Introduction

Now you understand the kinds of questions you will be facing and how these will be marked, we will turn our attention to the key skills needed for writing AS and A Level English Literature essays. Being able to write a strong essay is a vital skill for English Literature. It is not only the vehicle by which you will convey your ideas, but the essay itself is also proof of how well you can use language. Your ideas may be very good, but if they don’t come across clearly to an examiner, you will not pick up the marks you deserve.

You don’t need to be writing perfect essays at the start of the course, but you should to be willing to build on your writing skills with every new piece of written work. If you spend the time on this, you will reap the rewards throughout the course and in the final exams. Please be aware that the AL course builds on the AS one, so it is expected that your essays will become more detailed and developed than before, and that you will cover more sophisticated points and have confident control of your arguments. This is why you should continue to work on your essay-writing skills throughout the course.

Always pay close attention to the comments your tutor makes about your writing skills in the feedback on each assignment and keep this in mind as you work on the next one, carefully addressing any areas that need improvement. If you are unsure of anything, check these documents and, if you still have questions, let us know.

Tasks

Writing in ‘good English’ is a very important skill in this subject, but it’s not always easy to know exactly what that means. You will have learnt some rules for essay writing at (I)GCSE, but at AS and A Level it is more important than ever to write clearly and in a suitable, academic register so you can do justice to your ideas.
If you studied AS with us, you will have seen the tips below before, but it is worth reviewing them now. If you did not study AS with us, it is very important that you print out the following document and read it carefully now:

PRINT OUT & READ – Style Tip 1: Writing Well

Highlight any of the tips which you already know you need to focus on in your own writing.
Make these a priority in your written work and always check for them when completing your assignments.
To understand more about what we mean by ‘an academic register’, see the following webpage and complete the activities:

READ – Introduction to Academic Register (University of York) – Try the tests at the bottom of the page.

Additional Support

If you know you need to improve your punctuation and grammar, you may also find the following links useful:

EXPLORE – Punctuation Resources (BBC Bitesize)

EXPLORE – Punctuation (Lexico)

READ – What is a Complete Sentence? PDF (University of Leicester)

Remember: good punctuation is helpful in any kind of writing you do, in any subject you study, and for the rest of your life. It’s a skill worth learning.