Many students struggle with the following two problems in English: what information is relevant, and how should I organise this information in my notes?
I cover the answer to both of these questions below, with the structure I use to organise notes on a Section A text (single-text response). As English is all about writing essays on books, this structure is completely tailored to creating notes which can easily be turned into essays.
Here’s the structure I use:
1. Open a document (Word, Google docs, whatever you want).
2. Create four headings on that document: About, Characters, Themes, Symbols and Motifs.
3. Under the ‘About’ section, create the subheadings Brief Plot Summary, Historical Context, and Author Background.
4. Under the ‘Characters’ section, create subheadings for each of the main characters. Also create a subheading called ‘other’ for minor characters about whom you have little to say. Don’t leave any characters out though!
5. Under the ‘Themes’ section, make a subheading for each theme in the text.
6. Under the ‘Symbols and Motifs’ section, create a subheading for each symbol and for each motif.
7. Every time you come across a new theme, symbol etc, add a new heading for it in the relevant section.
8. As you read through the book or cover any relevant content, add it under the most suitable header. You can create new headers if you need to, but I usually find this a good structure to start with.
That’s it! Put any questions or comments below :)
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