Lit essay structure

Hi, I did VCE lit 1&2 last year and am currently doing lit 3&4. To answer your question simply, yes, to achieve high marks you need a more complicated structure than TEEL. However, the essay structure simply builds on the elements of the TEEL structure. In units 1&2, you'll come face to face with three main types of essay structures: the standard essay that answers a prompt, the close analysis essay and the comparative essay. These are what my school did, not sure if it'd be the same for your school, but anyhow these three essay structures are essential to know going into Units 3&4 (and which you will build upon further).
Here we go:

The standard essay structure:
Introduction:

• Begin with 1-3 sentences on the setting/context of the text/novel in question (i.e. In the [novel] by [name of author]...)

• Then outline your overall topic of discussion in relation to the prompt.

• Finally, state your three arguments (for year 11 three arguments is good, even better if you can fit in more into the time limit but I wouldn't recommend more than three in the exam).

Body paragraphs:

• Begin with a topic sentence that outlines the argument and add a small clarification (one line). Note: do not begin the topic sentence with "In the novel..." as you aren't beginning another essay - E.g. The pursuit of the American Dream is portrayed in a negative light by Fitzgerald, who critiques that it can only be achieved at the cost of one's integrity and identity.

• Incorporate quotes and/or examples relating to characters and textual concepts and give detailed explanations to these, ensuring that these explanations are relevant to the argument outlined in the topic sentence.

• Then, close the paragraph with a summative comment on what the author achieves through the evidence points mentioned throughout the paragraph. For example, a summative comment to close the paragraph beginning with the topic sentence mentioned in the first dot point could be: Fitzgerald critiques/comments that the pursuit of the American Dream is childish, and an overwhelming amount of wealth is simply a mask for the loss of integrity and identity required to achieve it.

Conclusion:

• Begin with a line stating the overall argument posed by your essay or even a quote if you want to be fancy.

• Sum up your arguments.

• End with a final comment on the topic - E.g. Ultimately, Iago's integral traits form such a captivating character that encapsulates one that is worthy of being considered one of literature's great villains.

The close analysis essay structure:
For a close analysis essay, you could be given one or more passages to focus on. For my Year 11 SAC (Unit 2 Outcome 1 - Voices of Country), I was given three poems to focus on, but the idea is the same.
Introduction:

• Begin with 1-3 sentences on the setting/context of the text/novel in question

• State your interpretations/ideas that you'll discuss in your essay. For me, since I was given three poems, each of my paragraphs was a discussion of the main idea depicted in the poem. However, if you are given only one passage, then you need to extract main ideas/concepts for discussion.

Body paragraphs:

• Begin with a topic sentence that outlines the idea.

• Use quotes, literary devices, symbols and values in the passage as evidence for explanation. You can also use quotes and symbols from anywhere in the text to connect the passage to the wider text.

Conclusion:

• Sum up the ideas/concepts discussed in each body paragraph

• End with a description of the significance of the ideas/concepts as part of the entire text.

NOTE: THIS STRUCTURE WILL EVOLVE AS YOU ENTER THE UNIT 2 EXAM AND UNITS 3&4 LITERATURE

The comparative essay structure:
Introduction:

• Introduce each text by providing a description of the setting and context of each.

• Signpost your contention and key arguments.

Body paragraphs:

• Topic sentence - Idea or argument at the focus of the paragraph.

• Discuss text 1 using symbols, themes, quotes and film techniques (if applicable) as evidence.

• Using comparative language (e.g. in contrast, similarly), transition to a discussion of text 2.

• Discuss text 2 using symbols, themes, quotes and film techniques (if applicable) as evidence.

• End with a concluding remark stating the similarity or difference between the two texts (relevant to the topic sentence).

Note: you don't have to only contrast the two texts, you can also provide a similarity as an argument (where possible) as it can provide another point of view.

Conclusion:

• Summarise the key points discussed in your essay and highlight the similarities and differences between the two texts

• End with a statement of the overall contrast/similarity between the two texts.

Hope this helps.

me123 Lit is more competitive than English, but don't let that stop you. Lit isn't only for the students that are good at English (but if you are, that's a bonus) and it's a very good subject. In lit, you study texts in greater detail than English, you zoom in to each text look at their thematic and socio-historical ideas and how this influences meaning.
Here's a subject overview on my school's lit page:
"VCE Literature focuses on the complex meanings derived from texts, the contexts in which they are produced and read, the relationships between various texts and the experiences the reader brings to the texts. The student investigates how language and other literary techniques convey these complex meanings. Through close reading and analysis, VCE Literature enables students to examine the historical, social and cultural contexts in which the texts are created, and allows students to critically and creatively explore the purposes and views and values presented by the creators and their impact on the reader. It also allows students to consider how different literary criticisms from a range of author may inform and influence one’s reading of a text."

I don't know what it's like to do both English and lit, but I've spoken to classmates that are doing both, and the workload is fine. In my school, we aren't given too much to do outside of class, so the workload is manageable, however if you want to do really well, you would need to extend yourself. I'd talk to the head of English/lit teacher at your school about the workload as it may be different to my school.

When considering lit, I'd ask yourself these questions:
How are you finding English?
Are you scoring relatively high?
Are you finding that you're looking for more than what is studied in English?
Are you naturally inclined toward English?
If you naturally inclined like me, you'll enjoy lit and will do quite well (of course hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard). But being naturally inclined will certainly help you.

Lit also scales up by 1-2 which will benefit your ATAR much more than comm service (depending on how well you do that is).
One thing I like about lit (which can also be applied to English in some ways) is that there's much more flexibility with interpretations (as long as you give plausible explanations and evidence) and there's a lot more independence.
The Year 12 exam is also 2 hours, whereas the English exam is 3 hours.

A lot of my friends and others at my school regret not doing lit, so if you're interested in doing it, I'd highly encourage that you pick it up. A lot of people are misinformed about lit, thinking that's it's harder than English, but in reality, it isn't much more difficult, it just targets highly-analytical skills. That's why I always encourage anyone interested in lit to try it out.

Don't hesitate to ask me anything else, I'd be happy to answer any questions.