Alliteration ... Haha.
Okay, getting down to business. The following are vital when writing an essay:
Underlining the Title of your text. It may seem ridiculously obvious, but it is still required when referring to the text within body paragraphs. Some titles may be mistaken for character names i.e. Gatsby or mere descriptive words i.e. Doll's House. So you should always underline the title of the text throughout your essay.
You should have a general thesis or through line. This is basically your answer to the question and you will be supporting this with examples from the text. Try not to simply restate the question as you are lacking a personal voice. This does not mean you begin throwing the word 'I' and 'Me' around (although I don't see the harm, BUT teachers do advise against it) An opinion is great. Be verbose. Be audacious :)
If you are ending a sentence with a quotation, or even in the dialogue of your creative writing piece, the full stop must fall within the quotation marks. For example
"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
As opposed to
"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past".
Under intense exam conditions, remembering quotes verbatim can be quite difficult. Hence, ellipses and the like can be used to replaced the missing segments, as long as the general message of the quote remains. It would be pointless if you can recall part of the quote which does not support your thesis, so remembering quotes is also quite vital.
"And so we beat on ... borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Topic sentences and linking sentences are so, so, so important when writing an essay. These should come at the beginning of each body paragraph and the end of that same paragraph, respectively. Topic sentences help shape your argument and they also keep you rooted, stopping you from going off on a tangent about other matters within the text. Linking sentences are simple and tie the idea of your body paragraph to your thesis.
Sex, led, tee, pee. Sound familiar? These simple acronyms are key in getting some sort of structure in your body paragraphs. Of course, there is no one way to write an essay, but! All body paragraphs within an essay must always include:
- A statement about the subject at hand
- Evidence from the text
- An explanation of the evidence you have provided
Evidence is nothing without an explanation. And who's to say that an explanation is valid to your question and text if you do not provide evidence? These three points strengthen your argument, which of course will be the difference between (in most cases) life or death.
Incorporating the appropriate jargon into your essay will also help boost your marks. The metalanguage for drama is essential when writing about A Doll's House and all that high-tech computer jargon will be great in your History and Memory essays. The inclusion of these words show the markers that you know what you're talking about. A list of these terms will be up shortly :)
Making sure you know enough of what's required for each module is also essential. Ensuring you provide context in module A. Having an informed personal response for Module B and understanding the representation of texts for Module C. These can be discussed further if requested.
I'm no goal striker (rank 15), but here's my two cents.
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THIS IS RARELY APPLICABLE BUT.. It may be important to note that you'll have to put inverted commas ('...') around the minor titles of your texts. For instance, if you wish to use a newspaper article as your related text, it'd be something like:
Sydney Morning Herald, 'Rabbitohs Skinned' (Date published)
Don't pay too much attention to this for Elizabeth Barrett-Browning's, Sonnets from the Portugese though, as you'll be addressing this text as a WHOLE and not as multiple dissected texts.
-Thesis
This is absolutely vital to your essay. It is the soul of your essay and everything appears to revolve around it. You should almost know it off by heart - tweaking it only slightly to suit the question. And imo, to develop a good thesis you need a certain philosophy you're coming from. You need a certain build up to do it.
Don't fall into the trap of spending 20 minutes writing a thesis though. My advice will tell you how to write something SCARCELY sufficient in an exam situation. You want them CONCISE and IN YOUR FACE.
If they're asking you on History and Memory you tell them what you think defines either term and HOW you see them linked. This sets the ground for your thesis, allowing you to directly attack the question from a clearly defined perspective. For instance, if a question deals with a "deliberate selection of texts" AFFECTING the "representation of history", you would say something like:
"Individual memories are fragmentary, emotive recollections individuals create in response to events. It is history which serves to collate the fragmentary nature of memories and their relevant objects, and validate them. Hence, it becomes clear that the active selection of texts allows history to be shaped towards particular motives."
It's a poorly formed response, but it may serve to demonstrate thesis-making at its simplest levels. You want something that shows PERCEPTIVE understanding - an INSIGHT. You want to stand out with a VOICE. By giving your own build up you will create it, and be able to sustain something highly authoritative throughout the texts. "SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO MY SHIT" is the basic idea.
As you may have already noticed, a good way of attacking a complicated question AND producing a thesis is by breaking down various keys words by their synonyms (e.g. deliberate -> active). This becomes a very good fall-back if you basically don't understand the question as it shows the marker your own interpretation of the question AND encourages you to add your own personal voice. They can't really hate on you for showing your own understanding of the question. As far as you're concerned, you're answering the question through your own interpretation of it. THIS IS ESSENTIAL WHAT THEY WANT, AN OPINION ON A QUESTION.
People tell you not to rewrite the question. I'm telling you do it! But do it differently, and with a real IN YOUR FACE sort of attitude. Tell them what you really think - or suck up from a really well-informed perspective.
-Rule of thumb
The bare body of an essay is:
1) A philosophy towards the module (e.g. H+M is...)
2) 10 quotes + their effects/how you'll argue them
It's not a question of rewriting the question, but you do need to sprinkle words from the question into your response (during the linking sentences is always good) to demonstrate that you're answering the response.
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