english and history

how do i improve my explanations in english and history paragraphs

For english, try and comment on:
- Context (what was happening during the time the text was written)
- Themes (the main ideas throughout the text)
- Structure/form (the layout of the text and why this may be)
- Quotations from the text (so giving evidence for your points)
- Language techniques (like metaphors and juxtaposition)
- One-word focus (so zoom into a specific word in a quote and analyse it)

For history:
- Try and memorise key dates and events, think about who was involved, how this affected people and what these events led to
- Always link back to the question, it's easy to get off topic, but try your best to link back to the main question so you can remain clear in your paragraphs
- For sources, read between the lines and see what you can infer or pull out from that source. Think about the relevance of this source and the different perspectives people would have on the source.
- If you get stuck in an exam, you can pull out key info surrounding the events mentioned in the question and you may get marks for that
- Understand what was happening during the time these events happened (links back to context) and see whether this led to other events or consequences for people

I hope I helped and good luck!