Essay Essentials

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.