hey, the only one im studying the same as you is great gatsby, but this is what im doing:
try and learn the different themes of the play, the ones i got taught were:
-appearance vs. reality
-desire for transcendence
-old money vs. new money
appearance vs reality is the major one which is shown throughout the novel, in gatsby's huge house which is only used to hold parties, in daisy's relationship with her daughter, daisy's marriage with tom which seems good but in reality is a shambles
desire for transcendence is less noticable, but you need to look at gatsby's attempt to get back with daisy and be more than he really is, and the societys' attempts at being extravagant and classy but ends up messy and pathetic
old money vs. new money is shown through the different islands, west egg and east egg, one with old money, one with new money.
for essay structures, try and make sure you link each of your paragraphs together, even if its just a simple line -- it will help make your essay flow better and gets you more marks
always try and do your essay
-introduction
-Point Example Explain (P.E.E) on all of the the different examples you can find/remember about everything
-conclusion, which is just summarising everything you have explained in your essay
hope this helps and good luck!