How do I be 'evaluative' in A-level English literature? (

The whole of last year I was floating between a B and low A in my essays, it seemed totally down to luck IMO. To someone who, at GCSE, was used to never revising English and getting A*s this is a little unnerving to think about this close to my final A-level exams. One piece of feedback I notice from my teacher's marking is to be more 'evaluative' to hit band 5 (My exam board is Edexcel). However, what does this actually mean? How would it look like/what form would it take in an essay? Is there anything I can do to make sure I'm being evaluative?

Bonus Q: Is there any structure I can stick to in order to maximise my opportunity of getting into band 5 (getting top marks). I've so far been used to writing 3/4 very looong paragraphs that go into really deep detail, and I feel like a lot of the time I actually write quite interesting, perceptive and original answers that are well argued. Yet some of my friends who do 4/5 shorter/medium paragraphs end up getting As, while I usually get B's, and I don't want to sound pretentious but when reading their essays they seem a lot more 'contrived', like the points came right off SparkNotes. However, if it works, I'm not one to complain. Is there a structure I can follow to maximise my marks?