How should I start and plan my essay?

The first thing you should do to plan an essay is carefully spend time reading the question. Break down what the examiner is actually asking you. For example, if the essay question was ‘How does F. Scott Fitzgerald show the theme of greed in The Great Gatsby?’ you would firstly look at the key word of ‘how’. Which means they are asking you how something is achieved by the author and what techniques they use. For this particular question it is about the greed in The Great Gatsby. That means you would start to list or brainstorm all the examples that stand out to you that displays greed. These could be events, actions or quotes from the narrator or characters. From this brainstorm or list you can start to put your essay into sections of points you want to make to build up the whole argument that you will use to answer the question. Plan the paragraphs into introduction (with a clear argument), then two to three body paragraphs setting out your main points into body paragraphs and a conclusion. To actually start the essay it is best to use context in the introduction. For this question you could mention when the novel was published, the author and give a brief comment on the culture and events of the time as it sets a good backdrop for the rest of the essay. From there you can move into clearly stating your argument (as it shows a clear response to the question) in a few sentences and outlining your essay plan briefly.