Structure (1 Viewer)

[bubonic]

Hey!

WAYS OF THINKING: AFTER THE BOMB-

I'm an English Extension 1 student who has consistently been getting 23/25 for the essay portion of the course. I usually shape my paragraphs around context and tend to weave the text throughout the paragraph. I only use around one or 2 textual examples per text and have 2 critics per text. My essay has a total of 4 paragraphs- one for each paradigm and its linking text. I generally discuss context first then show how it is presented in the chosen text.

While this has been getting me good results, I have been seeing a lot of exemplar responses in which each paragraph is heavily text based and sometimes doesn't even have a topic sentence; just dives right into the text. The paragraphs are generally shaped like how an advanced essay would be (except a lot more analytical and sophisticated).

I am worried that my approach will cause me to achieve poor results. Any advice on whether or not to keep my own structure would be appreciated

Thank you!

 

[Lumenoria]

Hey there,
As an Extension 1 student undertaking the After the Bomb module aswell, I'm sure you're fine in that regard—in fact, that's the approach most people I know go with, including me!

I usually address the specific way of thinking that was provoked by a certain event presented in the text. Eg. "Resonating with the growing instability, Western society resorted to traditional conservative values to induce order. Satirically representing the commodification of women, Plath criticises her society for its culture of superficial containment through utilising..." This is generally the way that I delve into my analysis, and it's gotten me within the top band everytime. However, your topic sentence can also specifically include your text—as pertinent in the exemplar responses you perused—but the reason why people usually steer away from that is because it compels students to focus on the intricacies of the text, rather than the pre-existing broader ways of thinking/values that were in the backdrop of its composition, which is what this module requires of you. That being said however, it IS absolutely possible to address the ways of thinking more generally with the text involved in the topic sentence. Sometimes I switch between these two approaches in my essays—whichever one is appropriate. If I'm only addressing one text in the paragraph, I'll make the topic sentence specifically incorporate that text; however, if I'm drawing comparisons between two texts then I'll go with the more holistic approach—which I actually prefer in most cases.

So, given that, I don't think you need to worry at all; if you've been attaining 23/25 on a constant basis, then you're fine. I suppose it now ultimately depends on what question is thrown at you on the day! Hope this makes sense! Good luck with your exams. [emoji4]


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