English Essays- Exam Writing. It’s exam season and what I see most of my students struggle with is writing. Maybe email writing is a bit easier, but the dreaded essay is something that lowers most students’ scores. Let’s look at this basic model for writing essays that will guarentee a higher mark.
Introductions
What to do and not do in an introduction:
- Present an interesting question to your audience
- Restate the question in your own words.
- Do NOT repeat more than 3 of the words from the topic.
- Do NOT present ideas that will NOT be addressed in the essay.
- Do NOT present your reasoning just yet.
Paragraph 2
- If you are in favor of the topic, than use this paragraph to express your first main idea about why you are in agreement with the topic.
- For an ‘on balance’ essay, also use this paragraph to present your ideas in favor of the topic.
- For an ‘against’ essay, use the paragraph to present your first idea why you are not in agreement.
- Write a main idea and two supporting ideas.
- Supporting ideas can be reasons, evidence and examples.
- Ask yourself: Does my main idea support the topic of the essay? Do my supporting ideas support my main idea?
Paragraph 3
- If you are writing in favor of the topic, use this paragraph to present your second main idea with supporting ideas about why you agree with the topic.
- For an ‘on balance’ essay, present the negative side of the issue.
- If you are writing an against essay, present your second reason with supporting ideas about why you don’t agree with the topic.
- Use appropriate connectors to transition between paragraphs.
Conclusion
What to do and what not to do in the conclusion
- Clearly state your position
- Be short and to the point
- Do NOT present a new idea that was not previously mentioned.
Writing Rules
Now that you have seen our post about English Essays- Exam Writing, have a look at our other Writing Rules posts:
Writing Rules: Exam Writing Criteria
Writing Rules: By vs Until
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