How can I include critical material in my examination essays?

Examiners want to see you properly engaging with any secondary material you use - it's important not to just drop it in and ignore it. Read a couple of secondary articles on your set texts and make sure that you really understand them. Identify one or two quotations from each that will be helpful to use in the exam (if it addresses multiple themes and characters, then that's a great sign). That way you'll have a small bank of really useful quotations, rather than lots of ones you're unsure about. In your essay, you should be signposting your argument in each paragraph. Bring the critic in to either support what you're saying, or to challenge it - examiners will be really impressed if you can disagree confidently with a critic. The key to including criticism is evidence - use specific examples from the text to support or challenge what's being said. That way, you'll prove that you have a rich understanding of the text.