each incident somehow related to some other element in the story?
Character
• Do any characters change and develop in the course of the story? How?
• How does the author reveal character? Directly? Indirectly? Are characters’ names used to
convey something important about them?
• What is the purpose of the minor characters? Are they individualized, or do they primarily
represent ideas or attitudes?
Setting
• Does the setting parallel, contrast, or conflict with the story’s action and meaning?
• Is setting the antagonist of the story?
Point of View
• Is the point of view consistent? If not, are the deviations explainable? What does the author
gain (or lose) by changing point of view?
• Is the narrator reliable and objective? Does s/he appear to be too innocent, emotional, or self-
deluded to be trusted?
• How would your response to the story change if it were told from a different point of view?
Would anything be lost?
Style: Symbolism, Tone, Irony
• Is the use of language (word choice and sentence structure) consistent and appropriate
throughout the story? Does it “match” or conflict with the story’s characters, actions, and
themes?
• How does the author’s use of language contribute to the tone of the story? Did it seem, for
example, intense? relaxed? sentimental? nostalgic? humorous? angry? sad? cold? remote?
• Are there symbols in the stories? Are they actions, characters, settings, objects, images? How
do the symbols contribute to your understanding of the story?
Theme
• What theme do you find in the story?
• What kind of world or reality is modeled in the story?
• Is the theme a confirmation of your values, or does it challenge them?