Critical Essay: Higher

Some facts about the paper

Time

The Critical Essay exam paper lasts for ninety minutes. (Date and time for 2009: Friday 15 May, 11.05am to 12.35pm.)

Content

The exam paper will have a range of essay questions on different genres of literature, on Film and TV Drama, and some questions on the study of language.  The questions will be arranged in five sections and you must answer any two questions taken from different sections.

The questions will test your ability to select from your knowledge of a text (and the literary or media techniques used in its construction) in order to write a relevant response to the chosen question.

Marks

Each essay is marked out of 25, making the total for the paper 50 - half of the total for the whole exam.

Sections

The five sections are as follows:

  • Section A - Drama
    usually a choice of four questions
  • Section B - Prose
    usually a choice of seven questions covering novel, short story and non-fiction
  • Section C - Poetry
    usually a choice of four questions
  • Section D - Film and TV Drama 
    usually a choice of four questions
  • Section E - Language
    usually a choice of four questions

Arrangements

Full details of the Arrangements for Higher English can be found on SQA's website.

Specimen question paper

The specimen question paper for Higher English can be found on SQA's website.

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