How do you write a thoroughly coherent essay?

A logical and comprehensible structure is essential to every essay if it is to be coherent enough to hit the top bands. Highlighting the key words in the chosen/given question and thoroughly ordering your arguments before starting the essay are crucial steps to be taken in order to give your essay that crystal-clear clarity of writing that the top bands of AO1 require. Another important thing to consider is that addressing both/all of the texts in relation to a particular theme or assertion within the same paragraph gives rise to a much clearer and more concise argument than addressing these concerns in separate paragraphs for separate texts. This is because the former creates a more compact analysis and communicates the assessments made in a significantly more direct manner. One mistake that students tend to make which results in incoherent responses is addressing the five assessment objectives separately. It is very common for students to order their essays in relation to the different assessment objectives; for instance, they may have one paragraph that solely addresses the historical and literary contexts required by AO3, and another that only explores intertextuality, as required by AO4. This structure disrupts the logical flow of the student's argument and therefore renders the essay significantly less coherent than it would be if it was not divided according to the assessment objectives. It reduces the clarity and conciseness of the essay in quite the same way as addressing different texts in separate paragraphs does.