1. ‘Price we pay for Sun’ Grace Nichols
Writing a Critical Essay

2. Previously....
• discuss and evaluate the structure, characterisation and/or setting using some supporting evidence
• identify the main theme of the text and recognise the relevance this has to my own and others’ experiences
• identify and comment on aspects of the writer’s style and other features appropriate to genre using some relevant evidence.

3. Essay Question Choose a poem which has an important message for you.
Say what the message of the poem is, and then go on to show how the poet makes the
message clear.
SQA 2012

4. What is the IMPORTANT MESSAGE?
Appearance and Reality: The way things
look as opposed to the way are.
Poverty: the reason the tourists
are welcomed to the island but also
the reason for the families tragedy

5. Introductions All introductions must have the following: Title of text
Writer’s name
Brief summary of text (what is it about?)
Link to the question (what is your essay focusing on?)

6. A simple start… Choose a poem which has an important message for you.
A poem which has an important message for me is ‘Price we pay for the sun’ by Grace Nichols.
Brief Summary
Focus on themes (important message) and how the techniques the poet uses to convey the theme.

7. ‘Price we pay for the sun’ by Grace Nichols is a poem with an important message. It is written from the point of view of a young girl whose mother is dying of cancer. Although the family live on a Caribbean island which we would consider to be a paradise, the girl tells of a place where the appearance is different from the reality and that the poverty the islanders live in is a source of misery. The narrators word choice and imagery convey the ‘real’ islands and what it is like for people to live there.

8. Success ?
How confident are you in writing an introduction to a critical essay?

9. In this lesson we are continuing to ...
show my understanding of the poem, I can comment, with evidence, on the content and form of a poem and respond to a
critical essay question.
write a successful introduction to a critical essay.
Write the main body of our essay

10. How to write analysis Make your POINT. (Topic Sentence)
Provide EVIDENCE to support your point. (Quote)
DEVELOP your point. (Explain)
Comment on the EFFECT upon the reader.
LINK to the question.

11. Imagery: Similes and Metaphors
Structure
Imagery: Similes and Metaphors
Play on words
...go on to show how the poet makes the message clear.
Word choice
alliteration
First Person Narrator
Select the techniques you are going to write about in your essay

12. POINT:Topic sentences
One way in which the poet makes the message clear is by use of imagery.
Another way in which the message is made clear is by the poet’s skilful use of structure.
Finally the poet uses dramatic word choice to make the message clear.

13. PEDEL
One way in which the poet makes the message clear is by use of imagery. The poet describes the mother’s breast cancer, which she blames on their poverty, as ‘like a sleeping volcano’. JUST AS a volcano can erupt at any moment SO the mother’s cancer can erupt at any time leading to her eventual death. The misery of the cancer is also the cause of the father’s distress. His crying is described in the metaphor ‘salty hurricanes’ . Just as Hurricanes are violent storms so the force of the father’s tears are suggested. He is sobbing violently. The imagery helps me to understand the misery that the family feels, living under the threat of death while rich tourists live in luxury in the hotels on the island.

14. Another way in which the message is made clear is by the poet’s skilful use of structure.

15. Finally the poet uses dramatic word choice to make the message clear.

16. CONCLUSION
A CONCLUSION LETS YOUR READER KNOW THAT YOU ARE FINISHED YOUR ESSAY.
In conclusion…
A brief summary of what you have done linking to the question.
In conclusion, Grace Nichols uses structure and imagery effectively in her poem ’Price we pay for sun’ and makes her message clear by giving the reader insight of the reality of living on a Caribbean Island.