I know the points I’d like to make, but how would I go about structuring my essay?

In order to write a well-structured essay you’ll need to ensure your argument is well thought out, clearly signposted, and that your writing is articulate and expressive. It’s always important to plan for 5-10 minutes before you begin writing. I would advise that you underline the key terms of the question, always checking in with yourself that you understand exactly what is being asked of you. I would then suggest answering the question very simply, perhaps in one sentence, on your planning paper, so that you know exactly what you want to argue. Once you have written down all your main points it’s helpful to organise them into a very brief spider diagram so that you have a rough idea of which ideas belong in which paragraphs. When you’re approaching the question it is always useful to think about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it. In terms of content I would always suggest thinking about form, language and structure. In order to attain top marks you’ll need to make more nuanced arguments than simply using events in the story to back up your points. In terms of style, you should always think about ‘PEEL’ – point, evidence, explain, link. As a general note, it is good to keep an eye on the lengths of your paragraphs. I wouldn’t want to be too prescriptive about this because giving rules such as ‘only eight lines per paragraph’ and ‘three paragraphs for every essay’ can hinder creativity. However, the examiner reading your work will not want to read a page and a half of writing with no breaks; if you feel that your paragraph is looking too long it will most probably be because you’ve been writing about the same thing for longer than is necessary. When you reach this point I would advise moving on to your next point so that you can cover more material.