Year 9 Response to a Text Question
Essay Template

Use the following template to help you write your essay about a novel or film you have studied.

Introduction
Echo the question
Mention the name of the author/director and title of the book/film.
Briefly say how you will answer each part of the question.
Possible Sentence Starters
The novel/film I studied this year was…by ….
An important character/idea/setting in the story is….
This character/idea/setting is important because…
Body Paragraph 1
Answer the ‘describe’ part of the question.
Give a detailed description of an important character/idea/setting.
Give an example directly from the film/novel that supports what you are saying.
Possible Ideas
Give detail about the qualities of a character OR the setting that has an affect on the story OR an idea the author/director wants us to think about.
Give an example from the story to support your description.
Make your last sentence a link to the next paragraph, e.g. This character teaches us important lessons.
Body Paragraph 2
Answer the ‘explain’ part of the question.
You need to explain in detail WHY the character/idea/setting is important.
Give an example from the novel/film that supports what you are saying.
Possible Ideas
Explain why the character’s qualities are important to think about OR what lesson we can learn from their qualities/actions.
Explain why the setting has an affect on the characters and how this had an affect on what happened to