A Level English Literature Essay Writing Tips

Essay Writing Tips

1.       Outline – use one line sentences to describe your paragraphs

2.       MAKE SENTENCES FLOW

3.       Purposeful reading – before you read a book, look at a set of questions that you want to understand more

4.       Don’t get sidetracked: FOCUS ON THE QUESTION!

5.       When the test starts, NEVER just look at the paper, START WRITING, even if it’s just the plan

6.       Intro should have some comment on the topic of the essay – maybe a definition or an explanation of what you understand by the title. This section should also state what points you will cover. The intro should basically be a guide to what the rest of the essay will be about.

7.       The body of the essay should take the main points and develop them with evidence. Follow a clear path to the conclusion. PLAN CAREFULLY AND HAVE A CLEAR DIRECTION!

8.       The conclusion will summarize your main ideas. It might be ok to give a firm or tentative answer

9.       Categorize important points – find something in common between a group of points and put that into a paragraph/section and have a quote and explanation for every point. THE ESSAY WILL FLOW A LOT BETTER.

10.   Spend 10 minutes planning the essay before you start instead of just rushing in. THIS WILL MAKE YOUR ESSAY A LOT CLEARER. PLAN PLAN PLAN!

11.   Use the PEER STRUCTURE.

·         POINT – make an initial statement/topic sentence

·         EXPLANATION – go on to explain the point

·         EVIDENCE – linking to the explanation, use a quote to back it up, preferably embedded

·         REITERATE – basically repeat your initial point ‘This shows that...’

12.   Guide the examiner through the essay e.g. by specifying the content of each paragraph with a topic sentence

13.   PLANNING IS BASICALLY A…