Heya! I’m Adithi, a tutor at KIS Academics, and a common question I get from students is: What actually makes a Band 6 Mod A essay?
It’s more than just strong evidence; it’s clarity, structure, and strong arguments. In this blog, I’ll break down the textual conversation between Sylvia Plath’s Ariel and Ted Hughes’ Birthday Letters. An exemplar essay is shown below, with annotations explaining structuring, constructing a thesis statement, and why certain techniques score highly.
Note: The HSC Paper 2 may have comparative, evaluative or analytical prompts; make sure to recognise the prompt types using keyword identification.
The Essay Question
“The textual conversation between the poetry of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes offers new insights into memory and relationships.” To what extent is this statement true?
Literature often becomes a space where personal memory is reshaped into collective meaning. This dynamic is especially evident in the dialogue between Sylvia Plath’s Ariel and Ted Hughes’ Birthday Letters, two works bound by intimacy yet divided by time and voice. Plath’s confessional immediacy captures memory as emotionally volatile and deeply personal, while Hughes’ retrospective poetry reframes shared experiences through distance and reinterpretation (main thesis statement). Although neither poet offers a definitive account of their relationship, both illuminate the fluid and contested nature of memory, revealing how relationships shape and destabilise the stories individuals tell about themselves.
Your intro should introduce text names and authors, and form a thesis statement that immediately answers your prompt and encompasses 2-3 big ideas (your arguments).
Plath’s Ariel constructs memory as immediate and emotionally charged, presenting relationships through the intensity of lived experience. In Daddy, Plath’s violent declaration, “I have had to kill you,” transforms recollection into theatrical confrontation. This hyperbolic imagery collapses the boundary between memory and emotion, revealing how trauma reshapes personal narrative. Rather than presenting memory as factual recollection, Plath reconstructs it through psychological intensity, suggesting that relationships are filtered through emotional experience. (evidence from more texts to support the argument) Similarly, in Lady Lazarus, the cyclical motif of resurrection, “I rise with my red hair,” frames memory as recurring trauma that continually resurfaces. This repeated rebirth implies that the past is not static but persistently relived, shaping identity through repetition. Through these depictions, Plath privileges emotional truth over objective accuracy, portraying relationships as volatile constructs shaped by perception rather than stability.
(comparative signposting) In contrast, Hughes’ Birthday Letters reframes memories through retrospective reinterpretation. In The Shot, Hughes describes himself as being “inside the bullet,” a metaphor that positions suffering as inevitable rather than relational. This imagery reframes shared trauma as predetermined, diffusing individual culpability and complicating Plath’s accusatory tone. By presenting memory as shaped by uncontrollable forces, Hughes destabilises the certainty of Plath’s perspective (some analytical sentences). Likewise, in Fulbright Scholars, Hughes’ nostalgic recollection of their early relationship, which is rendered through soft, reflective imagery, contrasts sharply with Plath’s darker depictions. This tonal shift (notice how the device is specified) demonstrates how temporal distance enables reinterpretation, transforming emotionally immediate experiences into reflective memory. Through these revisions, Hughes exposes the malleability of recollection, suggesting that memory evolves rather than remaining fixed.
There is a clear structure. A conceptual topic sentence that focuses on a central theme and uses argumentative language, followed by evidence, and subsequently, analysis.
Specifies literary devices (“hyperbolic imagery,” “cyclical motif”).
The evidences serve the argument, not the other way around. Paragraphs are stronger when pinned around ideas/concepts that can be developed rather than devices/evidence.
The key idea in each paragraph has a clear link to the overarching argument → usually done in the linking sentence.
The textual conversation between these works emerges most clearly through the tension between confession and retrospection (evaluative). Plath’s visceral imagery and urgent tone present memory as immersive and absolute, while Hughes’ reflective voice reframes similar experiences through contemplation. This contrast reveals how perspective reshapes relational meaning, as the same relationship is reconstructed through different emotional and temporal lenses. The poets’ interaction demonstrates that memory is inherently subjective, shaped not only by events themselves but by the position from which they are recalled. Through this interplay, responders recognise that (call out to audience/reader) relationships cannot be understood through singular narratives but must be viewed as layered constructions shaped by time and perspective.
Furthermore, the poets’ dialogue foregrounds the role of authorship in shaping memory. In Ariel, Plath’s confessional mode asserts narrative authority through emotional authenticity. Her intense, stylised language transforms private suffering into poetic myth, positioning the self as both subject and storyteller. This establishes a powerful narrative dominance, where memory becomes inseparable from voice. However, Hughes’ Birthday Letters disrupts this authority by reclaiming narrative space. His retrospective reflections do not merely respond to Plath but reinterpret the act of remembering itself, suggesting that memory is shaped by those who survive and retell it. This act of poetic reclamation highlights how textual conversations are also negotiations of voice, where meaning is reshaped through competing acts of authorship.
Focus on dialogue/exploring perspectives that address all parts of the question and build upto a larger cohesive point.
The 4th para adds sophistication and nuance by developing the argument to have conceptual depth (discusses voice, authority and narrative ownership).
Do NOT introduce new elements; instead, use evidence that supports overarching argument/themes.
After analysing individual texts, create 1-2 synthesis paragraphs to weave in overlapping themes while explicitly comparing/contrasting them.
Ultimately, the textual conversation between Ariel and Birthday Letters reveals that memory within relationships is inherently unstable and perpetually reconstructed through time. Plath’s immediacy suggests that truth resides in lived emotional intensity, where memory and feeling are inseparable, while Hughes’ retrospective reinterpretations demonstrate how recollection evolves under the influence of hindsight and self-reflection. Their poetic dialogue resists singular or fixed emotional truths, instead foregrounding the multiplicity and subjectivity of remembrance. Rather than resolving tensions, the interplay between the two collections affirms that each act of remembering reshapes the past, deepening responders’ understanding of relational complexity. In doing so, the conversation extends beyond biography to illuminate a broader human reality: that relationships are mediated through perception, reinterpretation, and time, and that it is through this dynamic process of re-visioning that deeper insights emerge.
- A concrete final evaluation and summarisation of arguments.
- Reaffirming the thesis statement without restating any point.
Check out more of our HSC English guides below!
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
KIS Academics
FAQS
Do I need lots of quotes to get a band 6 in HSC English?
No. Strong analysis matters more than quantity, and they don’t have to be direct quotes.
What is the biggest mistake students make in Module A essays?
Treating texts separately, you MUST show dialogue between the texts and analyse how they interact with eachother.
Where can I find more Band 6 Module A Exemplar Essays
Check out more of our HSC English Study guides here and find more HSC English Exemplar Essays written by our top scoring tutors!
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Written by KIS Academics Tutor for IB, Adithi Potty. Adithi is currently studying for a Bachelor of Economics and Politics with International Studies at the University of Melbourne. You can view Adithi’s profile here and request her as a tutor.
