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AS English Literature

AS English Literature. Coursework Essay. First steps: The Title – what are you being asked to do?. Broadly speaking, essay titles fall into two types. One is the direct question: “Is Iago a credible character?”; or “To what extent is Macbeth influenced by the witches”.

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AS English Literature

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  1. AS English Literature Coursework Essay

  2. First steps: The Title – what are you being asked to do? • Broadly speaking, essay titles fall into two types. One is the direct question: • “Is Iago a credible character?”; or“To what extent is Macbeth influenced by the witches”. • The other is the invitation to discussion:“‘Now cracks a noble heart.’ How appropriate a response to Hamlet’s death do you find this?”; or“‘Nobility and Humanity are opposed in the play Coriolanus.’ Discuss.” • When first faced with a title, write anything at all which seems relevant: quotations, incidents, arguments; do not worry about order of importance; just write them down. Use a spider diagram if it helps. • Now step back. What does it amount to overall? Remember that most essays won’t be a straightforward “Yes” or “No” or “I totally agree”. You will usually write: “Yes but . . . . “ or “No but . . . “ or “I disagree but . . . “ for the invitations to discussion.

  3. Plan your conclusion • This is the point to which all the rest of the essay is leading. It’s your considered response to the question, and you must save it up. If you open with this, you are setting yourself up to be shot at. The reader will know what you are trying to prove, and will be measuring the essay by the extent to which you manage it. Writing an essay that way round makes it difficult to keep up any momentum and often leads to anticlimax if you don’t make the essay live up to the promise of the opening.

  4. Pick an opening • This should be something relevant and specific. You are trying to show two things: • that you have understood the question and that you are relating it to the text. • If the essay title is a quotation, show that you recognise it in context. “‘Now cracks a noble heart’ may seem a narrow assessment of Hamlet’s death but it is important to remember the limited nature of Horatio’s knowledge of the Prince.” • Or if it is a quotation from a well-known piece of criticism, show that you understand the overall view the critic was taking. (One of the very best A level answers ever written started: “In the same essay Dr. Johnson also wrote ....” which makes it grade A from the first sentence.) • Even if you think the starting point is totally opposed to the view you take, start on a positive note. Think of the circumstances in which it would be justifiable to hold such an opinion. Having established a viewpoint from which the judgement does make sense, go on to show how your own opinion is different.

  5. Planning the rest • Take the material from 1 and chart a path from the opening to the conclusion. It might be useful to write in pencil or different colour ink for this. Bracket or number ideas which go together. Decide which are the main points and which are subsidiary. You should find that the natural divisions between the paragraphs become clear. Pick which quotations to use.

  6. Remember • Turn opinion into criticism. One opinion is worth as much as another; you must • persuade the reader that your views are worth taking seriously. To do this you need • supporting evidence. This will often be quotation. • A quotation by itself is not usually enough to support a point: analysis is needed. This is • not so much a matter of explaining what the words mean as explaining how they support the point you are making. (Remember: Answer - Quote - Explain) • Always move from the specific to the general. This makes your argument far more convincing than it would be if you start from a generalisation and then try to justify it.

  7. MUSTS TO AVOID IN ESSAY WRITING: • “Obviously” : If it’s obvious it doesn’t need saying. What “Obviously” usually means is: “I’m not quite sure about this point but if I state it firmly enough perhaps the reader will be bullied into believing me.”. • “In my opinion” and “I personally think” : The reader assumes that what you write is your opinion. • “Supposed”: As in “Othello is supposed to be a great warrior”. Who supposes this? • Unspecific opening: “There are many issues involved in this question”. “The answer to this question cannot be properly considered until we have looked at what we mean by ‘credible’”. These will send the reader to sleep - however true they may be as observations. The points should emerge as the essay moves from its specific starting points. • Narration: Don’t re-tell the story; the reader already knows it. • Translating: by following a quotation with a paraphrase or “translation”. The reader can be assumed to know what the words mean. • Irrelevance: However fascinating or true your information may be, there is no point at all in writing it down unless it is relevant. This is particularly true of biographical details.

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