How do you answer an essay/exam style question?

Tackling exam style English essay questions can seem daunting, but there is a formulae to acing these types of questions. The below three structure tips will help you to start to conceptualise what a good essay answer looks like:

1. INTRODUCTION - Before we can talk about content the first thing to do is to make sure you have a great structure for your essay, which must have an introduction. In the introduction you must make sure to address or refer to the question put to you (e.g. imagine the question asked is: To what extent does Shakespeare present Macbeth as a villain?), you should make mention of the key debates surrounding the question (e.g. Some have argued that Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a villain because of... whilst other commentators prefer to see him as a tragic hero...), then outline how you will approach the essay noting your key points concisely, (e.g. In order to verify whether Macbeth is truly a villain this essay will explore his use of violence, his relationship with Banquo, the witches....).

2. The next key aspect of an essay is the content. Each paragraph should serve a purpose and should be centred around one point - which you should know about before you begin. A good formulae that works for English and other topics is to think PEE in other words:

POINT - In a sentence what is the seminal point of this paragraph. e.g. Macbeth as a villain is evident throughout the play by his use of gratuitous violence.

EXAMPLE - Use a quote from the text to prove the point you have made above. e.g. This is evidenced in the line....

EXPLANATION - Explain the quote you have used as evidence. You should break down the quote by commenting on what literary devices you can see the author use and what effects these have on the story, the scene and ultimately the audience. This is also where you can quote critics and explain their points and offer counter arguments e.g. Scottish society at the time was arguably marked by commonplace violence, which Macbeth as many a soldier was used to and therefore rather than a villain....

MAKE SURE TO DO A PEE FOR EVERY TOPIC POINT YOU MAKE.

3. CONCLUSION - Then finally you conclude by telling the reader of your essay what you have just told them. e.g. To conclude, it is arguable that Macbeth is a villain.... touch upon the key debates from your essay again and any counters you find convincing, do not introduce a new idea which could need to be evidenced. Then come to a conclusion, e.g. Therefore one comes away from Shakespeare's play unsure as to whether Macbeth is truly a villain.

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The words in bold are from the essay question, just to demonstrate how easy and yet key it is to refer to the question throughout the essay in order to show that you are staying on topic. In the end the structure of your essay would probably look something like this: Introduction; Violence - PEE; Banquo - PEE; Witches - PEE; Conclusion. This is a clear, concise way to structure English essays and can transform how you write, as well as make it easier to quickly plan essays under exam conditions.

If you have any questions or would like more support from my exam series or even help with coursework - let me know!