Mod 1 - Friday 9 January
Mod 2 - Thursday 8 January
Mod 6 - Tuesday 6 January
Below are a few comments in response to questions that have come up during the 1:1 discussions with students about detailed coursework essay plan.
Your essay must compare 2/3 poems from one poet with 2/3 poems or 2/3 extracts from a short story. You must not compare 3 poems from one poet.
Writing a detailed essay plan before term ends enables you to do the hard work of the essay before the holiday begins. It means you don't need to spend your holiday planning and writing. And you have the opportunity of having your ideas looked over with me. Then all you will need to concentrate on in the holiday is writing up your essay.
Writing a detailed plan takes ABOUT 4 - 8 hours to complete. This will depend on how well you know the texts.
Writing up the essay using a detailed plan will take ABOUT 2 - 4 hours to complete.
Writing a good analytical comparative coursework essay requires you to know the texts you are writing about very well. I suggest you read and re-read them paying close attention to the essay title and the sub-topics you will be comparing in your essay.
Each paragraph must engage with only one sub-topic and only one text. You do not need to compare all poems from one writer with all the poems from another writer.
Some sub-topics are quite complex and may require more than one comparative analytical paragraph.
Write between 2000 - 2500 word essay - excluding quotations. Writing below 2000 words the exam board may think you've not covered the essay topic fully or engaged with the texts in enough detail or depth. This may mean they will not award full marks. Writing over 2500 words the exam board will consider that you are disorganized - but will not penalise you.
Record the details of the research you have undertaken. Make a note of website addresses, titles and authors. For hard copies of books and articles, record titles, authors, publication dates, publishers and places of publication.
There are many comparative essay structures. Below is the one I recommend.
My recommended structure for your essay is as follows:
Introduction
- Define the main topic in the essay title. Identify and introduce the comparative sub-topics that will form the basis of your essay.
- Introduce the texts you will write about in your essay.
- Identify and introduce the main writing techniques that you will comment on in your essay.
- Perhaps comment on the writers you have chosen to write your essay on.
Paragraph 1
- Write one topic sentence on one sub-topic. Refer to one text only - either one poem or one extract from a short story. Quote and then comment on the quotation. Show how the quote relates to the sub-topic and main topic of the essay. Identify language and literary techniques used in the essay. Then show how the quotation creates an effect on a generalized reader.
- Write a topic sentence on the same sub-topic as paragraph 1. Refer to one text only - either one poem or one extract from a short story. Quote and then comment on the quotation. Show how the quote relates to the sub-topic and main topic of the essay. Identify language and literary techniques used in the essay. Then show how the quotation creates an effect on a generalized reader.
- Then make one or two statements that either show similarities or differences between the text referred to in paragraph one.
