The TSR Community Awards 2025 are now live >>

English lit essay help

I really want to do well in my English gcse (aqa) as I want to do something related to English literature and creative writing in the future. The problem is, I have good ideas and interpretations, but I struggle writing them down in an essay. I’m not sure what the examiners are looking for in a good essay, and how to structure it. I also find writing a good ‘topic sentence’ or ‘thesis statement’ with a clear line of argument difficult. Any help would be appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

stevnw

Look at mark schemes for your exam board, to get a general idea of how they work.

Reply 2

organizing-handb

Original post

by Unknown-human

It's been a good couple of years since I last sat my GCSEs, however, these tips really helped me as I suffered the exact same problems as you.

Find your main argument/ counter arguments

your thesis statement should be kept simple and concise- don't try to overload it with a bunch of ideas (focus on one idea). It is hard but you need to reign your good ideas and interpretations in a bit and only have 1 idea that you will argue. A little will go a long way.

Follow this structure for your main paragraphs:

PEWHALE

P- point
E- evidence
W- why has the writer done this?
H- how does this make the reader feel?
A- analysis (analyse after your evidence)
L- link back to the question
E- (forgot what the E was for actually!)

^ Depending on the paper, you would need to tailor this to match the paper and question.