Learning Higher English essays

hey, if ur doing a-level i have no advice im sorry, im in y11. but im currently working at a grade 9 in both english lit and lang so think i can help! i found that when revising and learning essays, condensing them into a short form helps, you can do this on flashcards with key points (useful for active recall) or just on paper. also it is very important to make sure u are rehearsing ur essays in a TIMED situation, almost like replicating the exam, so notes and cards etc.

in regards to how many essays to learn, don't overwhelm ur brain and try to remember 25 or something, learn about 5 essays quite well id say. but heres the thing, pick 5 themes to write the essays about that cover a large rain of mini-themes, and involve lots of characters. that way, say if in the exam you get an essay on Daisy Buchanan, she'll probably fit into at least 3 of your themes, so turn what you've learnt from the themes into ur paragraphs in the exam. ive never read great gatsby so i cant give any advice on what themes to pick sorry!

hope this helps a bit

Hey, thank you so much for your advice - I probably should have specified that I'm doing cfe higher English, which is a Scottish qualification! But thank you again for your help

My approach to essay writing was quite modular in the sense that I would have lots of paragraphs memorised that I would mix and match / alter depending on the essay question. I would have a standard paragraph for intro, setting, plot, symbolism, characterisation, etc. then depending on the essay question I would include the most relevant paragraphs and then alter the analysis to better fit the essay question. This was the approach I used throughout the year when submitting essays for homework, I then memorised two or three essays that scored high marks and were applicable to different questions.

How many essays do you recommend that I learn for the final exam? And what types of essays? My teacher said they can ask a lot of different questions so its best to be fully prepared with loads of different essays. Just in case it helps, I'm doing 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott. Fitzgerald. I was originally planning to just memorise a character essay about Daisy Buchanan and alter it depending on the question, but I'm getting paranoid that I won't be able to use that on the day.

Hi, I’m in the same situation! The exam is so soon—yikes! Good luck!! I am really hoping a question about theme or setting comes up so I can link it them, and I hope something about relationships come up so I can do it about the superficiality of Gatsby and Daisy. I’ve used the one about Daisy and Tom being ‘careless people.. they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their vast carelessness’ in almost every essay, so as another user said I would recommend learning some essential paragraphs and the analysis. I’m so scared though, the essay questions seems so unpredictable I have no idea how I am going to fit Scottish text and the essay into 1hour and 30 minutes!! I haven’t started revising RUAE yet but I was pretty strong at it throughout the year and during N5 so I should be fine