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English literature essays.....

I'm writing the exam in 3 weeks, so there isn't much I can do,

I've revised all the quotes, and can recount them without a mistake,

But I just can't write a good essay, one that can score more that 21/30, what do I do? How do I structure my essays, to make it more compelling and convincing?

Please help :frown:

Reply 1

furryface12

Original post by Brruh

Have you talked to your teacher about how they think you're doing, and might be able to improve? I always really struggled with this sort of stuff but there's various 'how to write an essay' guides online for different levels some of which might be of use to you. As a general rule I'd give a rough overview of what you're going to write about and a brief background/context for the essay such as what was going on around the time the book/poem was written. Then have a few paragraphs in the main body of the essay with a point in each- if it's an argument, keep the same number for each side and back each of them up with evidence (ie quote) and explanation etc, whatever you can come up with. Then in the conclusion again do an overview of what you've written and if it's relevant your opinion on the matter. At each stage keep referring back to the question and make sure what you're writing is in response to it, and the examiner can see that. It's worth doing a plan before you start too, both to get the structure clear in your head and so that if you don't have time to finish, the examiner can see where you were going with it. Does that help at all? :smile: