This is part 1 of a guide to writing setwork essays.

These are the essays you write in

the your Paper 2 exam based on the drama and novel you studied.

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In a setwork essay, it is important to show your understanding of the themes and
characters of the text, as well as how a particular aspect influences the rest of the
story. A setwork essay is not just retelling the story – the focus should be on you and
your response to and commentary on whatever aspect of the text the topic refers to.

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This is an example of an essay topic that asks for your response to a theme in the
play. Instead of merely retelling the story, your essay should focus in on all the times
in the play where fate played a part in Romeo’s and Juliet’s life and discuss whether
that led to their deaths. Your response could be that fate played a big role or that fate
played no role or that fate played a partial role in the way Romeo and Julie’s story
ends – that part depends on what you think, but remember that you must always
present evidence from the play to “prove” or support your answer. There is no right
answer for a setwork essay topic. The best essay is the essay that presents a logical
argument with the most convincing evidence.

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In this essay, the focus of the essay is on how Romeo and Juliet developed and
changed in the course of the play. Character refers to a person’s qualities or
characteristics. In this essay, you would compare the qualities seen in Romeo and
Juliet at the beginning of the play and discuss if and how those qualities change
through the play. The only way we as the audience can tell what kind of person a
character on stage is is through their actions and what they say – this will be the
evidence for your response.

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Finally, this essay is an example of an essay that focuses on how a particular aspect
affects the rest of the story. In this case, the aspect is lack of communication. In your
response, you should show how any examples of lack of communication in the play
lead to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. The focus is on communication and how its failure
contributed to the chain of events leading to the end of the play, not on telling the
story from beginning to end.

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Now that we’ve looked at some of the different focuses of setwork essays, I am going
to discuss the structure of setwork essays, in other words how you should lay them
out; I’ll also discuss the style of language that is most appropriate for a setwork essay.

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Just like any essay, a setwork essay should be written in paragraphs. The first
paragraph contains the introduction to the topic of the essay as well as to what your
response to the topic is. The introduction serves as a roadmap to the whole essay.
There should be no surprise detours later on in the essay. The introduction should
give the reader an idea of each step that the discussion will take. The body isn’t one
long paragraph. It is the main part of the discussion, with each separate idea in its
own paragraph. The last paragraph of the essay contains the conclusion. In the
conclusion, after looking at all the points you’ve made, you have to sum up your
response so that there is no doubt about the main point you want your reader to take
away after reading the essay.

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Let’s look at this essay question as an example. “O, I am fortune’s fool” (Romeo, Act 3,
Scene 1) In a well-structured essay of 250 to 300 words, discuss to what extent
“fortune” plays a role in Romeo and Juliet’s demise.

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This is a sample introduction to this essay question. The introduction refers to topic
by talking about fate. It also gives the reader a roadmap of the essay by pointing out
the events in the play where fate played a role, which actually foreshadows the
structure of the essay. The introduction does not go into detail – that will come later
in the body of the essay. The introduction also makes it clear what the person’s
response to the topic is – from the perspective of this candidate, fate played a big
role in Romeo and Juliet’s demise. Another candidate might make a different
argument (for example, that it was actually Romeo and Juliet’s poor choices).
Whatever the person’s view of the topic is, it must be clear in the introduction. The
introduction can therefore only be written after all the planning for the essay is
complete.

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As I said before, the structure of the essay is foreshadowed in the introduction. From
the introduction, it is clear that there will be three paragraphs. The first paragraph
will be about how fate played a role in Romeo and Juliet meeting. The second
paragraph will be about how fate played a role in the events leading up to Romeo
being exiled. And the third paragraph will be about how fate played a role when the
letter from the Friar never reached Romeo, leading to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.
Remember to PEEL in each paragraph. PEEL stands for make a point, explain and
elaborate, give evidence and examples, and link the discussion to the main topic.

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In the body, remember to PEEL in each paragraph. PEEL stands for make a point,
explain and elaborate, give evidence and examples, and link the discussion to the
main topic.

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In the “point” sentence, you must make a statement about the topic of the essay as
well as the sub-topic of the paragraph. In the topic we are using as example, the topic
of the essay is about fate and the first paragraph of the essay will be about how
Romeo and Juliet met. A sample “point” sentence might be: “Fate plays a big role in
the meeting between Romeo and Juliet.” The sample sentence refers to both the
topic of the essay and the subtopic of the paragraph.

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The next sentence elaborates on this idea, explaining in more detail. A sample
sentence is: It seems that they are destined to meet and fall in love, but also that
their relationship is doomed from the start. This explains in further detail, but no
specific reference to events of the play has been made yet.

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After explaining in more detail, you need to give evidence of what you have said. This
means giving specific examples from the play that prove your point – if necessary
explaining how they prove it. How convincing your argument is will depend on how
much evidence you can give and how detailed it is. Be careful though of lapsing into
storytelling. Writing a setwork essay requires a very fine balance between analysis
and evidence. An example to prove the point might be that i.t is only by chance that
Romeo and Benvolio hear of the banquet, when the illiterate servant asks them to
read the invitation.

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On the night of the banquet, Romeo says he has a bad feeling about attending the
banquet, foretelling that it may set into motion events that lead to his death.

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It is also fateful that of all the other girls there, Romeo falls in love with the daughter
of his worst enemy.

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Once you have given enough detailed evidence, you end the paragraph with a linking
sentence. If you think about your body paragraphs as each of them being a mini-essay
within the essay, the linking sentence is like the mini-essay’s conclusion. Sum up what
you are saying in relation to the topic, using the key words. A sample linking sentence
is: It is clear that from the time Romeo and Juliet meet, the course of
their relationship is steered by fate.

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Putting all of these sentences together, we have our first body paragraph. In the next
paragraph, we start with PEEL all over again – make a point, elaborate and explain,
give evidence and examples, and link back to the topic.

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The conclusion of an essay must answer the question: What is the main idea that I
want my reader to take away from my essay? There should be no new ideas included
in the conclusion, because the conclusion sums up your response to the topic. It is an
overview of what was said and provides a last opportunity to say what your take on
the play and the topic is.

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So remember: your setwork essay must be written in paragraphs. It starts with an
introduction, the body contains a different paragraph for each point, and the essay
concludes with the main point you want your reader to take away from the essay.

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Besides structure, the other aspect of writing setwork essays that I want to discuss is
style. Style refers to the type of language used. It is important that the type of
language you use is suitable to the task. Because it is an academic essay, your
language should be formal so avoid contractions like “aren’t” – use “are not” instead.
Using more formal language also means you should use more advanced vocabulary
like “assist” instead of more everyday language like “help”.

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Academic language also means you shouldn’t use first person pronouns like “I” or
“we”. Instead of saying things like “I think” or “in my opinion”, just leave them out
and make the statement on its own. Another way of getting around personal
pronouns is using passive voice. Instead of saying “I discuss this” you say “this is
discussed.”

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Another requirement of academic language is writing your essay in present tense. We
tend naturally to use past tense when telling a story, but a setwork essay should not
be a retelling of the text. Instead it is an analysis of or commentary on the text. No
matter which part of the play you are discussing, use present tense. Even though
Romeo and Juliet die at the end of the play, when discussing the beginning of the play
we would still say, “Romeo and Juliet meet at a banquet” instead of “Romeo and
Juliet met at a banquet”.

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It is also important to use correct language practices when writing a setwork essay.
This includes correct punctuation, spelling and sentence structure. Knowing how to
spell the characters’ names is especially important when you are trying to
demonstrate your understanding of the text. A common mistake is forgetting to
underline the title of the text. When it is underlined, the reader understands you are
referring to the name or title of the play. This is especially important if the text is
named after a character or characters, such as in the case of Romeo and Juliet. If it is
not underlined, the reader may think you are referring to the characters, Romeo and
Juliet, and this can cause confusion.

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So remember to use a style suitable to the task, by using formal language, avoiding
contractions and a conversational tone. Academic conventions mean you must use
present tense and third person. Make sure your use of language is correct – always
reread your essay after writing it to pick up errors and unclear wording.

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That brings us to the end of part 1 of this guide to writing setwork essays. If you are
still left with the question “where do I start?” and want an example of the process of
writing a setwork essay, take a look at Part 2.

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