English Essays- Exam Writing

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