I think this happens for a few reasons:
1. Students don't read the question, or just pick up on the main theme or character the question deals with and then just run with that.
2. Students don't believe the question actually matters, they just write down everything they can remember studying.
3. Students start by answering the question, but then they get sidetracked and end up just retelling the plot or explaining the characters.
4. Students get stressed and freak out, so to combat that they try to prove how much they know by squeezing it all into the one essay.
5. Students haven't thought enough about the text and don't have their own interpretation of it, so they can't address the question.
6. Teachers are good at teaching the content of the text and essay structure, but they forget to teach students how to understand and answer the question.
So, how do we do this better?
Stop. Read. Think. Plan.
Stop stressing for a moment and just breathe when the teacher gives you the essay question. Try to clear your head of what you hope the question is or isn't. Don't think about what you're going to write - you shouldn't know yet! Stop and be open to whatever the question is.
Read the question carefully. Read it a few times. Rephrase the question either in your head or on the page. Highlight the key terms. Break the question into sections. Identify what type of question it is. Is it a direct question, a quote and stem or a propositional question? Is it asking you what, how or why? You need to know that question inside out. I often tell students to write the question nice and big on a spare piece of paper and keep that next to them while they are planning and writing. Check back with that question during every paragraph. Your whole essay should be helping you to answer that question.
Think about how you can answer the question. What are your personal thoughts on the question? Do you have lots of evidence and knowledge to support that view? How could you argue a contrary opinion? What's all the obvious stuff that everyone will write about? Is there anything more complex that you can bring into this essay? How can you address the whole criteria when answering this question?
Plan your essay. Your essay needs to be clear, logical and coherent. The best way to achieve that is by planning your essay. You'll need to work out how much time you can spend doing that based on how long you have to write the essay. You should identify your main ideas/arguments that help you resolve the question. You'll probably find it useful to dot point down your supporting ideas for each of those and your evidence. I recommend writing your topic sentences on your plan, that way you've got some momentum for each paragraph and it means you are certain that each paragraph is actually answering the question.
Finally, I recommend checking your plan against the criteria to make sure there's nothing you've missed entirely.
Finally, I recommend checking your plan against the criteria to make sure there's nothing you've missed entirely.
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