How should I plan my English essays?

Lots of students find planning daunting, or think it's unnecessaryt. In fact, it's the most important part of the essay process. Once you've nailed the steps, you've unlocked the key to controlled, thoughtful, and efficient essays that will get you the grades you're aiming for. Firstly, the essay title (or essay question) is your focus. Write it out and circle the most important words - these will probably be words like "how", "significant", "dramatic", "explore" "different", and of course the texts and/or themes that the question asks you to discuss. Now, treat each circled word as a mini spider diagram. Draw arrows from each, brainstorming the words and the ways in which a writer explores or presents a text or theme, and then more arrows stemming from each of these points with direct quotes, always paired with relevant close analysis (literary techniques like metaphor and alliteration). 

Once you've done all this, you have everything you need to write your essay. All that's left to do now is to gather your quotes and notes and divide them into three main points. This can be done chronologically, but often works better if you group them thematically - for example:

1. Shakespeare makes this a significant moment in 'The Tempest' through Ariel's unusual dialogue.

2. Shakespeare makes this a significant moment in 'The Tempest' through his use of stage directions and non-verbal effects.

3. Shakespeare makes this a significant moment in 'The Tempest' by creating tension in the dialogue between Prospero and Ariel.

It's effective if your final point differs in argument from the first two, to give your essay shape and your conclusion relevance. So that's how you write a GCSE English essay plan - with practice this can be done in just ten minutes!