what does lens essay mean

Writing a “Lens” Essay

This handout provides suggestions for writing papers or responses that ask you to analyze a text through the lens of a critical or theoretical secondary source.

Generally, the lens should reveal something about the original or “target” text that may not be otherwise apparent. Alternatively, your analysis may call the validity of the arguments of the lens piece into question, extend the arguments of the lens text, or provoke some other reevaluation of the two texts. Either way, you will be generating a critical “dialogue between texts.”

Reading the Texts

Since you will eventually want to hone in on points of commonality and discord between the two texts, the order and manner in which you read them is crucial.

First, read the lens text to identify the author’s core arguments and vocabulary. Since theoretical or critical texts tend to be dense and complex, it may be helpful to develop an outline of the author’s primary points. According the to Brandeis Writing Program Handbook, a valuable lens essay will “grapple with central ideas” of the lens text, rather than dealing with isolated quotes that may or may not be indicative of the author’s argument as a whole. As such, it’s important to make sure you truly understand and can articulate the author’s main points before proceeding to the target text.

Next, quickly read the target text to develop a general idea of its content. Then, ask yourself: Where do I see general points of agreement or disagreement between the two texts? Which of the lens text’s main arguments could be applied to the target text? It may be easier to focus on one or two of the lens text’s central arguments. 

With these ideas in mind, go back and read the target text carefully, through the theoretical lens, asking yourself the following questions: What are the main components of the lens text and what are their complementary parts in the target text? How can I apply the lens author’s theoretical vocabulary or logic to instances in the target text? Are there instances where the lens text’s arguments don’t or can’t apply? Why is this? It is helpful to keep a careful, written record of page numbers, quotes, and your thoughts and reactions as you read.

Since this type of paper deals with a complex synthesis of multiple sources, it is especially important to have a clear plan of action before you begin writing. It may help to group quotes or events by subject matter, by theme, or by whether they support, contradict, or otherwise modify the arguments in the lens text. Hopefully, common themes, ideas, and arguments will begin to emerge and you can start drafting!

Writing the Introduction and Thesis

As your paper concerns the complex interactions between multiple texts, it is important to explain what you will be doing the introduction. Make sure to clearly introduce the lens text and its specific arguments you will be employing or evaluating. Then introduce the target text and its specific themes or events you will be addressing in your analysis. 

These introductions of texts and themes should lead into some kind of thesis statement. Though there are no set guidelines or conventions for what this thesis should look like, make sure it states the points of interaction you will be discussing, and explains what your critical or theoretical analysis of the target text reveals about the texts.

Writing the Body

The body is where you apply specific arguments from the lens text to specific quotes or instances in the target text. In each case, make sure to discuss what the lens text reveals about the target text (or vice versa). Use the lens text’s vocabulary and logical framework to examine the target text, but make sure to be clear about where ideas in the paper are coming from (the lens text, the target text, your own interpretation etc.) so the reader doesn’t become confused.

By engaging in this type of analysis, you are “entering an academic conversation” and inserting your own ideas. As this is certainly easier said than done, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein’s concept of “Templates” may prove useful. In their book, They Say, I Say, the authors lay out numerous templates to help writers engage in unfamiliar forms of critical academic discourse. They encourage students to use the templates in any capacity they find useful, be it filling them in verbatim, modifying and extending them, or using them as an analytical entry point, then discarding them completely.

Here I modify their basic template (They say ________. I say ________.), to create lens essay-specific templates to help you get started:

The author of the lens text lays out a helpful framework for understanding instances of ________ in the target text. Indeed, in the target text, one sees ________, which could be considered an example of ________ by the lens author’s definition. Therefore, we see a point of commonality concerning ________. This similarity reveals ________.

According to the lens text _______ tends to occur in situations where _______. By the lens author’s definition, ________ in the target text could be considered an instance of _______. However, this parallel is imperfect because _______. As such, we become aware of ________.

One sees ________ in the target text, which calls the lens author’s argument that ________ into question because ________.

If the author of the lens text is correct that ________, one would expect to see ________ in the target text. However, ________ actually takes place, revealing a critical point of disagreement. This discord suggests that ________. This issue is important because ________.

Wrapping Things up and Drawing Conclusions

By this point in your essay, you should be drawing conclusions regarding what your lens analysis reveals about the texts in questions, or the broader issues the texts address. Make sure to explain why these discoveries are important for the discipline in which you are writing. In other words, what was the point of carrying out your analysis in the first place? Happy lens writing!

Brandeis UWS Writing Handbook, 70.

UWS Handbook, 76.

Birkenstein, Cathy and Gerald Graff, They Say, I Say. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007), 2-3.

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Writing advice from the harvard college writing center tutors, the four parts of a lens essay argument.

by Emily Hogin

One of the most common prompts I see at the Writing Center is the “lens essay.” A lens essay brings two texts in dialogue with one another in a very particular way. It asks you to use Text B – the lens – to illuminate something you didn’t already know about Text A.

How Not to Argue a Lens Essay

A lens essay is not a list of differences and similarities between two texts. The following are some (exaggerated) examples of a bad argument for a lens essay I’ve come across at the Writing Center:

Even though one is philosophy and the other is a novel, both Text A and Text B talk about the imagination.

This first thesis statement notes a similarity between the two texts that will likely be obvious to readers of the text. It doesn’t use one text to illuminate anything about the other.

While both Text A and Text B argue that human nature is unchangeable, Text A asserts that humans are inherently good and Text B asserts that humans are inherently bad.

This thesis makes a claim about each text but doesn’t say anything about them in relation to each other.

Text A, a poem, does a better job of communicating the emotional struggles of living with HIV than Text B, a statistical report, because a poem allows readers to identify emotionally with other people while statistics are more abstract and cold.

This third thesis statement does make an argument that connects both texts, but again fails to use one text to tell us something we don’t already know about the other text.

In my experience, a successful lens essay implies a certain kind of thought-process that has at least four parts:

(1) I read Text A

(2) I read Text B (my lens)

(3) I re-read Text A and noticed something I didn’t notice before

(4) That something turns out to carry consequences for my overall reading of Text A (thesis/argument)

(And if you really want to wow your reader, you’d add a final part:)

(5) Applying Text B (my lens) in this way also reveals something significant about Text B

When I say significance or consequences, I don’t mean that it has to alter the meaning of a text radically; it can be something small but important. For example, you might find that one element is a lot more important (or a lot less important) to the overall text than you had previously thought.

As an example, here is an excerpt from the introduction to my last lens essay:

The concept of the imagination is ambiguous throughout Venus in Furs : at times, the imagination appears as passive as a battleground that external forces fight to occupy and control; at other times, the imagination appears to drive the action as if it is another character. Any theory of sexuality that seeks to explain Venus in Furs thus must be able to explain the ambiguity over the imagination. Foucault’s theory of the inescapable knowledge-power of sexuality comes close to being able to explain Sacher-Masoch’s ambiguous concept of the imagination, but applying Foucault in this way highlights Foucault’s own difficulty situating the imagination within his theory.

You can see my lens essay thought-process in just these three sentences:

(1) I read Venus in Furs (Text A) and noticed that the imagination is ambiguous

(2) I read Foucault (Text B, my lens) (3) to better understand the imagination in Venus in Furs

(4) Foucault helped explain why an ambiguous imagination is an appropriate way to look at sexuality

but (5) applying Foucault to the imagination tells me that Foucault’s own theory is challenged when he has to account for the imagination.

Once you have an argument for a lens essay, you will have to structure your paper in a way that allows this lens essay thought-process to come across. This means that each of your topic sentences should refer back to this thought-process. Even if you need a paragraph that discusses one of the texts primarily, your topic sentence should justify why you’re doing that. Your complicated and interesting thesis will likely require you to move back and forth between Text A and Text B (your lens).

Of course, your argument will depend on your assignment, but I’ve found this four-part approach successful in a number of courses where the assignment asked me to bring two texts in dialogue with one another.

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What Is A Lens In Writing? (The Ultimate Guide)

Ever feel like your writing is stuck in a one-dimensional rut? Then you need to use a lens.

What is a lens in writing?

A lens in writing is a tool that shifts your perspective, like looking through a kaleidoscope. Writing lenses include historical, psychological, and critical. Use a writing lens to analyze, interpret, and craft richer, more engaging writing.

Buckle up, language enthusiast, because this ultimate guide dives deep into the fascinating world of writing lenses.

What Is a Lens in Writing? (10 Types)

Table of Contents

Think of a lens as a specific viewpoint or approach you adopt while writing.

It guides how you dissect information, select arguments, and craft your message.

Whether you analyze literature, dissect historical events, or craft marketing copy, lenses offer unique filters through which you process and present your ideas.

To simplify your journey, I’ve compiled a handy chart outlining 10 popular lenses:

Go ahead, bookmark this chart! It’s your cheat sheet to unlocking a universe of creative perspectives.

Now, let’s explore each lens, equipping you to wield them like a writing ninja.

Through the Lens of Time: The Historical Lens

What it is: The historical lens transports you to the past, examining your topic within the context of its era. This involves considering the social, political, and cultural factors that shaped events and influenced individuals.

How to use it: Research the historical context: dig into primary sources like documents, letters, and diaries. Analyze social norms, political structures, and major events of the time period. Consider how these factors influenced your topic and how your understanding might differ from a modern perspective.

Example: Analyzing a Shakespearean play through the historical lens involves understanding Elizabethan social hierarchy, religious beliefs, and theatrical conventions. This helps you interpret character motivations, plot developments, and the play’s overall message within its historical context.

Unveiling the Mind: The Psychological Lens

What it is: The psychological lens delves into the inner workings of the human mind, exploring characters’ motivations, behaviors, and mental states. It draws on psychological theories to analyze their actions, reactions, and thought processes.

How to use it: Identify key characters and their actions. Apply relevant psychological theories, such as Freudian psychoanalysis or cognitive-behavioral therapy, to explain their motivations. Analyze how their experiences and environment shape their behavior and mental state.

Example: Examining Hamlet’s indecisiveness and introspection through a psychological lens could involve applying Freudian concepts like the Oedipus complex and existential anxieties. This deepens your understanding of his character and the play’s exploration of human nature.

Decoding Social Structures: The Sociological Lens

What it is: The sociological lens focuses on the interactions, norms, and power dynamics within communities and societies. It examines how individuals and groups relate to each other, considering factors like social class, race, gender, and cultural values.

How to use it: Identify the social context of your topic: analyze social structures, power dynamics, and potential conflicts within the group or society. Consider how these factors influence individual experiences and group behaviors. Apply sociological theories like conflict theory or symbolic interactionism to explain observations.

Example: Analyzing a social media trend through the sociological lens might involve examining how it reflects broader cultural values, power dynamics between different groups, and the role of technology in shaping social interactions.

Weighing Wallets and Resources: The Economic Lens

What it is: The economic lens analyzes the financial aspects of a topic, focusing on production, consumption, and distribution of resources. It considers factors like market forces, economic policies, and social inequalities.

How to use it: Identify the economic context: analyze relevant economic concepts like supply and demand, resource allocation, and market structures. Explore how economic factors influence your topic and the individuals involved. Consider potential economic consequences of different actions or policies.

Example: Evaluating the impact of climate change through the economic lens might involve analyzing its effects on different industries, economic losses due to extreme weather events, and potential costs of implementing mitigation strategies.

Unveiling Power Plays: The Political Lens

What it is: The political lens examines the dynamics of power, governance, and influence within a political system. It analyzes how decisions are made, power is distributed, and individuals or groups compete for influence.

How to use it: Identify the political context: understand the structure of government, key political actors, and prevailing ideologies. Analyze how political dynamics influence your topic and the individuals involved. Consider potential political implications of different actions or policies.

Example: Examining a protest movement through the political lens might involve analyzing its demands in relation to existing power structures, the influence of political parties, and potential responses from the government.

Beyond Biology: The Gender Lens

What it is: The gender lens analyzes how gender identities, roles, and expectations shape experiences and social structures. It examines how individuals and groups are affected by societal norms and power dynamics related to gender.

How to use it: Identify the gender context: analyze dominant societal expectations for different genders, consider power dynamics and potential inequalities. Explore how gender roles and identities influence your topic and the individuals involved.

Example: Analyzing a novel through the gender lens might involve examining how female characters challenge or conform to societal expectations, exploring the portrayal of masculinity, and questioning power dynamics between genders.

Understanding Shared Values: The Cultural Lens

What it is: The cultural lens delves into the shared beliefs, values, and practices of a particular group or society. It examines how cultural norms, traditions, and customs shape experiences and behaviors.

How to use it: Identify the cultural context: research the specific belief systems, traditions, and values relevant to your topic and target audience. Analyze how cultural factors influence the perception and interpretation of your topic.

Example: Comparing advertising strategies across different cultures through the cultural lens might involve examining how humor, color symbolism, and family dynamics differ and how these differences impact marketing effectiveness.

The Power of Words: The Rhetorical Lens

What it is: The rhetorical lens analyzes how language is used to persuade, inform, or entertain. It examines the speaker’s purpose, strategies, and techniques to achieve their desired effect on the audience.

How to use it: Identify the speaker’s purpose and target audience. Analyze the language used, considering elements like tone, imagery, and emotional appeals. Evaluate the effectiveness of the speaker’s strategies in achieving their desired response.

Example: Analyzing a political speech through the rhetorical lens might involve examining how the speaker uses persuasive techniques like repetition, emotional appeals, and logical arguments to influence the audience’s opinion.

Preserving Our Planet: The Environmental Lens

What it is: The environmental lens considers the impact of human actions on the natural world. It examines issues like sustainability, resource management, and ecological consequences of human activities.

How to use it: Identify the environmental context: analyze the ecological impact of your topic and consider relevant environmental issues. Explore potential solutions and sustainable practices related to your topic.

Example: Evaluating the social impact of a new technology through the environmental lens might involve considering its energy consumption, potential pollution, and impact on biodiversity and resource depletion.

Shaping the Future: The Technological Lens

What it is: The technological lens examines the role of technology in society, focusing on its development, impact, and ethical implications. It analyzes how technology shapes our lives and raises important questions about its future evolution.

How to use it: Identify the technological context: understand the specific technology and its development stage. Analyze the social, economic, and ethical implications of its use. Consider potential future scenarios and responsible tech development practices.

Example: Discussing the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence through the technological lens might involve analyzing its impact on jobs, automation, and potential biases, highlighting the need for ethical considerations in its development and deployment.

Remember, these are just a few of the many writing lenses available. With practice and exploration, you can unlock a world of creative possibilities, enriching your writing and engaging your audience with diverse perspectives.

What Is a Critical Lens in Writing?

A critical lens is, in essence, a specific perspective or approach you adopt to critically examine a topic or text.

It acts as a filter, guiding how you analyze information, evaluate arguments, and ultimately shape your understanding.

Unlike mere summaries or descriptions, critical lenses encourage in-depth questioning, pushing you beyond surface-level observations to unearth deeper meanings and underlying assumptions.

Think of it this way: Imagine examining a painting through a magnifying glass.

While you could simply describe the colors and shapes, the magnifying glass allows you to closely scrutinize brushstrokes, textures, and hidden details, revealing the artist’s technique and message in a nuanced way.

Similarly, critical lenses empower you to zoom in on information, dissecting its layers and uncovering its deeper significance.

But remember, critical lenses are not about imposing a singular “correct” interpretation.

Watch this video about writing a critical lens essay:

Final Thoughts: What Is a Lens in Writing?

Don’t be afraid to experiment, break the mold, and see the world through a new lens. Write on!

Read This Next:

• What Is A Universal Statement In Writing? (Explained)
• What Is Writing Style? (Easy Guide for Beginners)
• What Is a Snapshot in Writing? (Easy Guide + 10 Examples)
• Tag Writing (Ultimate Guide for Beginners)

Compare/Contrast Papers

• Getting Started
• Point by Point Outline
• Subject Outline
• Lens Outline
• Compare then Contrast Outline

Chat with a Librarian

What is lens.

Similar to a Subject Outlines, a Lens Outline focuses on one work/object by looking at it through the aspects of another.  This method works best when one item has been heavily discussed in class and you are assigned to compare/contrast another item with it. 

Outline and Example of Lens

1. Introduction      a. Introduce Items (works/objects)      b. Thesis Statement           i.Topic 1           ii. Topic 2           iii. Topic 3           iv. Etc. 2. Explanation of First Item (work/object)      a.  Information on Supporting Point 1      b.  Information on Supporting Point 2      c.  Etc. 3. Explanation of Second Item (work/object) when Compared to the First      a.  Similarity on Supporting Point 1      b.  Similarity on Supporting Point 2 4. Explanation of Second Item (work/object) when Contrasted to the First      a.  Difference on Supporting Point 1      b.  Difference on Supporting Point 2 5. Conclusion      a. Restate Thesis      b. Summarize how you proved your argument

1. Introduction      a. Introduce Items           i. First Work – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy had ample preparation time, budget, and a generous release schedule but used practical effects to attain greater realism and focused more on story telling rather than “filmable moments” that added little to the plot.           ii. Second Work – The Hobbit Trilogy did not have the preparation time, budget, or generous release schedule in order to be successful films.      b. Thesis Statement           i. When comparing the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit Trilogy, it is clear that preparation time, budget, special effects, and a well-spaced release schedule can have a tremendous effect on film quality.   2. Filming the Lord of the Rings Trilogy      a. Preparation Time      b.  Budget      c.  Release Schedule      d.  Practical Effects/CGI 3. Similarities between the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit Trilogy      a.  Release Schedule      b.  Budget 4. Differences between the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit Trilogy      a.  Preparation Time      b.  Practical Effects/CGI 5. Conclusion      a. Restate Thesis      b. Summarize how you proved your argument

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Lens Analysis

What is lens analysis?

Lens analysis requires you to distill a concept, theory, method or claim from a text (i.e. the “lens”) and then use it to interpret, analyze, or explore something else e.g. a first-hand experience, visual text, physical object or space, historical or current event or figure, a cultural phenomenon, an idea or even another text (i.e. the “exhibit”).

A writer employing lens analysis seeks to assert something new and unexpected about the exhibit; he or she strives to go beyond the expected or the obvious, exploiting the lens to acquire novel insights. Furthermore, there is a reciprocal aspect in that the exploration of the exhibit should cause the writer to reflect, elaborate, or comment on the selected concept or claim. Using a concept developed by someone else to conduct an analysis or interpretation of one’s own is a fundamental move in academia, one that you will no doubt be required to perform time and time again in college.

Note: The first part of the process (ICE) is also known as a “quote sandwich,” which makes sense if you think about it.

How to Perform Lens Analysis

• Introduce selected quotation from lens text i.e. provide the source for the quote as well as its context.
• Cite the quotation i.e. use a signal phrase and partial quotation to present the author’s ideas clearly to your reader. Make sure to provide the required citation (MLA for this class).
• Explain what the quotation means in terms of your argument i.e. ensure that the meaning of the quotation is clear to your reader in connection to your argument.
• Apply the quotation to a specific aspect of the exhibit i.e. use the idea expressed in the quotation to develop an insightful interpretation about an aspect of the exhibit.
• Reflect on the particular lens idea more deeply i.e. complicate it, extend its scope, or raise a new question that you will address next in your analysis, if applicable.

Writing About Literature Copyright © by Rachael Benavidez and Kimberley Garcia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a Lens Essay

Sophie levant, 25 jun 2018.

Look closely at literature, and you may see a new world below the surface. In high school or college, a teacher may ask you to do this by writing a lens essay. A lens essay is a type of comparative paper that analyzes one text through the viewpoints expressed in another. Composing an effective one is difficult even for the most seasoned of writers. However, it is an incredible intellectual exercise through which you will not only improve your writing skills but your critical reading and thinking skills as well.

Explore this article

• Read the Lens Text
• Read the Focus Text
• Take a Closer Look
• Construct Your Thesis
• Compose the Body of Your Essay
• Sum Up Your Ideas
• Revise and Edit

things needed

• Your two texts
• Pen and paper

1 Read the Lens Text

Begin by reading the text you plan to use as your viewpoint. Take note of strong opinions, assumptions and justifications. Clear, concise notes about this section will help when using this text as a lens and when writing your final essay, so make sure your notes are accurate.

2 Read the Focus Text

Read the second work once, making note of its important details. Look back at your notes from the lens text, and read the focus text again with the lens text in mind. Use active reading skills such as writing questions in the margins and determining the purpose of each paragraph.

3 Take a Closer Look

Here are a few questions to consider when analyzing the content of your focus text: How does the lens text serve to shed light on the second text? Does it criticize it or support it? If the two pieces were written during different periods in history, consider the era in which the lens was written and how it affects the opinions or points made in the second. Consider the lives of the authors and how their differences might inform their writing.

4 Construct Your Thesis

With your notes in hand, construct your thesis statement. Using details from the both texts as context clues, determine how the author of the lens text would view the assertions of the focal text. Construct this view as a statement that includes the details expounded upon in the body paragraphs of your essay. At the same time, keep your thesis statement as clear and simple as you can. Your thesis statement is the roadmap to the rest of your paper. Its clarity and concision will help your reader understand what to expect.

5 Compose the Body of Your Essay

Write the body. A lens essay is typically constructed on a text-by-text basis. Concentrate on presenting the lens in the first paragraphs. In the following, present the second text as viewed through the lens. How do your points support the thesis? Make sure to include evidence for your assertions.

6 Sum Up Your Ideas

Write the conclusion. Restate your thesis first, then sum up the main points of your paper. Be sure to make what you have said meaningful. Don't let the paper fizzle out, but don't introduce new information either.

7 Revise and Edit

Read over your work at least once, first paying attention to content and inconsistencies in your argument. Make additions and corrections, and then proofread your work. Correct errors in style and grammar, and make sure your prose reads fluently. When in doubt, ask a friend to read your paper. Sometimes another set of eyes can catch mistakes that yours don't.

• It is always well worth your time to proofread and edit your paper before submission. Not only can you correct any errors in style and grammar, but inconsistencies in your argument as well.
• 1 Brandeis University: The Lens Essay
• 2 The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning: Active Reading Strategies

About the Author

Sophie Levant is a freelance writer based in Michigan. Having attended Michigan State University, her interests include history classical music, travel, and the German language. Her work has been published at eHow and Travels.

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How to Write a Critical Lens Essay Successfully Step by Step

Critical lens essay writing is a type of literary analysis where the writer is required to analyze and interpret a specific piece of literature or a quote. The essay typically involves discussing the meaning of the quote and how it relates to two literary works. The author is expected to use literary elements and techniques to support their interpretation and provide evidence from the texts.

The term "critical lense" refers to the perspective or lenses through which the scribe views and analyzes the literature. It often involves exploring the cultural, historical, or philosophical context of the works being analyzed. The goal is to demonstrate a deep understanding of the literature and present a well-argued interpretation.

In this guide, we’ll explore such crucial aspects of how to write critical lens essay, its definition, format, and samples. Just in case you’re in a big hurry, here’s a link to our essay writer service that can help you cope with a task at hand quickly and effortlessly.  

What Is a Critical Lens Essay and How to Write It

A critical lens analysis is a form of literary exploration that challenges students to interpret and analyze a specific quote, known as the "lens," and apply it to two pieces of literature. This type of composition aims to assess a student's understanding of literary elements, themes, and the broader implications of the chosen quote. Effectively producing a research paper involves several key steps, each contributing to a comprehensive and insightful analysis. 

The critical lens meaning is to provide a unique perspective into the complexities of literature. It goes beyond mere summarization, urging students to explore the layers of meaning embedded within the chosen quote and its application to literary works. Unveiling the assignment's meaning requires a keen eye for nuance and an appreciation for the intricate dance between language and interpretation.

Knowing how to write a lens essay involves mastering the art of interpretation. As students embark on this literary journey, the process of achieving this task becomes integral. It demands an exploration of the chosen quote's implications, an in-depth analysis of its resonance with the selected literature, and a thoughtful synthesis of ideas. A step-by-step approach is crucial, from deciphering the meaning to meticulously weaving insights into a cohesive and compelling narrative.

A lens analysis is more than a scholarly exercise; it's a nuanced exploration of the intersections between literature and life. It prompts students to unravel the layers of meaning embedded within the viewpoint, dissecting its implications for characters, themes, and overarching narratives. This analytical journey not only refines academic skills but also cultivates a deeper appreciation for the profound impact literature can have on our understanding of the human experience.

Step-by-Step Writing Guide

In this guide, we will explore the assignment’s prerequisites and outline five steps to help students understand how to write a critical lens essay.

STEP 1 - Understand the Critical Lens Quote

The journey of crafting a compelling draft begins with a deep understanding of the chosen quote or viewpoint. This quote typically embodies a philosophical or thematic idea that serves as a foundation for analyzing the selected literary works. Students should dissect the quote, exploring its nuances, underlying meanings, and potential applications to literature.

STEP 2 - Select Appropriate Literary Works

Once the sources are comprehended, the next step is to select two literary works that can be effectively analyzed through this framework. Choosing appropriate texts is crucial, as they should offer rich content and thematic depth, allowing for a comprehensive exploration. Students must consider how the texts align with and diverge from the central ideas presented in the quote.

STEP 3 - Interpret the Chosen Texts

With the literary works in hand, students embark on a close reading and analysis of the selected texts. This involves identifying key themes, characters, literary devices, and narrative elements within each work. The goal is to understand how each text relates to the material and to uncover the deeper meanings encapsulated in the literature.

STEP 4 - Write a Thesis Statement for Your Critical Lens Essay

The thesis statement is the compass guiding the entire document. It should succinctly capture the composer’s interpretation of the original source and how it applies to the chosen texts. A well-crafted thesis statement not only outlines the focus of the essay but also provides a roadmap for the subsequent analysis, showcasing the author’s unique perspective.

STEP 5 - Structure the Essay Effectively

The final step involves organizing the tract into a coherent and persuasive structure. A well-structured article typically includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the introduction, students present their interpretation, introduce the chosen texts, and offer a clear thesis statement. Body paragraphs delve into specific aspects of lenses and their application to each text, supported by relevant evidence and analysis. The conclusion synthesizes the key findings, reinforces the thesis, and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

A successful article requires a meticulous approach to interpreting the quote, selecting appropriate literary works, closely analyzing the texts, crafting a robust thesis statement, and structuring the document effectively. By following these five key steps, students can develop a well-rounded and insightful article that not only demonstrates their understanding of literature but also showcases their ability to apply analytical thinking skills to literary analysis. Should you find the process challenging, simply contact us and say, ‘ Write an essay for me ,’ so we can find you a perfect writer for the job.

Critical Lens Essay Outline

Creating a comprehensive lens essay outline is an essential preparatory step that helps students organize their thoughts and ensures a well-structured effort. Below is a suggested outline, dividing the task into logical sections:

Introduction:

• Hook: Begin with a captivating hook or quote to engage the reader.
• Quote: Introduce the chosen quote, providing context and potential interpretations.
• Interpretation: Offer your initial interpretation and its implications.
• Thesis Statement: Clearly state your thesis, outlining how the document applies to the chosen literary works.

Body Paragraphs:

Paragraph 1: First Literary Work

• Brief Overview: Provide a concise summary of the first literary work.
• Connection to Critical Lens: Analyze how it applies to this text.
• Evidence: Incorporate relevant quotes or examples from the text to support your analysis.
• Interpretation: Discuss the deeper meanings revealed through the analysis.

Paragraph 2: Second Literary Work

• Brief Overview: Summarize the second literary work.
• Connection to Critical Lens: Examine how it is reflected in this text.
• Evidence: Include specific quotes or instances from the text to bolster your analysis.
• Interpretation: Explore the profound implications illuminated by the material.

Paragraph 3: Comparative Analysis

• Common Themes: Identify shared themes or patterns between the two works.
• Differences: Highlight key differences and divergent interpretations.
• Unity: Emphasize how both work collectively to reinforce the analysis.
• Counterargument.

Conclusion:

• Recapitulation: Summarize the main points discussed in the body paragraphs.
• Thesis Restatement: Reiterate your thesis in a compelling manner.
• Concluding Thoughts: Offer final reflections on the broader implications of your analysis.

By adhering to this outline, students can systematically approach their essays, ensuring a coherent and well-supported exploration of the chosen perspective and literary works. The outline serves as a roadmap, guiding the author through each essential element and facilitating a more organized and impactful final product. You will also benefit from learning how to write a character analysis essay because this guide also offers a lot of useful tips.

Introduction

The introduction plays a pivotal role in capturing the reader's attention and establishing the foundation for the ensuing analysis. Begin with a compelling hook or a thought-provoking quote that relates to the chosen perspective. Following the hook, introduce the quote itself, providing the necessary context and initial interpretations. This is also the space to present the thesis statement, succinctly outlining how the outlook applies to the literary works under examination. The thesis should offer a roadmap for the reader, indicating the key themes or ideas that will be explored in the body paragraphs.

The main body paragraphs constitute the heart of the article, where the essayist delves into a detailed analysis of the chosen literary works through the framework provided. Each body paragraph should focus on a specific literary work, providing a brief overview, connecting it to the perspective, presenting evidence from the text, and offering interpretations. Use clear topic sentences to guide the reader through each paragraph's main idea. Strive for a balance between summarizing the text and analyzing how it aligns with the outlook. If applicable, include a comparative analysis paragraph that explores common themes or differences between the two works. This section requires a careful integration of textual evidence and insightful commentary. Keep in mind that learning the ins and outs of a literary analysis essay might also help you improve your overall written skills, so check it out, too!

The conclusion serves as a synthesis of the analysis, offering a concise recapitulation of the main points explored in the body paragraphs. Begin by summarizing the key findings and interpretations, reinforcing how each literary work aligns with the work’s angle. Restate the thesis in a conclusive manner, emphasizing the overarching themes that have emerged from the analysis. Beyond a mere recap, the conclusion should provide broader insights into the implications of the outlook, encouraging readers to contemplate the universal truths or societal reflections brought to light. A strong conclusion leaves a lasting impression, prompting reflection on the interconnectedness of literature and the perspectives that illuminate its depth.

Critical Lens Essay Example

Final Remark 

Through the exploration of literary works, students not only refine their understanding of diverse perspectives but also develop essential analytical thinking skills. The ability to decipher, analyze, and articulate the underlying themes and conflicts within literature positions students as adept communicators and thinkers.

Armed with the skills cultivated in dissecting and interpreting texts, students gain a formidable ally in the pursuit of effective communication. By committing to harnessing the insights gained through this assignment, students empower themselves to produce richer, more nuanced pieces. 

How to Write a Thesis Statement for Your Critical Lens Essay?

How does using a critical lens essay help writers, what are the best critical lens essay examples.

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How To Write A Lens Essay

A lens essay is a type of comparative paper that, instead of comparing two subjects, compares two different interpretations of one subject. When writing a lens essay, it is important to choose a text that has two different interpretations. These interpretations can be from different time periods, different authors, or even different schools of thought. The key to writing a successful lens essay is to use your own critical analysis of the texts to argue for the validity of one interpretation over the other.

There are a few steps you can take to ensure your lens essay is successful. First, it is important to have a clear understanding of both interpretations of the text. Second, you need to develop a thesis that takes a position on which interpretation is more valid. Finally, you must use evidence from the texts to support your position.

When writing your lens essay, be sure to:

1. Choose a text that has two different interpretations.

2. Develop a thesis that takes a position on which interpretation is more valid.

3. Use evidence from the texts to support your position.

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Understanding the Purpose of a Lens Essay

A lens essay is a type of critical writing that focuses on a single text, poem, play, or work of art through the perspective of a particular idea, theory, or lens. The purpose of a lens essay is twofold: to explore the significance of the text under analysis and to articulate your own argument about that text.

When approaching a lens essay, it is important to keep in mind that you are not writing a traditional research paper. In a research paper, you would typically present a series of evidence to support your argument. In a lens essay, however, your goal is not to simply present evidence, but to critically engage with the text under analysis. This means that you will need to bring your own interpretation to the text and use evidence from the text to support your claims.

There is no one right way to approach a lens essay, but there are a few things that you should keep in mind as you write. First, it is important to select a text that you can find interesting and that you can find evidence to support your claims about. Second, you will need to develop a clear thesis statement that articulates your argument about the text. And finally, you will need to support your claims with evidence from the text itself.

If you are having trouble getting started on your lens essay, try brainstorming a few possible ideas. Once you have selected a text and a lens, you can begin to develop a thesis statement. Remember, your goal is not simply to summarize the text or to provide evidence, but to critically engage with the text and to develop your own argument.

Once you have developed a thesis statement, you can begin to gather evidence from the text to support your claims. As you read, take note of passages or quotes that you think could be helpful in supporting your argument. When you have gathered enough evidence, you can begin to organize your essay.

When organizing your lens essay, it is important to keep your argument in mind. Begin by introducing your text and your lens, and then present your thesis statement. After your thesis statement, you can provide evidence from the text to support your claims. Finally, conclude your essay by reaffirming your argument and showing how your evidence supports your claims.

Remember, a lens essay is not a research paper. You are not simply presenting evidence, but critically engaging with the text under analysis. By approaching the text from a particular perspective, you can bring new insights and interpretations to the text. By developing a clear argument and supporting it with evidence, you can write a successful lens essay.

Selecting a Primary Text and Secondary Source

A lens essay is a type of comparative paper that, instead of comparing two subjects, compares a single subject against a secondary text. The purpose of a lens essay is twofold: to demonstrate your critical reading and writing skills, and to reveal your ability to analyze a complex text through the lens of another text.

In order to write a successful lens essay, you must first choose an appropriate primary text and secondary source. The primary text is the work that you will be using as your lens; it is the work through which you will interpret the secondary source. The secondary source is the work that you will be using as your main point of reference; it is the work that you will be interpreting through the lens of the primary text.

When choosing your primary and secondary texts, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, the texts should be from different genres (e.g., you wouldn’t want to compare a novel to a non-fiction work). Second, the texts should be of different lengths; a short story would not be an appropriate primary text if your secondary source is a full-length novel. Third, the texts should be from different time periods; it would be difficult to compare a contemporary work to a work from the Victorian era, for example.

Once you have selected your primary and secondary texts, you are ready to begin writing your lens essay. The first step is to read both texts carefully, taking note of any passages or ideas that stand out to you. As you read, you should also be thinking about how the two texts might be connected; what are the similarities and differences between them? What is it about the lens text that makes it a good tool for interpreting the secondary text?

After you have finished reading both texts, it is time to start writing your essay. The first step is to write a thesis statement; this should be a single sentence that sums up the overall point you will be trying to make in your essay. For example, your thesis statement might be “In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Fitzgerald uses the character of Jay Gatsby as a lens through which to critique the empty materialism of the 1920s.”

Once you have written your thesis statement, you can start to develop your argument. In your body paragraphs, you will want to discuss how the lens text sheds light on the secondary text. What does the lens text reveal about the secondary text that we might not have been able to see otherwise? How does the lens text help us to understand the themes and ideas of the secondary text in a new way?

When you are writing your essay, be sure to support your claims with evidence from both texts. Quotations from the texts will help to illustrate your points, and will also show that you have read both texts closely. In addition, you should also make sure to explain how your evidence supports your thesis statement; simply quoting a passage from the text is not enough, you must also explain why that passage is significant.

A lens essay can be a challenging, but ultimately rewarding, assignment. By carefully selecting your texts and developing a well-supported argument, you can use the lens essay to reveal new insights into familiar works.

Analyzing and Interpreting the Primary Text

A lens essay is a type of close reading that focuses on a single text or group of texts. Unlike other forms of close reading, a lens essay requires that you not only analyze the text (or texts) in question, but also interpret it in light of another text, typically one that is considered to be a classic or canonical work.

The idea behind a lens essay is that you take a single text and use it as a lens through which to view another text. In other words, you use the first text to shed light on the second text. The lens text can be either shorter or longer than the target text, but it should be of a similar genre (e.g., if you’re writing about a novel, you would use another novel as your lens).

To write a successful lens essay, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Choose a target text and a lens text.

2. Read both texts closely, taking careful notes.

3. Develop a thesis about how the lens text illuminates the themes, ideas, or characters in the target text.

4. Write an essay in which you analyze the target text using the lens text as a guide.

When choosing a target and lens text, look for works that share common themes, ideas, or characters. For example, if you’re interested in the theme of love in Romeo and Juliet, you could use another Shakespeare play, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as your lens. Or, if you’re interested in the character of Hamlet, you might use another character-driven play, like Macbeth, as your lens.

Once you’ve chosen your texts, read them both closely, taking careful notes. As you read, think about how the lens text sheds light on the target text. What themes, ideas, or characters do they share? How do they differ? What does the lens text reveal about the target text that you might not have noticed otherwise?

Once you’ve considered these questions, you should be ready to develop a thesis about how the lens text illuminates the target text. Your thesis should be specific, and it should make an argument about how the lens text helps us to understand the target text in a new or different way.

Finally, write an essay in which you analyze the target text using the lens text as a guide. In your essay, be sure to discuss both the similarities and the differences between the two texts. How do they illuminate each other? What can we learn from looking at the target text through the lens of the other?

A lens essay can be a challenging, but ultimately rewarding, exercise in close reading and interpretation. By using one text to shed light on another, you can gain a deeper understanding of both.

Exploring the Lens or Theoretical Framework

When you are asked to write a lens essay, you will be asked to analyze a particular text through a specific lens. This may be a literary work, a film, a political document, or anything else that can be looked at in different ways. In order to write a successful lens essay, you will need to have a strong understanding of the text you are analyzing and the lens through which you will be viewing it.

There are a few steps you can take to ensure that your essay is successful. First, it is important that you have a clear thesis statement that outlines the main argument of your paper. Next, you will need to provide a detailed analysis of the text, using evidence from the work itself to support your claims. Finally, you will need to discuss the implications of your analysis and how the work can be interpreted in different ways.

If you follow these steps, you will be well on your way to writing a successful lens essay. Remember to stay focused on your argument and to use evidence from the text to support your claims. With a little practice, you will be able to write a lens essay that explores the different ways a text can be interpreted.

Identifying Points of Convergence and Divergence

In a lens essay, two texts are brought into conversation with one another in order to shed new light on each. The lens essay typically employs a theoretical text as a lens and uses it to examine a more concrete text. In this way, the lens essay brings together two texts that may initially seem quite different in order to explore a larger issue.

There are a few things to keep in mind when writing a lens essay. First, it is important to identify the points of convergence and divergence between the two texts. Convergence occurs when the texts share something in common, while divergence occurs when the texts differ from one another. It is important to note both the points of convergence and divergence, as they will inform your reading of the texts.

Next, it is important to situate the texts within a larger context. What is the historical moment in which the texts were written? What are the larger issues at play that the texts address? By situating the texts within a larger context, you can begin to see how they speak to one another.

Finally, it is important to bring your own critical lens to the texts. What are you hoping to learn by bringing these texts into conversation with one another? What new insights can you glean from this conversation?

By keeping these things in mind, you can write a strong lens essay that brings two texts into conversation with one another in order to explore a larger issue.

Crafting a Clear Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a sentence or two that states the main argument of your essay. It tells your readers what you’re going to be discussing in the paper and helps to keep your writing focused. In a lens essay, your thesis statement will typically be located at the end of your introduction.

There are a few things to keep in mind when crafting your thesis statement for a lens essay:

1. Make sure that your thesis statement is clear and concise.

2. Be sure to take a position on the issue at hand. A lens essay is not simply a summary of another text.

3. Be sure that your thesis statement is arguable. In other words, it should be something that someone could reasonably disagree with.

4. Keep in mind that your thesis statement will likely be one of the first things that your readers encounter in your paper. As such, it’s important to make sure that it is well-crafted and pack a punch.

With these things in mind, let’s take a look at a few examples of thesis statements for lens essays.

“In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the lens of Jay Gatsby to explore the issue of the American dream.”

In this thesis statement, we can see that the author has taken a position on the issue at hand (the American dream) and that they are using the character of Jay Gatsby as a lens through which to examine it. This is a strong thesis statement that is arguable and provides a clear focus for the rest of the essay.

“Though ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is often seen as a coming-of-age story, Holden Caulfield’s lens reveals a much darker view of adolescence.”

This thesis statement also takes a position on the interpretation of the novel, in this case arguing that it should be seen as a darker story than is typically assumed. Again, the use of Holden Caulfield as a lens is key to this interpretation.

“Through the lens of Scout Finch, Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ challenges the idea that justice is always served.”

This thesis statement argues that the novel is not a simple story of justice being served, as is often assumed, but instead uses the character of Scout Finch to challenge this idea.

These are just a few examples of thesis statements for lens essays. In each case, the thesis statement takes a position on the interpretation of the text and uses the lens character to support this interpretation.

If you’re having trouble crafting a strong thesis statement for your lens essay, remember to keep these things in mind: take a position on the issue, make sure your thesis is arguable, and focus on creating a strong, punchy statement that will grab your reader’s attention.

Integrating Evidence and Examples

A lens essay is a type of critical writing that focuses on a particular text or piece of artwork through the lens of a critical theory or approach. In other words, a lens essay provides a critical interpretation of a given text or artwork by using a particular theoretical framework or lens.

There are a number of different ways to approach writing a lens essay, but regardless of approach, there are a few key elements that all lens essays should include. First and foremost, a lens essay must provide a thesis statement that states the overall argument or interpretation that the essay will be providing. This thesis should be based on a close reading of the text or artwork in question and should make use of evidence and examples from the text or artwork to support the thesis.

In addition to a thesis statement and evidence-based support, a lens essay should also include a discussion of the implications of the argument or interpretation. What does this argument or interpretation mean for our understanding of the text or artwork in question? What are the larger implications of this argument or interpretation? These are the kinds of questions that a lens essay should seek to answer.

If you are interested in writing a lens essay, there are a few things that you will need to keep in mind. First, you will need to choose a text or artwork to focus on. It is important to choose a text or artwork that you are familiar with and that you feel confident in your ability to interpret. Second, you will need to choose a critical theory or approach to use as your lens. There are many different critical theories and approaches that can be used, so it is important to choose one that you are familiar with and that you think will help you to interpret the text or artwork in question in a new and interesting way.

Once you have chosen a text or artwork to focus on and a critical theory or approach to use as your lens, you will need to close read the text or artwork in question. As you close read, you should be looking for evidence and examples that you can use to support your thesis statement. Once you have gathered this evidence, you can begin to formulate your argument or interpretation.

Once you have formulated your argument or interpretation, you should then turn your attention to the implications of this argument or interpretation. What does this argument or interpretation mean for our understanding of the text or artwork in question? What are the larger implications of this argument or interpretation? These are the kinds of questions that you should seek to answer in your lens essay.

If you keep these key elements in mind, you should be well on your way to writing a successful lens essay.

Writing a Comparative Analysis

A comparative analysis essay is an essay that compares two or more subjects. These subjects can be related to each other, or they can be completely different. For example, you might compare two different theories, or two different works of literature.

When writing a comparative analysis essay, you need to first identify the similarities and differences between the subjects you are comparing. Once you have done this, you can then start to write your essay.

There are a few different ways that you can structure your comparative analysis essay. One way is to simply list the similarities and differences between the subjects. Another way is to start with a general introduction, and then move on to discuss the similarities and differences between the subjects.

Whichever way you choose to structure your essay, make sure that each paragraph focuses on one particular point. Also, make sure to use evidence from both subjects to support your points.

If you are having trouble getting started, try brainstorming a list of the similarities and differences between the subjects you are comparing. Once you have this list, you can then start to create your essay outline.

If you need help writing your comparative analysis essay, there are a few places you can turn to for assistance. First, you can speak to your professor or TA. They will be able to give you some tips on how to get started.

You can also find a number of resources online that can help you write your essay. There are a number of websites that offer essay writing tips, and there are also a number of essay writing services that you can use.

Remember, when writing your comparative analysis essay, it is important to first identify the similarities and differences between the subjects you are comparing. Once you have done this, you can then start to write your essay. Use evidence from both subjects to support your points, and make sure to structure your essay in a way that makes it easy to follow.

Concluding with a Critical Evaluation

A lens essay is a type of analytical essay that focuses on a particular text or piece of media. In order to write a successful lens essay, you must have a clear thesis, an engaging introduction, and a well-organized argument.

Your thesis should be a statement about how the text or media you are analyzing reflects a larger issue or theme. For example, you could argue that the novel you are studying reflects the social ills of its time period.

Your introduction should give your reader a clear sense of your argument. It should also explain why you have chosen to focus on this particular text or piece of media.

Your argument should be well-organized and supported by evidence from the text or media you are analyzing. Be sure to use specific examples to illustrate your points.

Your conclusion should summarize your argument and offer a critical evaluation of your evidence. It should also explain how your analysis contributes to our understanding of the larger issue or theme you were exploring.

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Critical Lens Essay: Writing Process Explored in Just One Article

Back on your studies again, aren't you? Well, what is it that you are looking for now? Ah, a critical lens essay. That may sound easy, alright, but you might feel that it poses a massive challenge, and rightly so. Don't you worry, though, because once you are done reading this helpful guide, you will have a very clear picture of how to write your critical lens essay. So, grab a cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable because we're about to begin.

What is a Critical Lens Essay?

Quite a lot of students these days keep asking themselves the same question: "what is a critical lens essay?" The critical lens essay is a kind of the critical analysis essay which focuses on the interpretation of a direct quote from a piece of literature. That may not seem like a good explanation, but in this case, it doesn't need to be too extensive. Writing a critical lens essay is not about throwing theory terms left and right, it's about actually putting the right words into the proper order.

The point is that many famous literary pieces are frequently quoted quite extensively, but the problem is that individuals doing that may not necessarily be familiar with any background information, nor are they aware of the context to which the quote belongs. The way people citing quotes understand them is very much different from their author's intended meaning and, as a result, such quotes end up living their own independent lives. Another extreme is that many people in their speeches and writings support their viewpoint with quotations, which are also taken out of context, thus gradually changing their original meaning in their audience's collective mind. This is why it is always a good idea to actually look at a quote through a critical lens, interpreting it with regards to its context and other circumstances which determine its meaning. But how do you go about writing an essay like that? Critical lens essays are known to have a very rigorous structure, and itis very important to follow it to the letter. So, let us have a closer look at the process of writing .

How to Write a Critical Lens Essay Step by Step

Let us look into the essential steps you're bound to take while writing a critical lens essay. Indeed, they may differ depending on the case, but we suggest coming up with and sticking to the general plan, which is the key to writings an excellent critical lens essay.

The first thing you should do before starting on your essay is find an unusual or particularly famous and widely misunderstood quotation. Also, make sure to find a source your quote is taken from to spare your readers the trouble of finding it by themselves. Once that has been taken care of, it's time to move on to observing other equally essential formalities.

Defining critical lens essay format

It is wrong to assume that critical lens essays are all written in accordance with just one format or citation style. The format of your essay will depend primarily on the citation style that your professor will require you to adhere to; MLA, APA, Chicago Turabian and Harvard being the most common ones. So, check it out with your professor and find a respective post in our blog to know what the standards of your particular citation style are. Keep in mind that your professor may require you to make certain modifications to the requested citation style. For instance, an APA style paper is supposed to have a title page, but some professors mayo specifically instruct their students to avoid those. Therefore, to be on the safe side, we recommend you always take note of all the modifications your professor may require you to do.

The typical structure of a critical lens essay

At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing extraordinary about the structure of the critical lens essay: an introduction containing a thesis, three body paragraphs designed to support said thesis, and a conclusion meant to restate the arguments and summarize the results of your study. However, in the majority of cases, the structure of each of these individual parts is clearly predetermined.

Critical lens essay introduction

Your title page (if requested by your citation style), abstract, and outline (if required by your professor) are followed by the introductory paragraph of your essay . It is supposed to start with an attention getter, which in our case should be the quote you're working on. Therefore, make sure you choose a memorable phrase, such that is an arguable yet widely recognized and impressive one.

Your next sentence should explain the quotation or provide your incentives to select it and/or the context to which it belongs. Then comes the culmination of your introductory paragraph: the thesis . Claim something disputive about the quote, the simplest thing here being agreeing or disagreeing with it, and then prove whether or not it is right. You may also state something about the context of your quote or its actual meaning, which can be different from the widely recognized one.

Provide one more sentence, in which you announce your arguments by explaining how you are going to prove your point. This part may sometimes be longer than just one sentence, but for the sake of complying with the classical structure of the critical lens essay, it is better to fit this information into one sentence. However, you should refrain from making it too long and taking up an entire page. If it is absolutely necessary, it is better to split it into several sentences instead of piling up a pyramid made up of multiple subordinate clauses.

Exploring critical lens essay's body paragraphs

Being the significant part of your essay , the body typically comprises three paragraphs, of which the first ones are meant to provide the reader with a structure, which somewhat replicates the introduction.

Before explaining your thoughts in detail, it's always a good idea to start with a literary element, such as a quote, citation or literary device, which is meant to support your thesis. The last paragraph is supposed to convey the author's interpretation of the quote in its relation to the evidence analyzed. In the classic critical lens essay, the body paragraphs are meant to have four sentences each. However, if the essay is too long to limit each of its body paragraphs to just this amount, it should replicate the primary structure of the classic essay by expanding each of the sentences to include several new ones, if necessary. Basically, don't limit yourself to just this plan if you feel like you have something more to say. Keep it concise, though. Every sentence should be ripe with information.

How to develop a critical lens essay conclusion

The conclusion is a very important part of your critical lens essay because it summarizes all the evidence and shows how your whole text body supports the thesis . Be sure to include all these elements in your essay's conclusion, because it's precisely the thing that leaves the final and lasting impression upon your reader. Work hard on it!

Critical Lens Essay Topics Examples

The examples of critical lens essay topics may be diverse, but we will just provide a couple of ideas for you to consider. A very widely cited quotation by the ancient Roman poet Juvenal goes like this: "Mens sana in corpore sano." Torn out of its context, it has been used to support various and even diverse viewpoints of the people who do not even know or care where the quote derives from. This quote is most frequently translated into English as follows: "A healthy mind in a healthy body." Some people interpret this by claiming that a healthy mind can only exist in a healthy body, while others, who subscribe to the notion of the mind being primary, maintain that if the mind is healthy, then it will create the conditions for the body to remain healthy. To a certain extent, one can agree with either of these points, but what did the author actually mean by it? Isn't that's an excellent topic for your critical lens essay?

Let's take another widely quoted statement "Curiosity killed the cat." Not a lot of people know that the prolonged version of this saying actually goes on to tell that "satisfaction brought it back." In this case, the second part about the cat being revived is missing, thus making it an interesting topic for your critical lens essay.

Here are a few more useful tips on how to write an excellent critical lens essay:

Do not try to start writing your essay by developing the introduction - work on your body paragraphs first. And it is not until after you are done putting them together that you can proceed with your introduction and conclusion. It is much easier that way, since in your introduction and conclusion you will have to refer to your body paragraphs, and thus it is better to write them by then.

For your convenience, we have broken down the whole process of writing the critical lens essay into 10 easy-to-follow steps:

• Choose your topic.
• Work out a thesis.
• Conduct the necessary research .
• Write your body paragraphs.
• Come up with your introduction and conclusion.
• Design your cover page and reference list.
• Format your paper.
• Do the spell check (if necessary).
• Get some rest. At this point, it is a good idea to have the paper proofread by somebody else.
• Proofread the paper by yourself for the last time.

Now, you are ready to submit a perfectly structured critical lens essay.

If you are still not a hundred percent sure that you will cope with the task, you may contact our customer support team and ask them for help. It won't be hard at all to work out an acceptable solution for you. Quite a few of our clients know it from their own experience. Join our team and take the first step on your journey to success.

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Tag Archives: lens essay

“the death of ivan ilych: a psychological study on death and dying” as a lens essay.

The lens essay is a commonly-assigned paper, particularly in Writing Seminars. The prompt for such a paper often asks students to “critique and refine” an argument, to use a source as a lens through which to view another source and in the process gain a better understanding of both sources. This type of essay can be hard to explain and difficult to understand, so it is one of the most common types of essays we see in the Writing Center.

Recently, I read Y.J. Dayananda’s paper “ The Death of Ivan Ilych : A Psychological Study On Death and Dying ” which uses the lens technique. In this paper, Dayananda examines Tolstoy’s famous short story The Death of Ivan Ilych through the lens of Dr. E. K. Ross’s psychological studies of dying, particularly her five-stage theory. Dayananda’s paper features strong source use, shows how structure can be informed by those sources, and serves as a model for an effective and cross-disciplinary lens essay.

Dayananda establishes the paper’s argument clearly at the end of the introduction, setting up the paper’s thesis in light of this lens technique and providing the rationale (part of the motive) behind applying Ross’s study to Tolstoy’s story:

I intend to draw upon the material presented in Dr. Ross’s On Death and Dying and try to show how Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilych in The Death of Ivan Ilych goes through the same five stages. Psychiatry offers one way to a better illumination of literature. Dr. Ross’s discoveries in her consulting room corroborate Tolstoy’s literary insights into the experience of dying. They give us the same picture of man’s terrors of the flesh, despair, loneliness, and depression at the approach of death. The understanding of one will be illuminated by the understanding of the other. The two books, On Death and Dying and The Death of Ivan Ilych , the one with its systematically accumulated certified knowledge, and disciplined and scientific descriptions, and the other with its richly textured commentary, and superbly concrete and realistic perceptions, bring death out of the darkness and remove it from the list of taboo topics. Death, our affluent societies newest forbidden topic, is not regarded as “obscene” but discussed openly and without the euphemisms of the funeral industry.

Dayananda then organizes the paper in order of the five stages of Dr. Ross’s theory: denial, loneliness, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This gives the paper a clear structure and places the texts into conversation with each other on an organizational level. As the reader moves through each stage, Dayananda combines quotations from Dr. Ross’s study and evidence from The Death of Ivan Ilych to show how Ivan Ilych experiences that stage.

Dayananda’s interdisciplinary close-reading of Tolstoy’s text through the lens of Dr. Ross’s study allows us to better understand what Ivan is experiencing as we learn the psychology behind it. As Dayananda writes, “psychoanalysis offers a rich, dynamic approach to some aspects of literature.” The only way Dayananda’s paper could have been strengthened is if the essay also argued explicitly how reading the literature critiques or refines the psychological text, as the best lens essays run both ways. However, overall, Dayananda sets up and executes an original and effective lens reading of The Death of Ivan Ilych.

–Paige Allen ’21

Dayananda, Y. J. “ The Death of Ivan Ilych: A Psychological Study On Death and Dying .” Tolstoy’s Short Fiction: Revised Translations, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism , by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi and Michael R. Katz, Norton, 1991, pp. 423–434.

The Shade of the Body: Notions of Materiality in Rauschenberg’s Dante Series

In a Tortoiseshell: In the paper excerpted below, the author builds a graduated version of the lens thesis: She analyzes Robert Rauschenberg’s 34 Drawings for Dante’s Inferno in the context of Dante’s Inferno itself, using close reading as well as scholarly texts to make a subtle argument about both texts.

Continue reading →

The “Immense Edifice”: Memory, Rapture, and the Intertemporal Self in Swann’s Way

In a Tortoiseshell: This excerpt from Andrew Mullen’s essay “The ‘Immense Edifice”:  Memory, Rapture, and the Intertemporal Self in Swann’s Way ” concerns the analysis of Marcel Proust’s “ Swann’s Way ” through the lens of Claudia Brodsky’s essay on narration and memory. Andrew’s essay is a prime example of the lens essay –an essay that is structured around the analysis of a source text using a theoretical framework provided by another. Continue reading →

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Believing Is Seeing: The “Lens” Metaphor in Critical Theory

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Thomas L Martin, Believing Is Seeing: The “Lens” Metaphor in Critical Theory, Literary Imagination , Volume 21, Issue 3, November 2019, Pages 289–295, https://doi.org/10.1093/litimag/imz030

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Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear someone speak of literary theories as so many lenses one pulls from the metaphorical camera bag. Or maybe they are from the optometrist’s shop as professionals select from a variety of lenses to correct our vision. In any case, figuring literary theories as lenses appears to be the metaphor that embodies a widespread understanding of the role of theory today.

Before this was the critical toolbox. For several decades leading up to the appearance of the first edition of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism in 2001, critics referred to the concepts and ideas in literary theory as tools. The assortment of those tools taken together represented a toolbox the reader might carry from one text to another. The toolbox perhaps signaled a level of training and know-how that distinguished a “professional” reader trained in various methods of investigation from the lay reader who lacked such formal training.

That metaphor drops out of use around the turn of the century. The MLA Index clearly demonstrates the shift in the metaphor when in the 2000s the toolbox metaphor trends down to nearly nothing, while the lens metaphor begins and in the later 2010s rises to a peak. The publication of the canonical Norton Anthology may or may not have something to do with the changing of the metaphorical guard, but a debate arose at the time of the book’s release in which the editor Vincent Leitch argued that theory is not a toolbox, but, as a concern and understanding of the world, theory is an end in itself. If it is indeed an end in itself, where does that leave the literature?

This is not the place to rehearse that debate, but Leitch’s argument seems to have won the day. Or perhaps he was out front of a major shift in our thinking about the role of theory and its relationship to the arts. New paradigms require new metaphors. Does the paradigm behind the lens metaphor assume that the literature is just another commentary on, or exemplification of, the theory? Does that paradigm relegate the primary source to a secondary status? It is significant to note that the adjective Literary in the titles of competing anthologies is absent from the Norton volume.

Leitch’s primary objection to the toolbox metaphor seems to be the idea that criticism serves as an ancillary activity to the once more central work of literary analysis. That is what the toolbox metaphor essentially suggested: meaning resides in the literary text, and some application of tools might be effectively used to recover that meaning. One does not need a phenomenological theory of the tool as equipment (Heidegger: das Zeug ) to get there. The toolbox metaphor may be more ad hoc and informal than Heidegger’s notion of a tool as “ready-to-hand,” though the two might overlap. The idea of an array of tools suggests that they might even be interchangeable as long as they accomplish the job. A screwdriver can be used as a gouge or pry bar, a pipe wrench used as a lever or hammer. There are only seven simple machines, after all. The toolbox metaphor may be completely too mechanical in its implications to apply to the nature of meaning, but the idea that one tool may be as useful as any other to extract meaning does shift the attention from the tool to the meaning.

At first, the critical lens metaphor seems functionally equivalent to the critical toolbox metaphor. Both, for instance, can be used in isolation or combination with others of its kind. But whereas the tool serves a temporary usefulness, a lens suggests a permanent way of seeing, a way of seeing perhaps not otherwise available. The lens metaphor likely succeeds because it relies on the figure of vision for understanding. As such, it also suggests a perspective on the object viewed. But after this, the metaphor runs into problems. In fact, both metaphors do. One might naturally ask, can we uncover meaning without a tool, and how many lenses are required to see a literary work? As we further consider both metaphors, we might wonder the degree to which either is really useful or clarifying .

The current usage suggests that many “lenses” of critical theory are necessary to “see” the work of literature. But if we follow the logic of the metaphor, clearly only one lens is needed. That would be the lens that brings the object into sharp focus. All other lenses, to the extent that they deviate from those optics, would distort the object. For those wearing glasses to bring objects into the correct focus, using other lenses proves defeating and futile. This is where the metaphor fails and fails quite spectacularly. The idea behind the metaphor might be that multiple perspectives are needed to understand a work of art, but lenses are not perspectives. A single lens can be moved around an object to generate all kinds of perspectives. But, opthalmically, lenses are corrections to faulty vision, focusing or orienting eyes in need of correction to a standard, optimal vision.

Do those who use the metaphor mean optical filters like those photographers use? Photographically, these lenses render an object in various pronounced color tones. Many of the color-bathed images they produce might presumably be added together to create a single composite image. Yet, filters by definition strain out portions of the available light to create such effects. We know that filters miss important details, intentionally deviating from what is available to create varied effects.

Or we might expand the lens metaphor in the direction of vision augmentation devices. Maybe that is the sense in which those who use the metaphor mean it. That would include technological innovations like infrared, heat imaging, and more. The advantage of understanding the metaphor this way is that it captures a sense of the progress of knowledge to which we in the university long ago committed ourselves. But these cannot be critical “lenses,” either, in the sense of multiple incompatible perspectives. These technologies open the wider spectrum of light radiation to human observers. They nonetheless view the same light band, and the object they illumine is still the same object. So these devices cannot be “lenses” in the current sense of the metaphor used in critical contacts.

As we sort through possible meanings, it becomes apparent that critics who talk about the literary “lens” seem to mean the metaphor to signify multiple perspectives. But this is also problematic, as multiple perspectives have little to do with lenses since, as noted, any single lens can generate multiple perspectives. As deficiently thought through as the metaphor is, the underlying idea of multiple incompatible perspectives is troublesome. It raises the specter of interpretive relativism—which may not in itself sound objectionable—but the perpetual ambiguity and confusing chaos that relativism creates inevitably leads to textual interventionism.

Maybe it is not a lens but more like a recipe. Maybe critics mix in ingredients to make new concoctions. Maybe they make something new with a different look, taste, and texture. Why not stir some dogma into our reading? Why not revolutionary fervor or the sensibility of another place and time? For one thing, there are very good hermeneutical reasons not to do so. For another, there are good alchemical reasons not to do so. Lye when mixed with one ingredient makes a mild cleanser for the skin; with another it dissolves human flesh. Don’t we still need to listen to and understand one another, not only if we are to be educated people, but if we are going to live with one another in society? Otherwise, we are all just revolutionaries who continue to batter one another in every classroom, every social media encounter, every time we talk to one another or pick up a book.

Or if not like a recipe, maybe a lens is a kind of medical enhancement device. Doctors prescribe lenses. Maybe the prescribed lens uses digital augmented reality to overlay a preferred form and message. Or maybe it is more like a pharmaceutical pill or ointment that when applied makes me feel like the text agrees with me? But before we begin the work of criticism, we must certainly read a work to understand it. I find that too many students who adopt this reading-with-a-lens approach are losing the ability to read literature. They do not know how literary conventions convey meaning and that literature is a unique use of language that speaks a meaning over and above ordinary language. Too many students have been taught how to use a lens to find the oppressor, for instance, but somehow that singular focus leads away from other matters of which the text speaks.

At a sentence and discourse level, too many university students cannot engage a literary text. They are taught to favor partisan simplicity over complexity. They are taught to pass over the ways authors use tone and a variety of viewpoints to explore complex issues that confront us as human beings. Sometimes those issues they can immediately relate to; sometimes not. But as they lose the ability to have a primary experience in their reading, they lose what other minds and other cultures offer them. They miss the richness of figurative language that captures all kinds of ambivalences and intersections of human will and aspiration they might find there. Sometimes I wonder if what the critics call a lens really is a lens at all. I find it interesting that these students don’t need a lens to read what the critics say. If that is the case, maybe the lenses critics advocate for are lenses after all: maybe they are cyborg lenses that sketch the barest outline around objects to find that one thing they are programmed to find. “Must find John Conner!”

But this is not so much seeing as it is critical monomania. Whatever it is, it is hardly critical anymore since to see the same thing every time we read is as critical as taking a ride on Uncle Toby’s hobby horse. Is a lens a kind of tunnel vision? Maybe the purpose of the lens is to conceal? Maybe it is like the card sharp’s colored lenses that screen out the ornate designs on the backs of cards to display instead a hidden code.

In this connection, I think of the critic Christopher Norris, who says in effect that we can’t read texts anymore, but we can read ideologies. Is this looking at a work of literature through a “lens,” or is it a surreptitious switching of meanings in which literature is treated as appearance and the critical theory reality? Maybe all writers of texts produce only “surface” and all writers of theories only “depth”? In this case, what the critic says is more “real” than what the text “appears” to say. Consequently, does the critical lens “write the text,” in Stanley Fish’s sense, or does it rewrite it? Perhaps a lens is a set rose-colored glasses or maybe a terministic screen. Maybe it is one of those mood spectacles or illusion glasses we find at parties. How about a kaleidoscopic lens with bits of sea shell, glitter, and tiny shapes rattling at one end to produce a captivating image at the other? Maybe our chosen lens produces an Escher pattern that tessellates across the field of vision, covering everything in sight? All sorts of lenses are available to us, and the Dutchman’s interlocking angels and demons explain an awful lot, after all.

The problem with lenses is that with them students don’t know what they know. A friend who went to medical school said he worked in the clinic his first year. When I asked, “Isn’t there a danger that might lead to malpractice,” he answered, “They trust us to know what we don’t know.” Our students in literary studies outfitted with lenses don’t have that same epistemic circumspection. This kind of awareness is greater than that which any lens could provide. I don’t blame these students as much as I do the critics and others in the profession who promote the lens as an interpretative carte blanche. Is a lens simply what the text would say if someone with my philosophy or political persuasion wrote it? To metaphorize what they want to say about a text as a lens is to make it official. Henceforth, it is unquestionable. Since we’re searching for metaphors, maybe we should include those characters in Tolkien whose superior minds seek lower intelligences to carry out their will, a chief difference between wizards and orcs. Or maybe reading is a kind of ventriloquism act? Metaphors abound for the kind of reading practiced in our profession today.

Do those who replace the meaning of a literary work with some understanding of the world they favor regard the new meaning as somehow communicable and stable? Do they then present this “real” meaning to the rest of us to see without the aid of “lenses”? Or do they argue that all not only literary works but also literary interpretations require lenses, so we might as well adopt their lens as well as any other? Should we expect a battle of the lenses, a hermeneutic ground war where perspectival possibilities multiply and clash because other new critics with their respective lenses insist on the primacy of their visions? In the end, how many acts of lens-viewing are a matter of withdrawing the veritable message in the bottle and simply inserting our own?

Of course, the pluralism we espouse as critics need not be a tendentious process of self-validating and unquestioned perspectives that turn the text into something other than it is, nor a competition for recognition in Kojève’s “struggle to the death for pure prestige.” For Coleridge’s definition of beauty as “multeity in unity,” plurality in Western philosophy and art was heretofore seen as the complex variety of things integrated in a much larger whole, even if the identity of the whole was unknown. Only in the postmodern did that change. Deleuze was the principal philosopher for the “fundamental” nature, as he described it, of discontinuity. But even though the discourse of discontinuity currently dominates academia, there is a pressing need for a semantic-cognitive opening in which evidence and the remaining laws of logic help us sort through the teeming plurality that overruns us even on a practical level each day. Or does our egalitarianism extend to every idea and impression we have irrespective of its plausibility and moral payoff? Truth is not so much plural as things manifesting themselves in a variety of ways, and individual perceivers with their various histories and values multiply perceptions as they interact with the world and one another. In such cases, we rightly respect plurality as a means to access larger unified truths and discern broader patterns. When we do so, we account for the narrowness of singular viewpoints.

In the matter of the interpretation of art, we take these “perceptions” or “perspectives”—not lenses—and we add them up to see what greater understanding they offer. Otherwise, we might as well have one eye on one side of our head arguing with the other about which one is right. Even two lenses on a single pair of spectacles provide this function in the most obvious of ways. Each vantage point is partial, knows its vision is partial, nor will and does not insist its one lens is true, as if that ended the story. Instead, each coordinates its lesser information with the lesser information of the other as it seeks areas of agreement. Insofar as their lesser information overlaps, they reconcile what they know with one another to attain more knowledge. Their divergence exists for the sake of convergence, their multiplicity for the sake of unity.

Even in our fractious age, perceivers seek to reconcile the various inputs of their five senses. Scientists seek a unified field theory. And can we literary critics still seek a unified understanding of our subject matter as well, even as we allow for the personal response of the individual viewer, which can be integrated in some larger account? When we find that information in one place does not square with that in another, we search for a deeper unity that connects them. Is that unity not requisite to the knowledge toward which we aim in our institutions of higher learning?

The destructive legacy of a poststructuralist insistence on fundamental discontinuity has locked us in the untenable position of Borges’s Funes, for whom “[n]ot only was it difficult … to see that the generic symbol ‘dog’ took in all the dissimilar individuals of all shapes and sizes, it irritated him that the ‘dog’ of three-fourteen in the afternoon, seen in profile, should be indicated by the same noun as the dog of three-fifteen, seen frontally.” The effect of the doctrine of fundamental discontinuity has been to disregard the fertile dance of the one and the many. Yet, neither understanding nor complexity exists without that dance. Our best contemporary artists still move effortlessly with it. As the poststructuralist doctrine of discontinuity ill disposes us toward two thousand years of our civilization’s art and philosophy that coordinates the one with the other, it also ill disposes us to other persons as genuine sources of knowledge, treating us all as discontinuous points of either opposition or assent. I think rather of the great game theorist John Nash who in our time used one bright corner of a diseased mind to leverage his remarkable understanding of the world, adding some perspectives and subtracting others, as he eliminated blind spots and repudiated illusions.

Is there something in this metaphor of the lens that can isolate us from one another and from the past? Not if it is meant as clarifying sight rather than radical reinterpretation and unquestioned alternativeness. But these latter meanings and not the former seem to be advanced and even celebrated in our time. I am afraid that the thinkers who gave us ideology in the place of ideas now give us lenses instead of sight. Critical intervention passes too quickly over what is said to what the critic believes ought to be said. If this is so, the lens metaphor goes a long way to replace both ideas and seeing, thinking and sight—the organic processes of observation, comparison, and patient interpretation of what literary works convey.

Is there a better metaphor than either lens or tool? While it tempting to think of others, perhaps this is one time in literary studies we should reflect on the literal. Literature requires literacy. Literacy at a minimum means the ability to generate meanings out of all manner of texts ourselves. Therefore, insofar as criticism usurps this role and interjects its own meanings, it functions as a substitute for literacy. While literacy comes at the end of a long process of learning that culminates in complex crossroads of cognitive awareness, certain critical lenses offer to short-change the process with quick answers and interpretive schemes that explain far too much away as it foregrounds the critic’s own view of the world. Immersive and reflective readers ought to move not only across texts but equally among ideas in the history of thought, not simply reduce the variety of what they find there to the sameness of the critic’s singular vision in our own time. Increasingly, many students and authors of manuscripts who come to me for review treat criticism as a perfectly legitimate blinder to the things that literate readers of literature ought to know. We appear to be approaching a place in Western intellectual tradition far beyond earlier tendencies either to allegorize or syncretize, where to read a text is to shift the ground of discussion and translate what it says into our own preferred critical idiom and worldview.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the truth value of lenses rarely comes up in the metaphor, whether these interpretations and accounts are hermeneutically sound or not. The same critical lens keeps seeing the same thing over and over, or as overzealous students say, “It’s everywhere I look!” Interesting in this regard is how the metaphor of the lens stands as the perfect inverse of the traditional tale of the four blind men and the elephant. In that tale, narrow perspectives mean limited information, and limited information takes the logical misstep of mistaking the part for the whole. Saramago’s Blindness updates the tale in a horrifying parable that shows how deep the mistake still runs in our nature. The synecdoche error dogs us too much these days as we grapple with the meaning of the postmodern and what might await us after it.

Regarding our professional pursuits, then, perhaps such errors and faulty metaphors follow naturally from critical orthodoxies when they are uncritically retained. If metaphors are supposed to sharpen our understanding, not obfuscate it, then the lens metaphor falls short. The toolbox metaphor was beset by its own problems, too, but not for the reasons that gave us the lens metaphor. Still, we literate readers, to the degree we consider ourselves such, should be more aware of our metaphors. Not swept along by them. Least of all, blinded by them.

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Critical Lens Essay Example for English Regents

A critical lens essay is a type of essay aimed at providing a personal interpretation and analysis of a certain quotation or statement, proving one’s opinion with the help of literature references. Though it contains a word “critical” in its name, it is not meant to be a critical piece. As a matter of fact, a critical lens essay is focused on highlighting strong and weak points of a given quote. Thus, the word “critical” stands for the demonstration of critical thinking skills of the author by means of supporting his claim with certain arguments taken from literary works. Linking one’s opinion to reputable sources makes a convincing effect on the reader, proving your ideas to be true.

How is a critical lens essay used?

Writing such type of essay appears to be quite a challenging assignment for students. First, while studying at high school, college, or university, one has to obtain and develop such essential skills as critical and analytical thinking; ability to compare facts, theses, quotes, and ideas, make one’s own statements and prove them, draw right conclusions. Second, a profound research on the given topic should be done, as it determines the further direction of your writing. Finally, a student needs to have an excellent command of grammar, spelling, and punctuation in order to express his/her thoughts clearly and academically correctly.

Thus, critical lens essays are perfect opportunities for professors to check students’ skills and abilities. No wonder this specific type of essay is often one of the tasks on the Regents, a New York State set of exams required for graduation. For this reason, one should know how to write a critical lens essay at the high academic level, because it reflects the general level of education of a student. Hence, the student is evaluated accordingly.

What is a critical lens essay format?

Typically, a critical lens essay follows a standard essay format pattern. Therefore, it consists of five paragraphs, including introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, so it should not be long like a research paper . In order to develop the critical analysis, a student has to use examples from two literature pieces, each one discussed in a separate paragraph. The book titles need to be underlined and capitalized, written in accordance with the capitalization and punctuation rules. As for the language and general tone of writing, it should be objective, without revealing any of the author’s personal beliefs. All the claims need to be referred to reputable literature sources that would support the author’s thesis and present the evidence of its validation. In order for the tone to sound objective, one should avoid using personal pronouns, for example, “I”, “me”, “my”, “you”, “your”, “we”, “our”. On the contrary, it is recommended to replace them with third person pronouns or general words like “people”, “readers”, “audience”.

Tips to make a critical lens essay outline

As it was mentioned above, a critical lens essay template coincides with the fixed classic essay pattern.

Introduction

The first part of an essay is the introduction. This is the first thing that makes an impression upon the reader. So, the intro part should be captivating enough to get the reader really interested in what you have to say. The introduction starts with the quote, which is not just an ordinary sentence from the text, but a significant statement that holds considerable value. It should be universally acknowledged and meaningful; the author’s name should also be provided.

After introducing the quote, a writer has to interpret it in one sentence using his/her own words. Such an interpretation is called the thesis. It plays a role of the foundation of the entire essay, which makes it a crucial part of the paper. Therefore, a key to a high-quality critical lens essay is arranging the thesis in a wise and profound way, as it presents the criteria for the further analysis.

Having provided the thesis, the writer needs to support or refute it. Though, the decision whether to agree or disagree is based not on his personal opinion, but on two literature references related to the quote. Connecting the essay with relevant references affirms the objective approach. The titles and authors of the chosen literature works have to be underlined. The intro part ends with adding a few words about the chosen reference texts topics.

Body Paragraphs

There should be two body paragraphs introducing two literature works mentioned in the introduction. The writer needs to use the references as the means for supporting his thesis. Both topic and concluding sentences demonstrate and prove the connection between the reference examples and the thesis. There should not be any summarizing; just highlighting and analysis of the main points of both literary texts explaining their relevance to the core statement. Moreover, there is no need to retell the plot of the chosen texts. On the contrary, the writing should be laconic, but clear. To convey the arguments in the most appropriate way, some literary elements from the reference texts should be chosen, such as the following:

• Characterization (direct or indirect way to describe the character);
• Conflict (opposition of the ideas, forces, views);
• Figurative language (metaphor, simile, hyperbole, alliteration, personification);
• Flashback (describing the past event that is necessary to know at present);
• Foreshadowing (hints on the events to come);
• Setting (describing time and place of action);
• Symbolism (representing something through another thing);
• Theme (main idea, message of the text);
• Tone (author’s attitude towards the audience or subject).

The last essay part summarizes the arguments and proves the initial thesis right or wrong. The quote and the thesis should be restated here, but the thesis has to be rephrased, not taken from the intro part word by word. If the essay is written in a right manner, then the conclusion would follow in the most logical way and the readers would totally agree to it. While body paragraphs persuade the reader of the correctness of the thesis, the conclusion just states the fact: the thesis is true and it is absolutely confirmed. So, the reader is satisfied, though intrigued to investigate the topic more.

How to choose the right quote?

This is not an easy task to do. The quote determines the quality of the essay, depending on whether it’s relevant or not. Below there is a list of possible quotes that are approved to be used for critical lens essays as they are widely applied at the English Regents.

English Regents critical lens quotes list:

• “Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears” (Arthur Koestler);
• “Individuality is freedom lived” (John Dos Passos);
• “Obedience is the mother of success and is wedded to safety” (Aeschylus);
• “Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong” (Thomas Jefferson);
• “Do what you can, with what you have, and where you are” (Theodore Roosevelt);
• “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get” (Warren Buffet);
• “Some books leave us free and some books make us free” (Ralph Waldo Emerson);
• “The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands” (Anne Frank);
• “Prejudice is the child of ignorance” (William Hazlitt);
• “If there is no struggle, there is no progress” (Frederick Douglas);
• “It is impossible to go through life without trust” (Graham Green);
• “Fear is simply the consequence of every lie” (Fyodor Dostoevsky);
• “No two persons regard the world in exactly the same way” (J. W. von Goethe);
• “We pay a price for everything we get or take in this world” (L. M. Montgomery);
• “Men are at the mercy of events and cannot control them” (Herodotus);
• “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it” (Helen Keller);
• “Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it” (Rene Descartes);
• “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” (Dr. Seuss);
• “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough” (Mae West);
• “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on” (Robert Frost);
• “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results” (Albert Einstein);
• “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” (John Lennon);
• “It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not” (André Gide);
• “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” (Albert Einstein);
• “The real hero is always a hero by mistake” (Umberto Eco);
• “It is the human lot to try and fail” (David Mamet);
• “You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it” (Yann Martel);
• “The human heart has ever dreamed of a fairer world than the one it knows” (Carleton Noyes);
• “To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else” (Bernadette Devlin);
• “All that is literature seeks to communicate power” (Thomas De Quincey);
• “It is not what an author says, but what he or she whispers, that is important” (Logan Pearsall Smith);
• “What lasts is what is written. We look to literature to find the essence of an age” (Peter Brodie);
• “Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure” (William Saroyan);
• “All literature is protest. You can’t name a single literary work that isn’t protest” (Richard Wright);
• “The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience” (J. F. Clarke);
• “We do not read novels for improvement or instruction” (Oliver Wendell Holmes);
• “In a dark time, the eye begins to see” (Theodore Roethke);
• “A person is a person through other persons” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu);
• The right good book is always a book of travel; it is about a life’s journey” (H.M. Tomlinson).

The quotations listed above serve as appropriate examples of the NYS English Regents critical lens essay quotes. Thus, they might be widely used during the preparation for the Regents or any other type of exam where a critical lens essay is one of the tasks.

How to write a critical lens essay step by step?

Below there are detailed steps that may serve as an instruction for writing this type of essay. Each step will be followed by the relevant part of a critical lens essay example to make the guideline even more clear.

Step 1. Choose a meaningful quote and introduce it, indicating its author. Add a few sentences before it to get the readers involved and let them follow the logical flow of your thoughts.

Step 2. Interpret the quote, rewrite it using your own words. That would be your thesis.

Step 3 . Agree or disagree with the thesis.

Step 4. Introduce two literary references that prove your thesis. Express in a few words how they support the thesis.

Step 5. Start writing the first body paragraph focusing on the first literary reference mentioned in the intro part. Choose the literary element, through which the text and thesis would be connected. Prove that the text example supports the quote.

Step 6 . Do the same thing focusing on the other literary work while writing the second body paragraph.

Step 7. Summarize everything you have written. State the quote and thesis again, the latter should be rephrased, though. The conclusion has to prove the coherence between the thesis and arguments written above.

Below there is a sample of a critical lens essay that may be referred to during the preparation for the English Regents.

Critical lens essay example for English Regents

Human life is a constant alternating between success and failure. Today one may enjoy the abundance of money and opportunities, while tomorrow may bring something totally different. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, and where you are.” One’s duty in life is to do one’s best, strive to survive and get moving using all the skills and resources available, regardless of the circumstances. Life indeed often forces people to keep trying even in the most unfavorable conditions and teaches that doing this is the only key to win. Both Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and Love of Life by Jack London support the idea that all the problems can be solved if the person is well motivated and wise enough to direct all the efforts and chances towards one’s goal.

The novel Robinson Crusoe illustrates a strong will of an ordinary man who faced unpredictable circumstances after a shipwreck. He has lost everything and everyone just in a moment. The fate left him alone on the desert island in total despair. Daniel Defoe uses the direct method of characterization showing main hero’s desire to survive. He was not expecting such a fatal failure. Robinson got a tremendous challenge that let him acknowledge himself as a miserable creature but also created perfect conditions for self-discovery. On the unknown out-of-the-way patch of the Earth, he found himself completely helpless and alone in his struggle for life. Nevertheless, Crusoe realized the real value of human life and gathered all the possible means he could ever find on the island, which combined with his brilliant intellect and willpower saved him afterwards. The story is narrated in the form of his own diary, which pictures the hero in the most veritable way. He kept trying over and over again while building his refuge place, acquiring hunting and farming skills. The long twenty-eight years way through failures to victory taught him that the main thing in life is the ability to pull oneself together when there seems like nothing can be done. Robinson proved that it is not the setting and opportunities that matter, but a strong goal-oriented approach to the problem.

Love of Life demonstrates another example of overcoming hardships in life. Gold seekers are lost in the White Desert. While one of them leaves his comrade in trouble, he succeeded to survive. Through the tone of the novel, it is evident that Jack London supports his hero picturing him as a symbol of a victorious will power. Physical exhaustion, freezing cold of the White Desert, pain from the betrayal of the only friend, fear of loneliness, hunger, which is not eased with the miserable stuff that cannot even be called food. Moreover, he suffers from the pain in legs, being severely injured. Torturing body ache is combined with the despair of useless attempts to gain food and unbearable exhaustion, which leads to hallucinations. Yet, in spite of all he has encountered, despite being frightened and despaired, the man found enough courage not to give up but went on with a great passion for life, which helped him during struggles with a bear and a wolf. His irresistible desire to live, tranquility, and patience is what removed the fear and saved him from death. The hero was doing what he could: he was able to walk, he walked; he could only crawl, he crawled; he was obliged to fight with wild animals, so he did. As long as there were those primitive means for survival, no matter how adverse the setting, the man continued his difficult path and, finally, he succeeded.

All things considered, it seems sensible to assume that in order to lead the life to the full and survive despite all the troubles, one needs to use each little thing around, notwithstanding the limits. The core of success is human mind and will that dominates over poor conditions, situations that seem to be impossible, fears, and desperate obstacles. Thus, the saying “Do what you can, with what you have, and where you are” serves as the right motto for the general life philosophy.

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What Is a Critical Lens Essay?

A critical lens essay is a form of narrative essay containing five paragraphs covering a certain opinion of a direct quote. The standard five-paragraph format includes an introduction, three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each of the paragraphs examines critically the main point presented by the writer. Paragraphs in the critical lens essay are extremely structured and must adhere to certain guidelines in order to be written correctly.

In the first sentence of the introduction paragraph, the writer of the essay takes a direct quote from one of the pieces of literature and copies it. Then, the writer reinterprets that quote using original words and thoughts which are directly related. In the third sentence of the introduction, the writer states either agreement or disagreement with the opinion and gives reasons for support. The writer states which two literary works will be examined throughout the remainder of the essay.

The second and third paragraphs follow a different format as the introduction, but are written in the same way. The first sentence includes a literary element taken from one of the books, such as theme, characterization or the setting, and proves the point. Next, the writer shows how that point was proven and follows up with one more supporting sentence. The last sentence in the paragraph summarizes the thoughts presented.

In a critical lens essay, the fourth paragraph is based on the writer’s personal experiences. The paragraph should be written using the standard four- sentence structure . It either proves or disproves the point of view presented in the preceding two paragraphs.

After all ideas are presented using the outlined format, the writer concludes the essay by restating the original quote in the first sentence. The next sentence is a summary of why the quote is true or false followed by a prediction about future events in the next sentence. The individual should use another quote from one of the chosen works to further support the writer’s ideas to tie up the critical lens essay.

These types of essays are written for a variety of reasons. One reason is to sway the reader's point of view on a particular famous quote or to offer fresh insight into the meaning of the quote. In addition to that, the critical lens essay is assigned to assess the student’s skills in reading, writing and critical thinking . They are used to narrow the scope of a specific piece of literature.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

• Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

• RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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From NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher: Thoughts on our mission and our work

The message below was sent by NPR's President and CEO to all staff:

This has been a long week. I'll apologize in advance for the length of this note, and for it being the first way so many of you hear from me on more substantive issues. Thanks for bearing with me, as there's a lot that should be said.

I joined this organization because public media is essential for an informed public. At its best, our work can help shape and illuminate the very sense of what it means to have a shared public identity as fellow Americans in this sprawling and enduringly complex nation.

NPR's service to this aspirational mission was called in question this week, in two distinct ways. The first was a critique of the quality of our editorial process and the integrity of our journalists. The second was a criticism of our people on the basis of who we are.

Asking a question about whether we're living up to our mission should always be fair game: after all, journalism is nothing if not hard questions. Questioning whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity, is profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning.

It is deeply simplistic to assert that the diversity of America can be reduced to any particular set of beliefs, and faulty reasoning to infer that identity is determinative of one's thoughts or political leanings. Each of our colleagues are here because they are excellent, accomplished professionals with an intense commitment to our work: we are stronger because of the work we do together, and we owe each other our utmost respect. We fulfill our mission best when we look and sound like the country we serve.

NPR has some of the finest reporters, editors, and producers in journalism. Our reporting and programming is not only consistently recognized and rewarded for its quality, depth, and nuance; but at its best, it makes a profound difference in people's lives. Parents, patients, veterans, students, and so many more have directly benefited from the impact of our journalism. People come to work here because they want to report, and report deeply, in service to an informed public, and to do work that makes a difference.

This is the work of our people, and our people represent America, our irreducibly complex nation. Given the very real challenges of covering the myriad perspectives, motivations, and interests of a nation of more than 330 million very different people, we succeed through our diversity. This is a bedrock institutional commitment, hard-won, and hard-protected.

We recognize that this work is a public trust, one established by Congress more than 50 years ago with the creation of the public broadcasting system. In order to hold that trust, we owe it our continued, rigorous accountability. When we are asked questions about who we serve and how that influences our editorial choices, we should be prepared to respond. It takes great strength to be comfortable with turning the eye of journalistic accountability inwards, but we are a news organization built on a foundation of robust editorial standards and practices, well-constructed to withstand the hardest of gazes.

It is true that our audiences have unquestionably changed over the course of the past two decades. There is much to be proud of here: through difficult, focused work, we have earned new trust from younger, more diverse audiences, particularly in our digital experiences. These audiences constitute new generations of listeners, are more representative of America, and our changing patterns of listening, viewing, and reading.

At the same time, we've seen some concerning changes: the diffusion of drivetime, an audience skewing further away in age from the general population, and significant changes in political affiliations have all been reflected in the changing composition of our broadcast radio audiences. Of course, some of these changes are representative of trends outside our control — but we owe it to our mission and public interest mandate to ask, what levers do we hold?

A common quality of exceptional organizations is humility and the ability to learn. We owe it to our public interest mandate to ask ourselves: could we serve more people, from broader audiences across America? Years ago we began asking this question as part of our North Star work to earn the trust of new audiences. And more recently, this is why the organization has taken up the call of audience data, awareness, and research: so we can better understand who we are serving, and who we are not.

Our initial research has shown that curiosity is the unifying throughline for people who enjoy NPR's journalism and programming. Curiosity to know more, to learn, to experience, to change. This is a compelling insight, as curiosity only further expands the universe of who we might serve. It's a cross-cutting trait, pretty universal to all people, and found in just about every demographic in every part of the nation.

As an organization, we must invest in the resources that will allow us to be as curious as the audiences we serve, and expand our efforts to understand how to serve our nation better. We recently completed in-depth qualitative research with a wide range of listeners across the country, learning in detail what they think about NPR and how they view our journalism. Over the next two years we plan to conduct audience research across our entire portfolio of programming, in order to give ourselves the insight we need to extend the depth and breadth of our service to the American public.

It is also essential that we listen closely to the insights and experiences of our colleagues at our 248 Member organizations. Their presence across America is foundational to our mission: serving and engaging audiences that are as diverse as our nation: urban and rural, liberal and conservative, rich and poor, often together in one community.

We will begin by implementing an idea that has been proposed for some time: establishing quarterly NPR Network-wide editorial planning and review meetings, as a complement to our other channels for Member station engagement. These will serve as a venue for NPR newsroom leadership to hear directly from Member organization editorial leaders on how our journalism serves the needs of audiences in their communities, and a coordination mechanism for Network-wide editorial planning and newsgathering. We're starting right away: next week we plan to invite Members to join us for an initial scoping conversation.

And in the spirit of learning from our own work, we will introduce regular opportunities to connect what our research is telling us about our audiences to the practical application of how we're serving them. As part of the ongoing unification of our Content division, Interim Chief Content Officer, Edith Chapin, will establish a broad-based, rotating group that will meet monthly to review our coverage across all platforms. Some professions call this a retro, a braintrust, a 'crit,' or tuning session — this is an opportunity to take a break from the relentless pressure of the clock in order to reflect on how we're meeting our mandate, what we're catching and what we're missing, and learn from our colleagues in a climate of respectful, open-minded discussion.

The spirit of our founding newsroom and network was one of experimentation, creativity, and direct connection with our listeners across America. Our values are a direct outgrowth of this moment: the independence of a public trust, the responsibility to capture the voice and spirit of a nation, a willingness to push boundaries to tell the stories that matter. We're no strangers to change, continuously evolving as our network has grown, our programming has expanded, and our audiences have diversified — and as we look to a strategy that captures these values and opportunities, the future holds more change yet.

Two final thoughts on our mission:

I once heard missions like ours described as asymptotic — we can see our destination and we strive for it, but may never fully meet it. The value is in the continued effort: the challenge stretches on toward infinity and we follow, ever closer. Some people might find that exhausting. I suspect they don't work here. I suspect that you do because you find that challenge a means to constantly renew your work, and to reinfuse our mission with meaning as our audiences and world continues to change.

The strongest, most effective, and enduring missions are those that are owned far beyond the walls of their institution. Our staff, our Member stations, our donors, our listeners and readers, our ardent fans, even our loyal opposition all have a part to play: each of us come to the work because we believe in it, even as we each may have different perspectives on how we succeed. Every person I have met so far in my three weeks here has shown me how they live our mission every day, in their work and in their contributions to the community.

Continuing to uphold our excellence with confidence, having inclusive conversations that bridge perspectives, and learning more about the audiences we serve in order to continue to grow and thrive, adding more light to the illumination of who we are as a shared body public: I look forward to how we will do this work together.

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Using a theoretical lens to support your claims.

From Darwinian Dating — Elissa Jacobs

The EVIDENCE from the papers tells you about what women want in modern studies. This is the only evidence we have about female preference (since there is no record of female preference prior to modern history).

That doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t comment on why these preferences may have evolved. Theorists (e.g., Buss, 1994) have considered why certain nice guy and bad boy traits may have been selected for during human evolution. This theory isn’t absolute (there are no ‘facts’ in science), but it’s logical and consistent with evidence.

Buss gives convincing theory for why women should like nice guys AND bad boys. The only way you can truly answer which type of men women really want more is from the evidence.

Once you’ve made your argument, you can apply Buss’s theories (as well as the theories of the other authors) to help explain your findings. If you are arguing that nice guys are preferred, WHY does this make sense? If you are arguing that women prefer bad boys, why is this a smart preference? If you are arguing a nuanced argument (bad but not too bad, nice but not too nice, too dangerous, etc.), how can you use the theory to make sense of your claims? Use Buss as A LENS to better understand your argument.

                                            The Lens 

Examples from a sample essay:

[6] Women’s instinctive desire for good genes illustrates a key evolutionary principle: “nice guys” lose out because niceness alone is not sufficient to compensate for an inferior genetic package. Certainly, niceness is a positive attribute – the resources of an invested mate will help children’s chances of surviving (Buss 1994). But the typical nice guy offers this better investment at the expense of bad genes. And since genes cannot be changed, the transmission of subpar genes to offspring is guaranteed. Moreover, men with bad enough genes can even damage the next generation through non-genetic mechanisms. An incompetent mate who struggles to provide may drain family resources; a sickly mate may infect children and even die, forcing his partner to seek a new mate; a low-status mate may confer social ostracization to children (Buss 1994). And though the appeal of the nice guy, of course, lies in the resources and protection he offers, the weak, low-status nice guy may only possess limited resources to channel into children and inferior strength to fend off attackers. Simply put, if a nice guy’s extrinsic characteristics are bad enough, his intrinsic niceness approaches irrelevance. The guaranteed genetic disadvantage and questionable provider ability of nice guys tip the scale towards bad boys; thus, women seek men who meet a sufficient level of genetic quality. 

[7] Evidence / Analysis paragraph that women don’t like men who are too bad.

[8] This response is rooted in evolutionary logic: extreme bad boys trigger fear, not desire, because of the risks they pose. Most obvious is the danger of physical harm. Extremely bad boys may possess both the strength and temperament to abuse women or – even worse – their own children, which directly impedes the fitness of their progeny. Indeed, Buss (1994) notes that wife-beating is a widespread phenomenon observed across a number of cultures; given the frequency of this phenomenon, women may have evolved away from mating with violent men. A highly promiscuous, volatile man is also unlikely to ever settle down, fully extinguishing the hope of a future together. And all this – increased risk of violence and abandonment – does not appear to come at the benefit of better genes. Aggressive, domineering men are perceived as no more physically or sexually desirable than men who are simply dominant (Sadalla et al. 1987). In other words, the very bad boy offers a decrease in parental investment, to the point of directly impeding the wellbeing of his family, but without a gain in genetic fitness. Thus, women reject a domineering, aggressive man as a liability who cannot be justified by good genes alone.

** Note the way the writer uses Buss (and others) to support her claim that preference for a bad boy (but not too bad of a boy) is smart and evolutionarily grounded.

• Buss, D. M. (1994). The Strategies of Human Mating.  American Scientist ,  82 (3), 238–249,  https://www.jstor.org/stable/29775193
• Sadalla, E. K., Kenrick, D. T., & Vershure, B. (1987). Dominance and Heterosexual Attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(4), 730–738. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.4.730
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