Using the texts The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin, discuss how the authors present women.

TOP TIPS:
1) Do your research and know the mark scheme; you will be marked using the AOs (Assessment Objectives). Make sure you know what these include and how you can use them in your writing. If your teacher hasn't made these available to you, you can find them on your exam board's teaching resources.
2) Before you begin the exam, make sure you know lots of context about the author and texts, including when they were written, what period they are set, what genre they are and how well they were received (these are key AOs).
3) Know your themes and text examples. Aim to discuss three themes which relate to at least two examples from each text, including one which you can pull apart linguistically (another important AO). For each example you find, you should also use some context which supports your argument. Remember to know the links between the texts so you can quickly find examples to use. You can create a checklist for each theme: example, context, link.
4) Your introduction is your opportunity to give all your general context on the texts- bagging key marks! It is a good idea to memorise an introduction structure which can work for any exam question, such as: Author, name of text, when it was written, what is it (book, poetry collection), context of this period and your key ideas that link to the question. Don't forget to compare the texts somehow, even if you're highlighting obvious differences and similarities! I find it easier to begin the introduction with "Although writing in different decades..." as this gives an instant comparison at the beginning of your essay.
5) Your introduction can also really help you create a structure or plan for your essay, something you can refer back to when you can stuck and also acting like a guide which your examiner can easily follow.
6) Most importantly, don't forget to show off! Act really impressed by the techniques the authors have used, even if you are just talking about a noun! For example "The authors interesting/clever/strange choice of dynamic verb...", why is this interesting? What purpose does it serve in portraying your argument?
Example of an introduction to this question:
Although written in different decades and continents, both F. Scott. Fitzgerald (1894-1940) and Philip Larkin (1922-1985) use the male narrator and perspective to sympathise with women in their writing. Fitzgerald portrays the patriarchy in the early 1920s American society through the role of women, their treatment and the society's idealised image of women in his American novel 'The Great Gatsby'. Published in 1925, Fitzgerald highlights the changes women were facing in this decade: the image of the 'new woman' and the separation of women from the domestic sphere, including their role in the traditional 'nuclear family'.Larkin arguably writes against traditional forms, such as Romanticism, during the Movement; allowing his poetry to move away from a specific audience and have a resonance with the social concerns highlighted in his poetry, rather than the traditionally patriarchal Romanticism. In his poetry collection 'The Whitsun Weddings' (published in 1964), Larkin uses women to portray their restricted social constructs in marriage, their role in society and also their image as a product of the male gaze. Written during a sexual revolution in Britain, we can see how women are still forced into the domestic sphere and how they are still a product of consumption- ideas also explored in 'The Great Gatsby' written almost 40 years before 'The Whitsun Weddings'.