How to ensure that you have a decent essay plan

Remember that in the exam you have to:Plan your response. Even if you just pull

together a basic paragraph plan before writing your essay, it will help you greatly in the long run.

Decide what your argument will be (i.e that it helps you to understand a particular theme or themes in the story, such as guilt, love, hope…)

You have selected short quotations (a word or a couple of words) for each paragraph which are easy to remember, for each point that you’re going to make.

The ‘Story Within a Story’

Ends :Selskay /Present Day

Beginning: Selskay, present day

The Love Story Selskay/All over

the world, 50 years ago

What are you going to focus on?• Setting – where events take place such as

• Torvald’s home reflecting his mood• The lovers meeting after dark by the sea, near the cave.• Torvald’s drastic reaction affecting where he and Sigrid

move to.• Time– it’s a ‘story within a story:’ Present day – The

Love Story – Present Day.• The love story took place fifty years ago during the

summer.• The time of day that events take place is also deeply

significant:• Daylight means reality. • Night is when ghostly, magical and supernatural events

take place.

So, you’re going to focus on how the essay shows how the character of Torvald finds hope and forgiveness in his old age through meeting Andrina.This means that you have to find evidence to

prove how this is done. The above is your line of thought.

Questions about Andrina to consider:Time– only ever appears after dark. No one

else is around when Torvald sees her. Why is this significant?

Setting – creates a warm, comforting atmosphere for Torvald. What does this tell us about her personality?

The last time she sees Torvald – how is she described which makes her seem ghostly and haunted? Why is this important?

Here’s a possible essay plan:Para One: Intro: Refer to the Question

(RTTQ) Give a very brief description of what Andrina by George Mackay Brown, is about, then explain how the themes of guilt, love, and forgiveness are reflected through various techniques, including the use of time and setting.

Paragraph Two• Topic Sentence The story of Andrina begins

with a warm and welcoming setting which reflects the personality of this character.

• Evidence Select a quotation from the opening paragraph of Andrina – or two or three short phrases.

• Explain: Explain how this word choice when describing the setting she’s created, helps us understand that Andrina is clearly a caring and conscientious young woman.

Paragraph ThreeTopic Sentence You are going to explain

how time is very significant when Andrina appears.

Evidence She only ever appears after dark (find a quotation – or two or three examples – which prove this.)

Explain why this is significant (the night is when supernatural events take place and therefore makes the reader question whether or not she actually exists.)

Paragraph FourTopic sentence. You might want to add

another paragraph describing how their last meeting is significant.

Evidence which describes her appearance and actions when she left him for the last time.

Explain what this tells us about Andrina now that we know she is the ghost of Torvald’s grand-daughter.

Paragraph FiveTopic Sentence However, Torvald’s

contemplative and satisfied tone turns to that of despair when Andrina does not arrive to his home as normal after dark.

Evidence to show how the setting has changed in order to highlight his physical and mental anguish.

Explain how this shows the theme of loneliness and desolation as Torvald suffers from the loss of his friendship with Andrina.

Paragraph SixTopic Sentence: Then move on to the love

story, which took place fifty years ago and is written in the third person, thus placing further distance between Torvald and his past.

Evidence which shows how magical and other-worldly his relationship was with Sigrid.

Explain how this setting and time (the season that their romance took place in) is significant when describing their relationship.

Paragraph SevenTopic Sentence Then discuss how this

romance is destroyed by Torvald when he learns that Sigrid is pregnant.

Evidence to show how he did everything he could to escape from Sigrid and his responsibilities as a father; the word ‘barren’ used to describe his existence as a seafarer is also important here…

Explain how his guilt resulted in his poor decision-making that ultimately left him lonely, rootless and isolated.

Paragraph EightTopic Sentence Now you should move on to

writing about the letter Torvald received a couple of days ago; Torvald’s action did not just mean that he was uprooted; Sigrid is now living in Tasmania.

Evidence to show how Sigrid describes their grand-daughter.

Explain how this reference to the season is also a metaphor for how she would have provided him happiness and joy in his old age. You should also explain how this description is similar to how she is described throughout the story.

Paragraph NineTopic Sentence Explain that despite

learning of his grand-daughter’s death, Torvald is filled with hope as he looks to the future.

Evidence – a short quotation which proves this.

Explain how this shows that Andrina, by appearing in Torvald’s life, has helped him to overcome his guilt and given him hope in his old age.

Paragraph TenNow you need to summarise what you have

discussed in the essay, showing how through analysing time and setting, you have managed to prove how the themes of guilt, love and forgiveness are shown effectively in Andrina. You should also explain how the character of Andrina helps Torvald to overcome what he did all those years ago.

RememberStick to the task – be ruthless when

deciding which aspects of the story you’re going to discuss.

Don’t over-quoteRefer to the task throughoutEnsure you explain how all of your points and

evidence back up your argument about how Torvald finds forgiveness and hope etc…

Good Luck!