📚 How to Stop Losing Easy Marks in Literature Essays

For GCSE Literature Paper (and beyond)

📚 How to Stop Losing Easy Marks in Literature Essays
For GCSE Literature Paper (and beyond)

One simple thing separates top-grade essays from the rest — and most students still forget to do it:

👉 Use key words from the question in every single paragraph.

Let’s say the question is:
"How does Shakespeare present Juliet’s relationship with her parents in the play as a whole?"

That phrase — “Shakespeare presents Juliet’s relationship with her parents…” — isn’t just a prompt. It’s your ticket to AO1 marks (that’s the part of the mark scheme that rewards relevant, focused writing).

🔁 Keep repeating it. Change the ending. Make it fit. But keep the question in your answer.

Here’s how that might look:

• At the start of the play, Shakespeare presents Juliet’s relationship with her parents as gentle but distant…

• Later, Shakespeare presents this relationship as full of tension and control…

• Through Capulet’s angry outbursts, Shakespeare presents the relationship as completely broken…

Every time you do this, your examiner gets a clear signal:
🟢 You are answering the question.
🟢 You’re staying focused.
🟢 You understand the play.

🧠 Bonus tip: This works in all English exams — both Literature and Language.

• In Literature, always repeat the wording of the question to stay focused.
  🔹 E.g. “Shakespeare presents Juliet’s relationship with her parents…”
  🔹 Or: “Dickens presents Scrooge as a changed man by the end of the novella…”

• In Language Paper 2, you can do the same:
  🔹 E.g. “Source A presents work as tiring, whereas Source B presents it as exciting…”

Using the key words isn't just neat — it shows the examiner you're answering exactly what they asked, not what you wish they asked. It's an easy win.

No waffle. No vague ideas. Just clear, focused analysis — and higher marks.

Ninax