The Student Room Group

What exactly is an essay plan please?

I'm basically in Year 11 now so I want to cut the lazy/procrastination crap. I seriously want to do extremely well in my GCSEs and I've heard that essay plans are helpful for essay based subjects.

The problem is that I don't really know what they are or how to write one.
I want to do an essay plan for English, Geography, Science, German(for the writing assessment) and maybe Religious Studies.

Any advice please? I want to do essays plans everyday after school (I don't know how they work)
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 1
An essay plan is how you will lay your essay out basically. Follow this or a similar guide:

Intro - what the essay will be about, the points you will make and the conclusion you wish to reach

Middle section - get to the point, include crucial information such as dates, theorists, quotes etc that will help justify your essay/research. Every essay “should” have an argument for and against just so you can show you have the skill to tell both sides equally.

Conclusion - what do you conclude? Explain what the essay was about, what you have explained and the conclusion you have reached from your two “arguments” and an overall justification of your opinion.

When planning your essays use this as a baseline, make bullet points for each section before putting it into sentences, and then eventually paragraphs. Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions if any :smile:
You don't need to have a specific way to write one. Might be the case that your writing is more spontaneous and you work better without one. If you normally split your writing into sections or themes, write those down. Jot down some points you plan on bringing up. I didn't end up planning any of my essays at GCSE.
Reply 3
Original post by G97D
An essay plan is how you will lay your essay out basically. Follow this or a similar guide:

Intro - what the essay will be about, the points you will make and the conclusion you wish to reach

Middle section - get to the point, include crucial information such as dates, theorists, quotes etc that will help justify your essay/research. Every essay “should” have an argument for and against just so you can show you have the skill to tell both sides equally.

Conclusion - what do you conclude? Explain what the essay was about, what you have explained and the conclusion you have reached from your two “arguments” and an overall justification of your opinion.

When planning your essays use this as a baseline, make bullet points for each section before putting it into sentences, and then eventually paragraphs. Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions if any :smile:


Thank you for your response! If you have one could you please show me an example please with this layout? Also should I stick with the PEAL structure for each section and if you don't me asking what did you get for your Eng Lit exam.
Reply 4
Original post by _gcx
You don't need to have a specific way to write one. Might be the case that your writing is more spontaneous and you work better without one. If you normally split your writing into sections or themes, write those down. Jot down some points you plan on bringing up. I didn't end up planning any of my essays at GCSE.


Thank you for your reply! (^-^ )
Reply 5
Original post by Hiro2468
Thank you for your response! If you have one could you please show me an example please with this layout? Also should I stick with the PEAL structure for each section and if you don't me asking what did you get for your Eng Lit exam.


I wish I had an example to show you:frown: I did my GCSE’s 4 years ago so I have none of my old notes unfortunately, but they’re quite easy to find online! Stick to a structure that suits your writing ability, when I did GCSEs it was PESTLE so they change a lot - find what you’re best at. And I got an A for my English Lit exam 😊
Basically, they are just your way of summarizing all the information you would want to put in each paragraph of an essay. They don't need to be understandable to anyone other than you, but they allow you to make a well structured argument for your point of view, and so gain the best possible marks. For example, if I were to write an essay on the question 'Is Lord Capulet a good father', my plan may be as follows:
Intro:
- patriarchy
- gender roles in rennaissance
- purpose (difficulties, pressures, power, expectations)

P1:
- Gives her relative freedom (renaissance gender roles)
- "ripe to be a bride"
- "within her scope of choice lies my consent"
- "baggage"
- "tallow face"
- she must submit
conc: unreliable

then i'd do 3 more paragraphs and a conclusion, but you get the idea! You may not understand my plan if you don't study Romeo and Juliet, however you can see how I can use my knowledge of quotes (only quotes that either support my main quotes or can be analysed in great detail), context and general knowledge from the play. Hope the year goes well! (I just completed y11)
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by G97D
I wish I had an example to show you:frown: I did my GCSE’s 4 years ago so I have none of my old notes unfortunately, but they’re quite easy to find online! Stick to a structure that suits your writing ability, when I did GCSEs it was PESTLE so they change a lot - find what you’re best at. And I got an A for my English Lit exam 😊

It’s okay (^-^ ) thank you so much!
Break it down. A little line for each paragraph, what each one is going to say. Not long at all, but enough to tell you what each of your essay paragraphs should describe, what evidence you need an the point you're making out of it.
Reply 9
Original post by redmeercat
Basically, they are just your way of summarizing all the information you would want to put in each paragraph of an essay. They don't need to be understandable to anyone other than you, but they allow you to make a well structured argument for your point of view, and so gain the best possible marks. For example, if I were to write an essay on the question 'Is Lord Capulet a good father', my plan may be as follows:
Intro:
- patriarchy
- gender roles in rennaissance
- purpose (difficulties, pressures, power, expectations)

P1:
- Gives her relative freedom (renaissance gender roles)
- "ripe to be a bride"
- "within her scope of choice lies my consent"
- "baggage"
- "tallow face"
- she must submit
conc: unreliable

then i'd do 3 more paragraphs and a conclusion, but you get the idea! You may not understand my plan if you don't study Romeo and Juliet, however you can see how I can use my knowledge of quotes (only quotes that either support my main quotes or can be analysed in great detail), context and general knowledge from the play. Hope the year goes well! (I just completed y11)

Seriously thank you so much!! I kinda understand now (^~^ ) How did you find your GCSEs if you don’t mind me asking?
Original post by Hiro2468
Seriously thank you so much!! I kinda understand now (^~^ ) How did you find your GCSEs if you don’t mind me asking?

That's OK! They were alright, thanks, didn't get below a 7 apart from PE... Science and English language (the subs I thought I was worst at) were somehow my best! Just goes to show, you can't count your grades before they've arrived!

Quick Reply

Latest