Key points about a topic sentence
Make sure your topic sentences are clear, concise, and conceptual.
Do not try to include too many ideas in one topic sentence.
Ensure you use words from the question
Key points about evidence
Do not forget to always contextualise your quotes – make sure it is clear which chapter they from/where they broadly come from within the text (start, middle, towards the end). You also must indicate who says it. Think: who, when and why? When it comes to quotes.
Do not spend too much time narrating
Make sure you include evidence immediately after your TS. Remember: you need to evidence your idea straight away, then analyse the evidence you have selected.
Do not forget to analyse structure and form (think narrative perspective) as well as language.
Use short embed quotes.
Analyse every quote you include.
Always use quotation marks.
Try and select the most appropriate and interesting language to comment on.
Sentence starters
The writer presents the___ as…
The ___ is described as…
The use of [terminology] suggests
Furthermore, the [terminology] has connotations of… which highlights… encouraging the reader to…
However, the use of the [terminology] also emphasises …. [perceptive point]
The ___ in the text not only reflects ___ but also highlights
The parallel between ___ and ___ reinforces the idea that___
Although ___ might initially seem to suggest ___ it also functions to highlight ___
In this way, the writer presents_______________
Key points about analysis
Include a range of subject terminology in your analysis.
Semantic field? Tone? Juxtaposition? Motif?
Use tentative language, especially when exploring WP/AO3 - ‘Universal need to have freedom for females in Victorian society.’ Vs ‘Here Bronte advocating for greater freedom for women in Victorian society.’ Or ‘Bronte believes that women have equal rights as men’ vs ‘Bronte uses Jane to explore the need for greater equality between men and woman’.
Make sure your close analysis is as detailed as the Starters we do every lesson.
Do not break off before you have finished ‘justifying’ a piece of close analysis. Remember: it is better to include fewer examples in more detail.
Make sure you include two-three sentences of analysis for every quote you include.
Do not forget to and pick out individual words to explore in more detail/illustrate your point/s. Try using phrases like: ‘a further/another interpretation could be…’ or ‘furthermore, this could also imply that…’ or ‘an alternative/modern/feminist/postcolonial reading could be…’
Ensure that the vast majority of your analysis comes from the extract, then only link out to the wider text to illustrate your ideas/make wider structural points.
Avoid too much narration of the plot – you need to get straight into language analysis after your TS. Remember: you want to avoid waffle. In order to do this, you need to keep your analysis tight by exploring the author’s use of language method by method in relation to the Q (look back at the model essays and paragraphs).
Avoid vague phrasing
Instead, always think about the purpose of your writing and get straight on with analysing the text in answer to the Q.
Make sure you are always answering the Q directly and avoid waffle.
Always comment on the significance of your ideas
Avoid repeating yourself/the same point over and over, you need to develop your ideas and demonstrate a progression of thought/a variety of relevant ideas.
Avoid vague analysis.
Be careful not to ‘bolt’ on ideas which serve no purpose within the context of your argument and make sure you are always answering the Q directly.
Key points about link/AP
Try to always connect your ideas to the wider messages in the text in your ‘Link’ sentence/s. For example, in the last few sentences, you need to be ‘wrapping up’ the ideas you have been exploring in your paragraph and try to ‘make sense’ of what Bronte is trying the ‘teach’ the reader.
In your Link sentence/s make sure you clearly conclude what Bronte’s purpose is in relation to the Q (in this case Jane’s feelings). Your ideas should connect back to the TS, which in turn answers the Q. Think: what is her message?
Make sure that your Link is reinforcing the point your made in your TS. You should not conclude something that is not introduced in your TS.
Don’t include a point/idea in your Link that you have not previously explored/touched upon in your paragraph, otherwise your ‘conclusion’ will sound unconvincing and ‘bolted on’ as all your ideas need to logically follow on from each other.
In this way, Bronte gives the reader an additional lens through which to view Jane’s feelings. X
Ultimately, Bronte presents Jane as discontented at Lowood school and may be criticising how Victorian schools suppress youth and passion.
Ultimately, Bronte presents Jane as feeling trapped and confined at Lowood in order to portray the frustration of women in the rigid Victorian society.
Bronte presents Jane as restless and longing for identity in order to criticise the contemporary belief that women were expected to be content with little stimulation
key points about context (AO3)
Make sure that any reference you make to context is relevant to the Q.
Make sure you are tentative and specific when you refer to Victorian context. For example: Here Bronte is criticising the strict social rules that dictated how Victorians were expected to behave in polite middle-class society, exposing them as…’
Make sure you include evidence and analysis before you comment on AO3. AO3 should only ever develop and supplement your analysis, it cannot replace it!
Avoid vague context statements.
key points about structure/argument
Avoid ending your TEAL on a ‘small’ language point
you need to broaden out your argument by the end of your paragraph.
Make sure you structure your ideas clearly. Avoid long sections of text that just repeat the same ideas you have already discussed. Instead, sharpen your focus and build your argument carefully and methodically.
Make sure you are always answering the Q directly.
Make sure all your ideas follow logically on from each other.
