Got an A in National 5, predicted an A in Higher and now taking Advanced Higher English so hopefully I can be of some assistance. My Nat5 folio got 28/30 so I think the topic I chose for my discursive went down well. My Higher teacher said that my Higher discursive is between 13 and 15/15 and loved the topic. I did "Should the NHS treat self-inflicted illnesses?" for National 5 and "Is multiculturalism the problem or the solution?" for Higher. Personally I would avoid the Marilyn Monroe topic. Writing about conspiracy theories and the like doesn't tend to do well because it's not entirely fact based and can come across as quite immature. Try to go for something that interests you, makes it so much easier and more enjoyable to write, as well as something different or something which comes at a topic from a different angle. All of my teachers have said that the SQA markers get sick of marking the same essays and will therefore mark original ideas higher than the overdone ones. Hope this helps.