The Question

Succeeding in question choice is important. Figuring out what suits the text and what doesnt can make or break your essay. Consider: Techniques used by short story writers allow them to say more with less. To what extent do you agree with this view? What can you do with this question? Is it limiting in any way?

Short story writers shy away from presenting works that are difficult and dark. To what extent do you agree with this view? Again, what can you do with this question? Is it limiting in any way?

Which of the two topics do you see as lending itself better to Rock Springs?

Treating the Topic

At level three, you must be making a conscious, explicit effort to develop a definition for the topic. This tends to mean that introductions are longer and far more important this year than ever before. You will need to develop your skill in pinpointing the key words that a question revolves around. Its not always the stuff that is in bold - keep that in mind. Techniques used by short story writers allow them to say more with less. To what extent do you agree with this view? Short story writers shy away from presenting works that are difficult and dark. To what extent do you agree with this view? What are the key words in these topics?

Always consider that you are free to interpret the words as you want to argue them. This means that you should be angling you definition of terms towards the argument you want to make.

e.g. Difficult could mean: hard to read, hard to understand, confusing, etc.Or it could mean difficult to accept, painful, complex in meaning. Developing an Argument Once youve dealt with the topic and figured out how youre defining the key terms, then you can construct an argument. This means being able to say I am going to argue that (something that connects to the topic)...because (something that connects to a key argument)... e.g. I am going to argue that Fords literature is never shy, instead it confronts the difficult complexity of existence, while exposing its dark, bleak nature, because he wants to create work that represents the truth of the modern human condition.

You must construct this before attempting an essay. The example above works because it has complexity, it has its roots in wider thought (not just in the text), and it demands an examination of the text if the argument is to be proved. The Introduction The introduction presents all of the work that has been done so far and then goes on to suggest the methods youll use to prove your point. This means an introduction must:- outline the treatment of the topic - Are you agreeing/disagreeing with it? How are you defining the key terms?- present the thesispresent the system of argument you have decided on - order of paragraphs and what to focus on in each paragraph- a final connection to the thesis.