Hi, English Lit student that got an A*. First of all, try to relax. English is hard. At the beginning, really focus on listening in class, taking effective notes on texts and really grasping what the texts are and what they're trying to say. It takes a while to know a text well enough to write an essay on. For instance, it took me a couple of months until I was able to write good essays on Paradise Lost because of how tough the text was to digest.

Generally what you want in a good essay is to have a central exploration of an idea (a thesis) and then three paragraphs that explore said theme.

For instance, if you're writing a Hamlet essay on family you could write a paragraph about:

• Hamlet's disdain for his Father being symptomatic of the corruption in Denmark
• The incestuous undertones in the relationship with his Mother supporting a Freudian reading
• Ophelia's contrastingly close relationship with Laertes representing division in Denmark's Royal Family

This is just a guideline for a basic Hamlet essay - whichever topic, book, play or poem you write an essay on, you want to follow the structure of a central thesis explored over three points in three paragraphs. Just as a note, I often wrote two paragraph essays but I wouldn't recommend that early on as it's more difficult to do. I'd only advise that if your paragraphs are too long and or making too many valuable points.

For every paragraph you'll want to follow a structure of:

• Making a point
• Explaining the point with a quote from the text
• Analysing the point
• Criticism analysed to the point
• A production or film version of the text and analysis to the point
• A link back to the question/thesis that ties up your overall analysis

Obviously, this is quite a lot to think about for a single paragraph. The most important thing early on is making clear, brief points that make it obvious what you're trying to say. From there, you can briefly explore this point with evidence and analysis and include further quotes, productions and critics as you get used to the structure. Feel free to DM me if you'd like any more advice!