English Teachers Association
Students
How to do English
Area of Study - The Journey
How to write an essay for the Area of Study
The following points are a guide of what you should include in your composition.
Before writing
- Underline key aspects of the question, making sure you know exactly what it is asking you to do.
- Identify which aspects of the prescribed text are relevant to the question. Stick to this plan. Most tasks will have a how embedded, so construct a thesis which concentrates on the how.
- Make a note of all texts you will use in your response. Check that you have chosen texts from a variety of sources, in a range of genres and media. If time allows, try to use prose (fiction/nonfiction), film (feature/documentary), media (newspaper/magazine/television), multimedia (Internet site) and a visual text (painting/cartoon).
The essay - In the introduction
- use the wording of the question
- refer to the prescribed text through which you will be answering the question
- outline the approach you will use to answer the question.
The essay - In the body
- make sure the topic sentence of each paragraph addresses the question
- develop your essay by addressing the first aspect of your thesis in the first paragraph of the body and relating this to your prescribed text. Then elaborate your point by referring closely to the text to support your point. Some quotation is essential
- ensure that you have been specific enough about the form, mode and medium so that the marker can not possibly mistake for example, a film for a novel. What aspects of the film (editing, framing, mise-en-scene, design, acting, genre) can convince the assessor that this text is indeed a film?
- Make it easy for the marker to follow the flow of your argument by using clear signposts such as: in addition, moreover, on the other hand, consequently etc.
- introduce your 1st text of your own choosing as early as the 2nd paragraph, comparing and contrasting this, where necessary, with prescribed text. Do not simply retell the story, or give an account of the journey(s). Provide only a brief idea of what the text is about because you want to focus on the point of comparison/contrast with the prescribed text and of course the question.
- use language appropriate to the type of text you are discussing eg protagonist (dramatic text) persona (poem) hero (prose fiction) etc.
- even fleeting references to aspects of texts not analysed fully can give a good impression as long as there is detailed analysis of the minimun number of texts specified by the question.
- use the correct number of texts from prescribed BOS Stimulus booklet . This will probably be only one but you must be prepared to engage with all six if need be.
The essay - In the conclusion
- summarise your arguments and restate your thesis
- draw some conclusions about the journey and its representation.