Higher English essays

kalou123

does anyone know how long are higher english essays meant to be? thanks!

Reply 1

legion99

800 - 1000 words normally

Reply 2

burial

Thought I'd ask here instead of making a thread.

In the prelim for English, will it be a close reading passage as well as 2 essays just like the final exam?

Reply 3

Rhi93

There's not really any set length, so long as you include plenty of analysis etc etc. By some miracle I managed to get a B in the Higher English exam, despite my essays being nowhere near 800 words in length.

Prelim-wise, as far as I'm aware it's pretty much exactly as how it will be when you sit the real thing.

(edited 13 years ago)

Yeah, it should be.

Original post by burial

In the prelim for English, will it be a close reading passage as well as 2 essays just like the final exam?

Sorry but I have no idea either! :s-smilie:

Reply 6

LeeLee---x

Original post by burial

Thought I'd ask here instead of making a thread.

In the prelim for English, will it be a close reading passage as well as 2 essays just like the final exam?

I would assume so, it was for mine.

Reply 7

Alt__x

I might aswell also ask here, what is the best method for doing well in this exam? Memorising essays, or just memorising the quotes?

Reply 8

Rhi93

Personally, I'd say memorise quotes, because if you memorised an essay and then a question came up that you couldn't really adapt it to, you'd be in trouble.

Reply 9

Mechie

Well if you're using normal, lined A4 pages then it should be about 3 sides, maybe a bit longer depending on how much time you have. But in the exam the SQA give you some horrible huge spaced lined booklets, so you end up writing about 6 to 8 pages and having no idea whether it's the right length.

Reply 10

burial

Before we broke up for holidays, I was more than up to date with assignments so was told to create two prelim essays using questions from past papers. I have done that, confident with each and making use of quotes that could lead onto other ideas and themes from your chosen novels or poems.

In terms of close reading, all I do to revise is the occasional past paper and I have notes on the techniques to use for the various types of question (Understanding, Analysis or Evaluation). I've managed to teach myself that for most CR questions, they aren't asking for screeds of writing, just get the point and explain why it's used/how effective it is.

Reply 11

LeeLee---x

Original post by Alt__x

I might aswell also ask here, what is the best method for doing well in this exam? Memorising essays, or just memorising the quotes?

I would memorise quotations and common analysis and points that could be made about them. That way it is easier to adapt it to the question than adapting a whole essay.

Reply 12

Jarlsberg

They should be about 900 words, with the usual structure. I found I spent a lot less time on the poetry rather than the prose, but by the end of the exam I only had half a page left to write on. Really depends if you're stronger in poetry or if you're stronger in prose.

I got a B in my prelim and an A in the final exam, and I got the exact same percentage. In my essays I got42/50