How should I successfully engage with literary criticism to gain higher marks in my A Level responses?

Many exam boards require the use of literary criticism in order to colour, shape and add direction to A Level responses. Higher scoring essays demonstrate an engagement as well as recognition of these secondary texts. Engaging with literary criticism is a two step process that originates in the reading and analysis process of understanding A Level Texts. After reading through the text, students should begin to branch out and engage with literary criticism. In order to provide a bank of appropriate quotations, critics, and theories, you should note down your literary criticism as you read under themes. You may want to find criticism pertaining to the key themes of your text such as money, crime, oedipal impulses, love, friendship, duality. You may want to find criticism pertaining to the genre or type of your text, such as drama, poetry, prose, nineteenth century fiction, Renaissance drama, Gothic Horror. Texts often have film adaptations dramatic adaptions and musical scores, what artistic adaptions or interpretations has the director made? Why have they cut this out of their production? These artistic responses may be considered as criticism too. may even want to read around contemporary events that took place at the time of writing. As you read, note down and summarise paragraphs or entire arguments, and attribute them to the critics. Alternatively, you may come across pertinent short quotes that successfully encapsulate the essence of your argument. Read through these criticisms, understand them, and incorporate them into your exam revision- they are as vital as the texts themselves. There’s no easy way around this, but you’ll have to learn the key elements of these arguments off by heart. The second part of the process is understanding how to engage with them successfully. Putting them at the beginning, middle or end of your paragraph without further engagement demonstrates you have read criticism, but does not show that you have engaged with it. In order to engage with criticism in your responses, you could ask the following questions to yourself: Do I agree or disagree with this criticism and why? What other arguments or themes does this criticism introduce? Does this change the meaning of the text for contemporary readers? How did this contemporary event shape the writing of this text and what are the impacts for modern readers. If you are using a secondary reading that has a lose relationship to the theme you are writing about, explain why this alternative reading is pertinent. Or if you disagree with the critic, demonstrate why, with reference to the text to back up your argument. You will only need to write four sentences at most to engage with this criticism. Finally, if criticism has greatly shaped your paragraph, you include the presence of this criticism when concluding your paragraph, such as 'as described by F. Kermode' or 'despite F. Kermode's argument'. An example may be: Yet, the humour in act 3 scene 4 is not entirely as a result of deception, purposeful or otherwise. A J. Knott argues, the source of comedy within Twelfth Night is derived from humiliation and rebellion carried out by the supporting characters. Indeed, Malvolio is deceived, but witnessing this humilation from the wider houses derives greater humour as it foretells his oncoming downfall with dramatic irony. Previously in act two scene three, Olivia describes Malvolio as a puritan, intensifying this sense of humiliation as he is goaded into behaving lewdly and with bawdy sexual humour.