Critical Literary Essays (CRTs)

Why Oh Why?

Now that we've read and discussed James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis," let's take a look at how we would write a critical literary essay on it. The Alberta English curriculum has students write "critical/analytical responses to text" (CRTs for short) but these are essentially critical literary essays. These are different from the personal essays we wrote earlier. Reading a couple of critical literary essays should help us prepare to write our first CRT in the next unit.

Critical Essay on "The Scarlet Ibis"

Instructions

1. We're going to read Robinson's essay together and annotate the following:
   1. Introduction/Conclusion
      1. underline the author and text title
      2. underline the topic
      3. underline the thesis statement
      4. add a note with a question or comment about the thesis
   2. Body Paragraphs:
      1. underline key claims
      2. underline the evidence
      3. add a note on the explanation of the evidence and whether it connects to the thesis
      4. underline transitions
2. Look at the CRT rubric. Flip to the side that lists Areas for Improvement in each category. Check off the boxes for any issues you found. Ms. Friesen will also share what she has checked off.
3. Look at the CRT rubric side. Examine how each category would be marked for this essay and discuss what mark you'd give the essay in each category. Ms. Friesen will provide her mark and explanation as well.