Higher English Essays

I find that when I am doing it in exam conditions my conclusions can be a bit of a thin but I try to have key things in such as:

In conclusion the thought provoking (Insert type of text then name of text) by (author) (insert re-wording of question). (author) effectively does this through use of (techniques). This (The question) and the way (author) conveys this adds to my appreciation of the text as a whole.

Reply 2

Reverie.

14

Or relate the theme's importance to humanity as a whole/put it in a larger context, e.g. in my Hamlet prelim essay about the role of parents and children I mentioned something about how Shakespeare portrayed someone who arguably suffered from Freud's Oedipus complex etc. years before psychologists had recognised the condition, and how this shows Shakespeare's perceptiveness/skill as an observer of people. Or something like that. :s-smilie:

But yeah, your conclusions sound fine, just pad it out, and try and sum up you line of argument (which you'll have been exposing all the way through the essay.)

Reply 3

Restate the main points you've made in the essay in relation to the question.
Don't get too worked up though, they're not looking for something amazing.
I'll try and post an example of one of my old conclusions when I'm hooked up to my external hard-drive :smile:

Reply 4

wombley

1

basically what everyone else has said. just restate the question, outline the key arguments have made and kinda sum up. my concluding paragraphs last year ended up as a couple of sentences at most.

my teacher told our class that most markers will basically know what mark they are going to give you by the end of your third paragraph becasue they have so many papers to mark and after paragraph 3 it tends to get slightly sketchy. they also realise the time pressures you are under, so don't expect essay which are so amazing they could have been redrafted 3 times.

try not to worry about it.

Reply 5

Scots_Law

2

From specimen papers I’ve read of previous student’s exam papers, the ones who got band ones where those who had finished their essay on something quite ‘punchy’. The conclusion you seem to be using is a bit weak and formulaic. If you’re talking about the difference between an A and a B in English the most important thing to do in an essay is to put a bit of yourself into it; how did the text affect you? This should be apparent throughout your essay, but a good essay would also conclude this in the final paragraph.
Of course, this is just my opinion :smile:

Reply 6

OP

nice 1 guys, cheers. i do a timed 40min english essay every thursday and i ALWAYS get 18/25! i know thats a great mark but my closereading always tends to be JUST an A, so wen it avarages out i get a B. . . i just want an extra couple of essay marks! arg!

Reply 7

Hmmm my english teacher last year marked a boy in my class 18 for every essay he did, hes quite competitive which pushed him to try harder and harder so he would finally go up and in our year he had the highest essay marks and got an A band 1. She did this on purpose to push him to try harder each time so in the final exam he produced great essays.

Reply 8

OP

nah, i dnt fink thats it. . .this teacher has insured me that that is what she would mark it at if it was an exam. And the essays werent gr8, they were good but not spectacular.

Reply 9

Cirrus

Hmmm my english teacher last year marked a boy in my class 18 for every essay he did, hes quite competitive which pushed him to try harder and harder so he would finally go up and in our year he had the highest essay marks and got an A band 1. She did this on purpose to push him to try harder each time so in the final exam he produced great essays.

Last year you only needed 70% to get a band one anyway, if you check the SQA website.

Reply 10

Example conclusion:

"The end of "The Great Gatsby" is extremely effective. It is deeply moving and skillfully concludes many of the novel's major themes. It is largely responsible for my enjoyment of the novel because, despite its cynicism, it is both suitable and poignant. Without it, much of the novel's deeper meaning would be lost."

Not exactly ground-breaking, I know, but given the constraints of time, not too bad.

By the way, if anyone ever is given an example essay on Carol Duffy's poem "Shooting Stars" issued by the SQA, be sure to burn it because it is awful (the answer, not the poem).

Reply 11

lucyrobyn

nah, i dnt fink thats it. . .this teacher has insured me that that is what she would mark it at if it was an exam. And the essays werent gr8, they were good but not spectacular.

No textspeak please {waggles finger}

Reply 12

Since I said I would post one of mine as an example:

Question:
Choose a poem in which contrast is used in order to clarify a key idea.
Examine in detail the poet’s use of contrast and show how it was effective in clarifying this key idea.
In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to at least two of: theme, structure, imagery, sound, or any other appropriate feature.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, Norman MacCaig uses contrast to great effect in this poem to highlight the idea of evil in the human condition, and that no matter how advanced civilisation becomes, they cannot stop evil and violence. MacCaig achieves this through the contrasts of day and night, sight and hearing, civilisation and savageness, and the Wild West and the modern capitalist West. He uses images of pain throughout and enjambement to give these images maximum emphasis. These elements combine to make “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” a powerful poem which makes great statements on the modern world.

As I recall, I got 21 for that essay (despite managing to call Hotel Room, 12th Floor a play in the first sentence :redface:

Drama on the brain me!)

Reply 13

OP

thats a GREAT conclusion! (text speak free! lol)

Reply 14

I have to say, I really dislike conclusions which begin with the words "In conclusion".

Reply 15

OP

yeh, i never writen a conclusion that began with 'In conclusion' because it just sounds to 'set-up', however my conclusions are rubbish and Acailas (above) is great so iv decided small things like that dont matter.

Acaila. . . .any chance of seeing your whole essay??. . lol, im only kidding. i didnt that poem aswell but iv lost all my notes so id having trouble revising for it.

Reply 16

I always start my conclusions "In Conclusion" I feel it clearly identifies the conclusion and good for summing up your major points...

Reply 17

It just makes me cringe, as do introductions which say "I am going to", e.g. "In this essay, I am going to show how Charles Dickens develops the theme of corruption".

Reply 18

I'm absolutely allergic to essays which have things like "in this essay, I will" or "This essay will examine". But I'm not too fussy about "In conclusion" :biggrin:

It's not too hard to get around. E.g. in my example, I could have said "Norman MacCaig uses contrast to great effect in Hotel Room 12th Floor to highlight the..."

Something to watch out for though. I was always told to avoid "in this essay" type wordings at higher and to make sure paragraphs are well linked. I've kept that mentality at uni and it definitely contributes to my high marks for the actual writing of the essays.

lucyrobyn - if you do want the essay, send me a PM. Not like you can copy it in the exam :biggrin:

Reply 19