Key learning points

1. An introduction can start with a general statement about the text
2. This can be followed by a more specific statement about the focus of the question, and finally your thesis
3. A conclusion can move from a specific statement about the text to a more general statement at its continued relevance
4. Analysis of writer’s methods and/or context helps develop a paragraph

Keywords

• Machiavellian - Machiavellian is an adjective. It describes someone who gets what they want in cunning, ruthless and immoral ways.

• Thesis - A thesis is an argument, a powerful idea that you state at the beginning of an essay and prove throughout your essay.

• Embedded quotation - An embedded quotation puts a quotation inside your own sentence. For example: Lady Macbeth wants to be filled with ‘direst cruelty’.

• Methods - Methods are techniques a writer uses. These encompass everything: language, form, structure and characterisation.

• Context - Context concerns the circumstances in which a text was written; context helps us to understand the writer’s intentions further.

Common misconception