How many paragraphs should I write fo the English lit nice question (aqa)

Hi!

I’m currently in y10 and have my mock tomorrow - my English teacher is pretty useless and consistently doles out low grades whilst refusing to help people improve.

She refuses to teach us about Lord of the Flies because we spent ‘too long’ on it at the begging of the year - however she has never said how many PETER paragraphs to write for the question.

How many should I aim for?

Sam x

Reply 1

surreal01088

6

It depends on how much you write per paragraph, but it really does not matter as much as you think.
Personally in my exams I did 3 big paragraphs (almost as big as a page) plus a conclusion. I feel as though this allows me to really expand my points well and ensure I'm only writing the best points and develop a far more conceptualised response. You could try this method out for your mock and see if it works, as you have the opportunity now in Year 10 to experiment a bit with your essay structures.

Don't fuss too much about it however, as long as you're hitting all areas of the mark scheme don't worry too much about quantity of paragraphs. If you feel like you can still expand and add depth to a point, don't worry about how big that paragraph is. If you've written over 2 pages I reckon it's sufficient. :smile:

Reply 2

samanthaemiliee

OP

11

Thanks! I think doing three big ones is where I’m headed xx

Reply 3

gretaxox874

1

I know I'm writing this after you replied 11 months ago, but I'm now the one doing my mocks and I don't really get what you mean by 'conclusion' is it basically a paragraph that starts with 'lastly,....'?

Reply 4

gretaxox874

1

Hi, I know you wrote this 11 months ago, but I'm now the one that's doing her mocks tomorrow, and I don't really understand what you mean by 'conclusion'. is it just a paragraph that starts with the phrase 'lastly'?

Original post by surreal01088

It depends on how much you write per paragraph, but it really does not matter as much as you think.
Personally in my exams I did 3 big paragraphs (almost as big as a page) plus a conclusion. I feel as though this allows me to really expand my points well and ensure I'm only writing the best points and develop a far more conceptualised response. You could try this method out for your mock and see if it works, as you have the opportunity now in Year 10 to experiment a bit with your essay structures.

Don't fuss too much about it however, as long as you're hitting all areas of the mark scheme don't worry too much about quantity of paragraphs. If you feel like you can still expand and add depth to a point, don't worry about how big that paragraph is. If you've written over 2 pages I reckon it's sufficient. :smile:

Reply 5

dman64w

5

Hi! Apologies for replying this late, I hope you managed well in your mocks :smile:

As for your question on "conclusion" - A conclusion is a summary paragraph where you can sort of create a final argument, or simplify your previously mentioned points in your essay. It's best to not start with words such as "lastly" or "finally", try something more sophisticated such as "subsequently" or "ultimately".

However try not to take my advice too seriously xD I'm only a grade 4 student at the moment hoping to improve slowly but fast enough for the final exams.

Hope this helps in some way! 👍

Reply 6

Saif Hussain62

1

Hi I am currently in year 10 too. I am doing An Inspector Calls play for my English Literature Exam! I have my first real GCSE one tomorrow and I feel very confident with it!! I have also done 3 big paragraphs. I took them to my English teacher to mark and she has gave me a grade 5 and 6 so far. If you want to improve more layer out your paragraphs and give more than 2 analysis. Even if you don’t want to do it, I think you should, therefore the more points the more marks. Also try to give alternative ideas and links them to other quotes. I hope this has helped and good luck to those who have an Exam tomorrow on Wednesday 25th May 2022. Good luck to all!

Reply 7

ninjiiigaming

1

I would really like to know what you've written down so i could have a picture in my head for the inspector calls exam i have tomorrow so if i could know what you have written that would be grateful

Reply 8

Mindblower_12

2

Original post by Saif Hussain62

Hi I am currently in year 10 too. I am doing An Inspector Calls play for my English Literature Exam! I have my first real GCSE one tomorrow and I feel very confident with it!! I have also done 3 big paragraphs. I took them to my English teacher to mark and she has gave me a grade 5 and 6 so far. If you want to improve more layer out your paragraphs and give more than 2 analysis. Even if you don’t want to do it, I think you should, therefore the more points the more marks. Also try to give alternative ideas and links them to other quotes. I hope this has helped and good luck to those who have an Exam tomorrow on Wednesday 25th May 2022. Good luck to all