A-Level AQA English Literature B NEA help

So I’ve just started my coursework for English Literature, and I’m struggling. I’m unsure of how to construct my argument, how I should go about writing the introduction, but my main thing is including critics and points from the critical anthology. For reference I’m doing narrative theory for the novel, and feminist theory for the poetry.
If anyone has any examples/tips, then they’d be greatly appreciated

Hey there, I am a year 13 student who has done the exact same thing as you, I presume we did different texts though!
My main piece of advice, which at first seems kind of unhelpful, is to read both sections of the anthology and find the parts you can most easily relate to your text, and I mean specific quotes. Then search for critics who have discussed that technique in relation to your texts. I would keep an ongoing list of these references and keep relating them back to your text. I would also read around feminism and narrative theory to make sure you have included relevant theories that others won't have.
It is a short essay, as your word count is not that long, so make the most of it by avoiding storytelling. Your intro won't score you many additional marks so I would just accurately layout your stance on the question you chose.
Hope that helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions!

So I’ve just started my coursework for English Literature, and I’m struggling. I’m unsure of how to construct my argument, how I should go about writing the introduction, but my main thing is including critics and points from the critical anthology. For reference I’m doing narrative theory for the novel, and feminist theory for the poetry.
If anyone has any examples/tips, then they’d be greatly appreciated

I achieved an A* in my NEA English Literature B back in 2024 so I might be of help.
Hope that helps.

Hey,congratulations on your grade!.Do you have any examples of essays that got an A*?I want to see how I should structure my essays but I am unable to find exemplars?
Also,how many paragraphs did you write and what is the structure supposed to be like for each paragraph?

Are you asking for essays in general or NEA exemplars?
I don't have any NEA exemplars, only my own 2 NEA essays.
As for general essays, I have a few that scored A*s. Not many, as I was on a 16/25 for all of Y12/13; however, with that being said, I have 1 Hamlet essay (22), 1 Atonement essay (24), my exam script, which scored 22,22 and a 23 (AQA Aspects of Comedy paper) and some elements of crime writing essays.
As for structure, are you asking about NEA structure or essay structure?
I can only assist you if you're doing AQA (not poetry).

Hello,
Apologies for getting back to you so late. Crime is certainly hard, I struggled with crime a lot. Just stick to the same structure as your other paper, and you'll be fine.
I certainly can do that for you. If you still want it, send me a PM, and I'll send it to you via email. It won't let me upload it here.

Are you asking for essays in general or NEA exemplars?
I don't have any NEA exemplars, only my own 2 NEA essays.
As for general essays, I have a few that scored A*s. Not many, as I was on a 16/25 for all of Y12/13; however, with that being said, I have 1 Hamlet essay (22), 1 Atonement essay (24), my exam script, which scored 22,22 and a 23 (AQA Aspects of Comedy paper) and some elements of crime writing essays.
As for structure, are you asking about NEA structure or essay structure?
I can only assist you if you're doing AQA (not poetry).

I achieved an A* in my NEA English Literature B back in 2024 so I might be of help.
Hope that helps.

I got full marks on both my coursework essays, and my most important piece of advice is to do texts and themes (as in feminism or marxism) you are interested in. Then i would read literary theory the basics by Hans bertens over summer to get a broad overview and then do more reading based on what interests you. you don't need to stress about including named critics as ao5 is covered by alternative interpretations. Critics are however, extremely useful as a counter, find critics you disagree with for example the only critic i used in my wasteland essay was Eliot who i disagreed with. I can send my essays if you would like but they are marxism and ecocritical so not sure how much help they would be.

Wow congrats with your A* :0
Also sorry to be a bother, but please could you also send me your example essays, (if it's possible)? I have been struggling with structuring my essays and I've been stuck on a B for way too long 😃 it's like I'm not making any progress

Hey there! Honestly so annoyed I didn't see this before my english exam. I did my comedy paper a couple of weeks ago, when you say exam script does that mean the examiners scored it those marks? If so, I would appreciate it so much if you could share them with me as I would love to know if I got down roughly what they were looking for. Thank!

I got full marks on both my coursework essays, and my most important piece of advice is to do texts and themes (as in feminism or marxism) you are interested in. Then i would read literary theory the basics by Hans bertens over summer to get a broad overview and then do more reading based on what interests you. you don't need to stress about including named critics as ao5 is covered by alternative interpretations. Critics are however, extremely useful as a counter, find critics you disagree with for example the only critic i used in my wasteland essay was Eliot who i disagreed with. I can send my essays if you would like but they are marxism and ecocritical so not sure how much help they would be.

I got full marks on both my coursework essays, and my most important piece of advice is to do texts and themes (as in feminism or marxism) you are interested in. Then i would read literary theory the basics by Hans bertens over summer to get a broad overview and then do more reading based on what interests you. you don't need to stress about including named critics as ao5 is covered by alternative interpretations. Critics are however, extremely useful as a counter, find critics you disagree with for example the only critic i used in my wasteland essay was Eliot who i disagreed with. I can send my essays if you would like but they are marxism and ecocritical so not sure how much help they would be.

I got full marks on both my coursework essays, and my most important piece of advice is to do texts and themes (as in feminism or marxism) you are interested in. Then i would read literary theory the basics by Hans bertens over summer to get a broad overview and then do more reading based on what interests you. you don't need to stress about including named critics as ao5 is covered by alternative interpretations. Critics are however, extremely useful as a counter, find critics you disagree with for example the only critic i used in my wasteland essay was Eliot who i disagreed with. I can send my essays if you would like but they are marxism and ecocritical so not sure how much help they would be.