Before beginning any essay, you must always plan the content of the essay. A sufficient plan leads to an effective structure and content. With a plan, your writing appears concise and to the point; without one, you risk your writing appearing inconsistent and confusing. Although different types of essays require different types of planning, the first thing you should always do when opening your exam paper is read the question first. You must have a clear idea of what is being asked of you before you begin planning your essay or analysing any text. This will save you a lot of time in the exam, especially during the analysis questions as it will avoid you having to reread the text.
In each large essay question in the exam you are recommended to spend only five minutes planning your essays, and so reading the question first will save valuable time for you in the exam.
In this chapter, we will only discuss the planning required for questions 3 and 6 of Section A. The last question of Section A (question 7) is a comparison question and so we will discuss this individually in the next chapter.
Questions 3 and 6 of the exam are short essay questions compared to the last three in the exam. Questions 3 and 6 are worth 10 marks each and solely focus on AO2:
- AO2 – Understand and analyse how writers use linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects (makes up 20% of the overall exam).
You only need to comment on how the writer has used linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects. The types of questions you may come across in this aspect of the exam are:
- Describe how the writer expresses his thoughts and feelings about his trip to America.
- How does the writer present her opinion on the state of UK politics?
Because these are shorter exam questions you are not expected to spend a whole five minutes planning these; however, a plan is still necessary and essential.
After reading the question carefully and picking out important aspects of it (like discussed in the previous chapter), there are a number of ways you can organise your ideas for a plan. Bullet points, for example, are good for planning and will not take up too much time. However, some students prefer to be more creative and create mind-maps for a plan as they find this an easier way to organise their thoughts. Mind-maps are not recommended for questions 3 and 6 of Section A so stick to bullet points; we will discuss the uses of mind-maps in Unit 3 of this course.
In order to illustrate planning essays, we will use the same essay question ‘How does the writer describe their thoughts and feelings about their trip to Paris?’ and the previous extract we looked at:
| A Trip to ParisIn July 2016 I left on a plane to visit the city of Paris. I had dreams of climbing the steps of the Eiffel tower (all 1,710 of them), before making my way down a narrow-cobbled street and sitting outside an intimate café eating French toast and drinking a vanilla latte. I would explore the city, marvel at the old buildings and the famous art galleries. I would rummage around the vintage shops, buy a fabulous outfit and purchase a souvenir of my trip. I would sip some of the greatest wines in some of the largest vineyards on the outskirts of the city.The flight over to Paris was okay. It was a short flight, only lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. I skipped the option for an in-flight meal because I was so nervous and excited all at the same time. I couldn’t even manage a full cup of coffee in the morning, never mind a meal. On the plane the sky was a shade of azure blue. The sun shone brightly onto the soft clouds below. After an hour, the plane dipped into the clouds as it began its descent. There was a lot of turbulence and this did not seem to settle down the entire time the plane was lowering its altitude.Once landed, I looked outside of the window to see that the blue sky was hidden by a huge mask of dark clouds. The rain and wind hit me abruptly when leaving the plane. This was not how I imagined to be welcomed onto French soil. My hair was wet and mangled, the smell of my new perfume was mingled with the stale smell of wet clothes. I expected to look fabulous, instead I looked hideous.I brushed myself off in the airport and decided that it was just a bump in the road, the rest of the trip would be great.Oh, how wrong I was.I climbed the steps of the Eiffel tower, all 1,710 of them. It was raining, it was cold, it was incredibly slippery – I nearly broke my neck twice. The people around me were miserable also. They would barge passed me up the stairs, all in a rush to reach the top so they could climb back down and go home. Me too. I just wanted to go home.I tried to find my intimate café down a narrow-cobbled street; the café was more intimate than I originally expected, it was more like a cupboard with two tables and four chairs cramped inside it. The shoulders of the person sat on the other table were practically touching mine. They had brought their terrier in with them which sat under their table. The smell of wet dog filled the cupboard and I felt sick. My French toast was so stale I could barely break it with my teeth. It felt like I was trying to bite through granite rather than bread and egg. My vanilla latte was quite nice though.The buildings and art galleries were truly amazing, it is just a shame that it rained during the entire trip. With the backdrop of the azure blue skies it would have been magical.I didn’t even have chance to rummage around the vintage shops or vineyards on the edge of the city. In the end, I decided not to purchase a souvenir; it wasn’t really a trip that I wanted to be reminded of. |
After thoroughly analysing the question being asked, you can just use bullet points to design your plan; however, it is a good idea to use a P E E table to plan your essays as this will ensure you properly evidence and explain your points:
| Point | Evidence | Explain |
|---|---|---|
Here is an example of a completed table:
| Point | Evidence | Explain |
|---|---|---|
| Use of framing device Similes are used throughout, some of which are also hyperboles Contrast emphasised through use of adjectives in the first two paragraphs compared to the rest of the text | ‘I had dreams of climbing the steps of the Eiffel tower’ ‘it felt like I was trying to bite through granite rather than bread and egg’ Adjectives in first two paragraphs: ‘intimate’, ‘fabulous’, ‘excited’, ‘brightly’. Adjectives in rest of paragraphs: ‘dark’, ‘stale’, ‘hideous’ | Presents a contrast between what the writer wanted to happen and what actually happened; reinforces the negative language and the bad experience the writer had on their trip. The exaggeration of the writer’s experience adds a satirical overtone to the text. Emphasises the framing device and the writer’s negative experience. |
Every essay should include:
- An introduction (to introduce the essay and any points that will be made)
- main body (your main points that you use to answer the question)
- conclusion (summarise your main points – it is a good idea to refer back to the question here)
Although this essay is fairly short, you must still include an introduction and conclusion. An example of how you might introduce the essay we have just planned is:
“The writer of ‘A Trip to Paris’ describes their thoughts and feelings about their trip using a number of linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects. The writer is intending to inform the reader about their trip to Paris but the text has a satirical overtone which is created by the devices they use.”
After you have written the introduction you should then go on to explain the main points outlined in the plan you created.
Noticed how in the introduction we not only referred to the question being asked: ‘How does the writer describe their thoughts and feelings about their trip to Paris?’ but also the Assessment Objective that the examiner will be using to mark this question: ‘AO2 – Understand and analyse how writers use linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects (makes up 20% of the overall exam)’.
