A* A level English Literature Essay Examples

Hey guys! Hope you’re all good. I’m currently working at a B grade for English Literature, and I’m struggling to get an A. Does anyone have any examples and advice on how to do this? Also, from my perspective, I’m mainly struggling on embedding context and literary criticism, as well as writing a succinct argument and an introduction and conclusion. Sorry that was quite long. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance x

Reply 1

jmeyerjay

6

Original post by Ali-liyyah

Hey guys! Hope you’re all good. I’m currently working at a B grade for English Literature, and I’m struggling to get an A. Does anyone have any examples and advice on how to do this? Also, from my perspective, I’m mainly struggling on embedding context and literary criticism, as well as writing a succinct argument and an introduction and conclusion. Sorry that was quite long. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance x

How to write a succinct argumentative essay
First, it is important to note that an argument always has two sides.
However, the bulk of your essay should address your side of the argument. For instance, in a typical 5-paragraph argumentative essay, the first two paragraphs of the body should capture your opinion, with the next paragraph covering the dissenting opinion (with a rebuttal of course). The first and last paragraphs are the introduction and conclusion respectively.

The introduction
This paragraph should get your reader involved in your essay. The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about. The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.

Body Paragraphs
An argumentative paragraph has four parts: a claim, logical explanation, examples, and a conclusion.
The claim is the point you are trying to pass across. Typically, it is the topic sentence in a paragraph.
The logical explanation gives the reasoning behind the claim. Ideally, it should be backed by solid arguments.
Examples should put the explanation into perspective by providing real-life illustrations
The conclusion summarises the whole paragraph by reinforcing the point made in the topic sentence.

Conclusion
In much the same way that the introduction lays out the thesis for the reader, the conclusion of the paper should reiterate the main points—it should never introduce new ideas or things not discussed in the body of the paper! — and bring the argument home. The force with which you express the theme here is especially important because if you're ever going to convince the reader that your thesis has merit, it will be in the conclusion. In other words, just as lawyers win their cases in the closing argument, this is the point where you'll persuade others to adopt your thesis.

I have attached a more detailed guide for your perusal if need be. You can also PM if you need further clarification.

I hope this helps you articulate your arguments better.

Cheers!

(edited 3 years ago)

APWriters - How to write a great essay.pdf419.9KB

Reply 2

Ali-liyyah

OP

15

Original post by jmeyerjay

How to write a succinct argumentative essay
First, it is important to note that an argument always has two sides.
However, the bulk of your essay should address your side of the argument. For instance, in a typical 5-paragraph argumentative essay, the first two paragraphs of the body should capture your opinion, with the next paragraph covering the dissenting opinion (with a rebuttal of course). The first and last paragraphs are the introduction and conclusion respectively.

The introduction
This paragraph should get your reader involved in your essay. The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about. The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.

Body Paragraphs
An argumentative paragraph has four parts: a claim, logical explanation, examples, and a conclusion.
The claim is the point you are trying to pass across. Typically, it is the topic sentence in a paragraph.
The logical explanation gives the reasoning behind the claim. Ideally, it should be backed by solid arguments.
Examples should put the explanation into perspective by providing real-life illustrations
The conclusion summarises the whole paragraph by reinforcing the point made in the topic sentence.

Conclusion
In much the same way that the introduction lays out the thesis for the reader, the conclusion of the paper should reiterate the main points—it should never introduce new ideas or things not discussed in the body of the paper! — and bring the argument home. The force with which you express the theme here is especially important because if you're ever going to convince the reader that your thesis has merit, it will be in the conclusion. In other words, just as lawyers win their cases in the closing argument, this is the point where you'll persuade others to adopt your thesis.

I have attached a more detailed guide for your perusal if need be. You can also PM if you need further clarification.

I hope this helps you articulate your arguments better.

Cheers!

Thanks so much for your help! This was really useful. Do you have any methods to help me remember context and literary criticism?

Reply 3

Ali-liyyah

OP

15

Yes please. I’d find this really useful thanks x

Reply 4

Ali-liyyah

OP

15

Both of that’s alright. For the books, would you be able to do a play and a novel please, as we are studying Journey’s End and The First Casualty for our books. Thanks again x

Reply 5

anonymusLI170902

14

Original post by Ali-liyyah

Hey guys! Hope you’re all good. I’m currently working at a B grade for English Literature, and I’m struggling to get an A. Does anyone have any examples and advice on how to do this? Also, from my perspective, I’m mainly struggling on embedding context and literary criticism, as well as writing a succinct argument and an introduction and conclusion. Sorry that was quite long. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance x

Hi ! I’m currently year 12 and I’m getting high As. What I tend to do ( doesn’t work for everyone) is do plenty of question planning , say 10 for each book, 5 per poem,they’re quote focused. I make a neat table including analysis, supporting quotes , context, criticism , key terminology specific to the quote etc. And keep them in my folder.Then I memorise them by making mindmaps, writing out as essays etc. Then in the exam I can use elements of these to answer my question, 80% of the time I can actually manipulate the question to fit a whole analysis that I’ve memorised !

Sorry if that makes no sense but hopefully that helps a bit :smile:

Reply 6

Hyperbolit

11

Original post by Ali-liyyah

Hey guys! Hope you’re all good. I’m currently working at a B grade for English Literature, and I’m struggling to get an A. Does anyone have any examples and advice on how to do this? Also, from my perspective, I’m mainly struggling on embedding context and literary criticism, as well as writing a succinct argument and an introduction and conclusion. Sorry that was quite long. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance x

Hi, in order to get an A for English Lit, it's important that you show depth in the way you engage with literary techniques and analyse how they convey broader thematic ideas. If you struggle with writing literary criticism, see if this post here helps: hyperbolit.com/2020/07/04/how-to-write-literary-analysis-well-its-not-as-hard-as-you-may-think/ You can find a step-by-step explanation of how to come up with points for literary analysis, and a demonstration of how to actually write analysis.

Reply 7

Ali-liyyah

OP

15

Original post by anonymusLI170902

Hi ! I’m currently year 12 and I’m getting high As. What I tend to do ( doesn’t work for everyone) is do plenty of question planning , say 10 for each book, 5 per poem,they’re quote focused. I make a neat table including analysis, supporting quotes , context, criticism , key terminology specific to the quote etc. And keep them in my folder.Then I memorise them by making mindmaps, writing out as essays etc. Then in the exam I can use elements of these to answer my question, 80% of the time I can actually manipulate the question to fit a whole analysis that I’ve memorised !

Sorry if that makes no sense but hopefully that helps a bit :smile:

Thanks so much! This was very helpful. Just to clarify, how do you make your mind maps from your tables? Would you be able to send a picture of your method? Thanks in advance x

Reply 8

Ali-liyyah

OP

15

Original post by Hyperbolit

Hi, in order to get an A for English Lit, it's important that you show depth in the way you engage with literary techniques and analyse how they convey broader thematic ideas. If you struggle with writing literary criticism, see if this post here helps: hyperbolit.com/2020/07/04/how-to-write-literary-analysis-well-its-not-as-hard-as-you-may-think/ You can find a step-by-step explanation of how to come up with points for literary analysis, and a demonstration of how to actually write analysis.

Thank you so much for your help! I’ll check this out, and try and use it x

Reply 9

Yryge

10

When your completing an argument, to get the top marks we must balance our argument and never ever stick to one side! This provides you to have a balanced argument with pros and cons for each side!
This also allows you to give the audience an insight on your reasons basically FORCING the examiner to get you the top marks!

This always works!!

Reply 10

anonymusLI170902

14

Original post by Ali-liyyah

Thanks so much! This was very helpful. Just to clarify, how do you make your mind maps from your tables? Would you be able to send a picture of your method? Thanks in advance x