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Go online (see back cover) for an examiner’s step-by-step guide to essay writing
The prospect of beginning an essay is daunting for any of us. Where to start? I always tell my students to quickly set down a well-chosen example that can act as a ground-root for the rest of the essay. An essay is a discussion of an idea and in an English literature essay that means a discussion of texts, both primary and secondary, with the aim of forging a critical relationship between them. So begin with a piece of text that will ground you quickly in your main idea. From that example you can begin to build your critical language which will act as your holding frame.
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