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How to write a good English Essay
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How to write a good essay
The Question
- Know the command words:
1. What do the command words mean?
2. What are the command words asking you to do?
Question tip
- Know what the question is telling you:
1. What is the question asking you?
2. What are you going to talk about in the essay?
Thesis
Thesis
In this section you outline your argument in response to the title question, clearly sign posting to the reader what you intend to do in the essay.
Thesis
Acknowledge the terms of the question to discuss what the implications of the question are in terms of how you are going to write your response by including key words into your thesis.
Thesis
- Use this section to introduce your own interpretation of the question, adopting an individual critical voice to show your engagement with the text by expressing yourself imaginatively and creatively in your writing.
- The thesis should be brief and succinct, giving the reader a general but engaging summary of what you intend to argue throughout your essay.
Main Body of essay
Main body of essay
This will make up the majority of your essay and is where you explore each point of your argument. You want to ensure that each paragraph has one significant point which is supported with evidence from the text which you then unpack, explain and explore in relation to your thesis. Ensure that the point you make in each paragraph is relevant to the argument in your thesis and sustainable through textual evidence.
Timeline of main body
Evidence
Link to Thesis
Timeline Of The Main Body
Explain
Point
PEEL
(a) Point – opening the paragraph by stating the point you intend to make. This needs to be one of the ideas that is contributing to your overall thesis.
(b) Evidence from text – this can either be an embedded quotation that enhances or examples the point you are making about the text OR a brief description of something from the text that supports your idea. Your evidence should be carefully chosen to clearly and efficiently back up the point that you are trying to prove.
(c) Explanation – this element of the paragraph is trying to prove an argument by bringing your point and textual evidence together to explore your idea. Explain how your chosen quotation demonstrates your idea and comment on the quotation in its context, e.g. relevant remarks about how the language used by the writer shows how they are trying to achieve a particular effect.
(d) Link – having acknowledged the terms of the question and established what your argument will be in the thesis section, you need to show how what you have written in the body paragraph is relevant to your argument. It shows how the analysis you have just made is proving the argument of your essay.
Advice from examiners
Advice
- Always link back to the question's focus
- Use connotations to the relevant words in the question stated
- Embedd quotes into sentences; not just saying 'this verb suggests...'
- Always link back to your arguement presented in your thesis.
- Throughout your essay, include the AOs - but in the correct circumstance.
Conclusion
- The conclusion of an essay is an opportunity for you to give a final, original perspective on the text.
- You should briefly summarise how the ideas you have written about overall agree or disagree with the title question and provide your own definitive response to the title question.
- The conclusion is where you can demonstrate your engagement with the text on a personal, as well as intellectual, level; it is an opportunity to be creative and inventive in your writing by offering the reader a final insight that they might not have thought about.
Advice to Conclusions
Advice
Some ways that you can conclude an essay might be:
(a) Commenting on your personal reaction to the text.
(b) Commenting on how the text still holds relevance for readers in the present day.
(c) Commenting on why the text is successful as a work of literature in terms of its characters, themes or structure.