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SingaporeEnglish LiteratureQuick questions
The Unseen and Practical Criticism
Quick questions on Building a critical argument explained: H2 Literature in English
8short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is start with a thesis?Show answer
The thesis is the spine of the whole essay: a single, arguable claim that answers the question with a clear line. Everything else exists to support it. A good thesis is defensible (it could be disputed), provable (you can support it from the text), and pointed (it makes a real claim, not a description). Before you write, you should be able to state in one sentence what you are arguing.
What is integrate quotation, do not dump it?Show answer
Quote briefly and embed the quotation in your sentence. Long block quotations followed by vague comment waste words and signal weak control. Choose the few words that matter and weave them in, then analyse those exact words. The skill is precision: the shorter and more pointed the quotation, the sharper the analysis can be.
What is quotation dumping?Show answer
Dropping in long quotations followed by paraphrase, instead of embedding short ones and analysing the exact words.
What is a static argument?Show answer
Restating the thesis in each paragraph without developing it. The reading should grow or complicate across the essay.
What are analysis that describes?Show answer
Following a quotation with a restatement of its content rather than an explanation of how its method proves the claim.
What is q1?Show answer
What are the three parts of the claim-evidence-analysis pattern? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Why embed short quotations rather than drop in long ones? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
What does it mean for an argument to "develop" across an essay? [3 marks]