So, you study your book in class for a term and then immediately open up a word doc titled “Donne and Wit Essay Draft”. You plop a title and your practice question at the top then stop. You stare into the blank page and the blank page stares back into you. You’ve got nothing to write.
If you’ve ever had that problem or just want to streamline the process, this is the post for you.
Too often we get caught up in the process of finding quotes, finding techniques and then extrapolating an idea from that. First up, this should be the other way around (see our essay framework page for more). Secondly, there are many other aspects of the essay we need to consider before writing it out on the page.
A. Actually reading the text + Knowing the Rubric
I’ve known people and seen students start writing their essay without knowing the author’s name let alone reading the text.
I get that reading isn’t everyone’s favourite activity, and sometimes it just takes up too much time. But understanding the plot, structure, form and general writing style is absolutely crucial if you want to talk about big techniques and ideas.
Some tips to get started;
Block out time to read. Whether it’s in the morning before school, on the weekend or as you’re going to sleep. Setting up a routine can be super helpful with getting a big project done in small steps.
Aim for 10 pages a day. Do 10 pages for 3 days in a row and that’ll get the ball rolling for the rest of the book.
Knowing what you’re writing about, especially for something as important as the HSC, is a must.
Read the Book!
Knowing the rubric is just as if not more important than knowing the text.
When we read our texts, there are so many themes and ideas to consider. The rubric narrows the scope of what we should care about when planning and writing our essays. For example, while the Texts and Human Experiences Module looks at collective and individual emotions and natural paradoxes, Module A explores the resonances and dissonances between texts. Vastly different scopes for discussion.
Having an idea of the module your text is for (even before reading your text) will make it much easier to know what you’re looking for.
How do we examine the rubric?
Crawl for keywords
NESA has written the rubrics in a way that usually allows us to easily find keywords and topics.
Take a look at a section from the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences
In this common module students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences. They examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, these experiences. Students appreciate, explore, interpret, analyse and evaluate the ways language is used to shape these representations in a range of texts in a variety of forms, modes and media.
Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations, inviting the responder to see the world differently, to challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally. They may also consider the role of storytelling throughout time to express and reflect particular lives and cultures. By responding to a range of texts they further develop skills and confidence using various literary devices, language concepts, modes and media to formulate a considered response to texts.
Before moving further into the post, try and pick out the keywords from the module. These can be any sort of topics, ideas or questions your may be asked.
In this common module students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences. They examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, these experiences. Students appreciate, explore, interpret, analyse and evaluate the ways language is used to shape these representations in a range of texts in a variety of forms, modes and media.
Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations, inviting the responder to see the world differently, to challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally. They may also consider the role of storytelling throughout time to express and reflect particular lives and cultures. By responding to a range of texts they further develop skills and confidence using various literary devices, language concepts, modes and media to formulate a considered response to texts.
There’s another two sections to the rubric so check them out on NESA’s site.
Search for Exemplars
Some schools have exemplar essay examples that you can learn from. Some websites give away examples for free or for a fee. Point is, there are loads of examples you can pick and learn from in the process of writing your essay.
From these you can figure out big ideas, important quotes and techniques, and structures to use for your own writing.
Your essay can be inspired and informed, not copy and pasted.
We’ve got our own exemplars and examples for you to learn from on our resources page. Check it out for a great array of ideas, quotes and structures.
Talk to your teachers
Generally, your teachers are an amazing resource to learn from. Ask them what parts of the rubric you should be looking at and talking about. And not just your own English teacher. If you know others from earlier years or the Head Teacher, they can be super useful in giving you tips and tricks, not only for the rubric but for essay writing on the whole.
B. Context research
After knowing what rubric you’re writing for and deeply understanding the text/s, research the context in which it was written.
Integrating context into your essays is a great way to demonstrate a broader range of knowledge and understanding of how texts and composers are influenced by their world.
(It can also be asked as a question in your exams)
Whether it’s part of the question or not, relevant context should be integrated early in your paragraphs - while elaborating on your topic sentence - and then explicitly mentioned throughout the essay.
The main types of context you should know for your next exam are;
Personal context
Your text was made by a composer, whether it’s a novel, play, collection of poems or a film. That composer was a real person with things happening in their lives.
The personal context can inspire their work or the ideas presented, and knowing these different elements can greatly inform your essay. They’re also super important if you’ve got a context question.
A good example is Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World in Module B.
The author moved from Japan to England at a young age, experiencing a large culture shock and undergoing a long process to feel fully accepted into his new world. This clearly comes across in his novel as the main character exists in a changing world, tossing up between clinging to his old traditions or feeling like he doesn’t belong in this new culture.
“These days I see it all around me; something has changed in the character of the younger generation in a way I do not fully understand, and certain aspects of this change are undeniably disturbing.” - Ishiguro, AAOTFW
Religious context
Broader, more universal subjects of the time can similarly influence your composer’s text. Religion, or a lack of religion, is one of these bigger factors.
It can inspire form, language and subject matter. A great example is the difference between John Donne’s poetry and Margaret Edson’s Wit.
Donne lived in Renaissance England, a time where Christianity was being replaced by Renaissance Humanism. Donne’s faith is the centrepiece of his work, speaking to God in his poems and questioning the purpose of religion. “why should intent or reason borne in mee make sinnes more heinous?” | Edson lives in the postmodern/contemporary world, one more insular and interested in secular knowledge. She explores mortality and relationships through an irreligious lens focusing on the universality of these ideas across humanity and time. “Now is the time for simplicity. Now is the time for, dare I say it, kindness.” |
Political context
The political landscape and ideals of the time can determine the ideas discussed or not discussed. For Shakespeare’s time, you wouldn’t speak ill of the English Monarchy, or at least not directly.
An Artist of the Floating World critiques the Thatcherite policies of Ishiguro’s time. He talks about the destructive extremism of clinging to tradition and/or the upheaval of tradition.
This might appear in your essay like this:
“Reflecting his context within Thatcherite England - a period striving for cultural certainty and a rebirth of imperial strength - Ishiguro investigates the extremes of cultural change by contrasting a dogmatic perspective on tradition with a similarly absolutist view on transformation” - James Doak
Socio-philosophical context
This is the general attitudes of the time and involves all the other aspects of context. While The Renaissance explored a rebirth of literature and a stronger connection to faith, the Postmodern literary world more enjoys the dismantling of structure and inherent uncertainty of our existence.
This clearly appears in the fragmented, non-chronological structure of AAOTFW and its dissolution of Ono’s certainty.
“Reflecting the postmodern reconfiguration of absolute truth, Ishiguro challenges this certainty by asserting that ‘past sentiments are perhaps worthy of condemnation’, exposing the inevitable dissolution of absolutism within a postmodern world.” - James Doak
C. Brainstorming Ideas
Ok so, you’ve read the text (maybe more than once), you know the rubric inside and out, and you’ve researched the composer’s context. We’re finally up to planning the writing.
Here we’ll go through brainstorming some basic ideas to get you started. At this point, just list out all the ideas that come to mind. Get a word doc, google doc, Notion or just pen and paper, and brainstorm everything the text talks about.
Here are a couple questions to get you started:
What struggles do the characters face?
Why do the characters behave the way they do?
What is the outcome of the characters’ behaviours?
What is the composer’s purpose?
Where does the text fit into the rubric? More on this is the upcoming Writing to the Rubric page
Is the chosen perspective and tense important?
Is the chosen form important?
What are the main symbols and motifs of the text?
Do different settings have different meanings?
We’ve already got a detailed post on your Essay Framework which dives into finding and arranging the key ideas that work best for your essay so check it out for more help.
D. Important quotes + must includes
Important Quotes
When you write your essay, you’re obviously going to need quotes. While you can find quotes that integrate into your essay as you need them, it’s also helpful to have a list prepared and ready.
While I was reading Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World, I had plastic tabs and a pencil to mark every quote that I thought was important or that I generally liked. I would highly recommend this strategy combined with colour coding the tabs and then typing them up to keep track of them.
What you tab and what your colour categories are will change as you read the text and better understand it, but it's important to collect your own quotes to inform your own understanding of the text.
Must Includes
Apart from quotes, a lot of texts have what I call ‘Must Includes’. These can be quotes, techniques, ideas, structures, the form, metaphors, characters etc. Including these in your essay at some point is essential to conveying your knowledge of the text.
For one of my Year 11 texts, Slaughterhouse Five, I classed the motif “so it goes” as one of my ‘must includes’ since it encapsulated the purpose of the text and was a strong recurring technique.
For An Artist of the Floating World, I labelled the fragmented form as one of if not the most important technique of the text. It represented the character’s thoughts, the world within the text and Ishiguro’s concern with memory and change.
For your next essay, make a list of the ‘must includes’ before you start writing to get a better understanding of what you should be talking about. It will clarify your message and help structure your points.
E. Critical understanding
The final thing to do before writing up your essay is to explore others’ writings on the topic.
You are not the first person to read that book and certainly not the first to write about it. There are dozens if not hundreds of other texts online that explore ideas you may not have even considered when first reading your text.
For NSW high school and HSC English, the State Library of New South Wales has an extensive collection of articles and essays on the texts that you’re learning about. It’s 100% worth it to register for a free library card and get searching online.
Your local library and other online sources can also give valuable insights into the text, and your composer (unless it’s Shakespeare or Donne) will sometimes have done interviews and posted them online.
If still in doubt, we have an ever-growing library of free and paid resources and study guides for you to check out and use for your next essay.
F. That’s it
So that’s the pre-writing process for your high school and HSC English essays. Having a fundamental understanding of your text and everything around it can streamline your writing and help you focus on the important ideas of your essay.
Key lessons to take away are;
Actually reading the text + knowing the rubric
Context research
Brainstorming ideas
Important quotes + must includes
Critical understanding
Summit Study Hub is built by proven tutors and students so that you have all the resources and support you need to climb to the top. Our blog and study guides give you detailed insight into how to advance your marks. If your text hasn’t got its own page or guide, let us know and we’ll add it to our collection. Our professional tutors are also available for one-on-one tutoring to help boost your confidence and lift your marks to that Band 6 height. Book a free trial lesson with us to go the extra academic mile.
If you want to learn more about the process of structuring your essays, we’ve got pages on writing your introduction and your body paragraphs, as well as a framework for big picture thinking.
Good Luck and Happy Writing!
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