How to write a What–How–Why paragraph

A paragraph in a Literature essay has three jobs. It makes a point that answers the question. It shows how the writer gets that idea across. It explains why the writer does it. A What–How–Why paragraph gives each job its own part.

• What: a clear point that answers the question, using the question’s own words.
• How: a short quotation built into your own sentence, the writer’s method named, and one word looked at closely. A method is any choice the writer makes, such as a metaphor, a stage direction or the order of events.
• Why: the effect on the reader or the audience, and the writer’s purpose, which means what the writer wanted people to think, feel or do. Bring in context, the time and the ideas the text was written in, only when it explains that purpose.

The three parts match the skills that AQA gives marks for in Literature, called assessment objectives. AO1 is your own response, backed up by references to the text, including quotations. AO2 is your analysis of how the writer uses language, form and structure, using the right terms. AO3 is the link between the text and its context.

A model paragraph

This model is on Macbeth. The question is: How does Shakespeare present Macbeth before he appears on stage?

Before we meet Macbeth, in Act 1 Scene 2, a wounded captain tells King Duncan how Macbeth fought a rebel called Macdonwald. Macbeth split him open “from the nave to the chops”, which means from his navel to his jaw.

What

Before he appears, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a hero whose courage is admired by everyone, even though it is built on brutal killing.

How

The Captain calls him “brave Macbeth” and describes how he “unseam’d” Macdonwald “from the nave to the chops”. The verb “unseam’d” treats a man like a piece of cloth to be ripped open, yet Duncan answers with “O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!”.

Why

Shakespeare wants his audience to admire Macbeth so that his fall is a true tragedy: a great man ruined. At the same time the gap between the butchery described and the praise it earns is a quiet warning. A soldier rewarded for cutting men open may find it easy to cut open a king.

Here is what each part does.

What. The first sentence answers the question straight away, in the question’s own words: Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a hero. Then it adds a twist that gives the paragraph something to argue. The courage is built on brutal killing.

How. The paragraph fits short quotations into its own sentences: “brave Macbeth”, “unseam’d” and “from the nave to the chops”. Then it zooms in on one word: the verb “unseam’d” treats a man like a piece of cloth being ripped open. Last, it sets Duncan’s praise, “O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!”, against the violence.

Why. The paragraph says what Shakespeare wants the audience to feel, which is admiration, so that Macbeth’s fall will be a tragedy. Then it goes one step further. A soldier praised for cutting men open may find it easy to kill a king. That is the writer’s purpose, and it looks ahead to the rest of the play.

Common mistakes

• Retelling the story. If a sentence only says what happens, it is plot. Ask how the writer presents it.
• Quoting a whole sentence. Long quotations are hard to remember and hard to analyse. Choose a short one and zoom in on one word.
• Naming a method and stopping. Spotting a simile earns little on its own. Say what the simile suggests.
• Zooming in on a word and going nowhere. AQA’s examiners have warned that breaking a quotation down word by word, without linking it to deeper meanings and ideas, can keep answers at Level 2. Use the word to open up the writer’s idea.
• Adding context at the end. A sentence about Shakespeare’s audience stuck on the end of every paragraph adds little. Put context in the Why, where it explains the purpose.
• Piling up quotations. One quotation explored closely is worth more than three that are only listed.
• Misquoting. A short, exact quotation is better than a long one you half remember.

From sentence starters to your own words

Sentence starters help when this kind of paragraph is new to you. For the Macbeth question, they might look like this:

• What: Before Macbeth appears, Shakespeare presents him as …
• How: The Captain says … The word … suggests …
• Why: Shakespeare wants the audience to … so that later …

Starters are there to be dropped. Once you can write a paragraph with them, try these steps.

1. Swap each starter for a question you ask yourself. What is my point? How does the writer show it, and which word matters most? Why did the writer do it?
2. Use different verbs: presents, suggests, shows, warns, makes the audience feel.
3. Change the order when your argument needs it. A strong paragraph can start with the writer’s purpose and work back to the words.
4. Check each finished paragraph for all three parts.

Each paragraph should also prove part of your main argument, which goes at the start of your essay. See How to start an essay with a thesis statement. For the terms to use when you name a method, see Subject terminology, and for the Why, Using context in your answers. If you want the thinking behind the frame, our article for teachers is What–How–Why paragraphs, and when to take the frame away.

Sources

• AQA, GCSE English Literature 8702 specification (assessment objectives)
• AQA, Report on the examination: GCSE English Literature Paper 2, June 2022
• Project Gutenberg, William Shakespeare, Macbeth (ebook 1533)