An essay gives you the chance to flex your creative muscle. This is because it makes you think critically about a topic. Also, it allows you to write about what you think in an interesting way.
If you are in an exam situation then you would need to write everything within the length of time given. So, to be able to do all these, you would need to first of all know the parts of the essay that you would be writing. Let’s do that.
Essay Writing Format
- WRITING FORMAT
- Introduction
- 3 Content points
- Conclusion
This is the writing format for essay writing in Task 2. Your essay needs to be written according to this format as it will give your essay a very good structure.
You would need to have the three key parts to your essay. The first part of your essay is your introduction. The second part would be your three content points and the last part of your essay is the conclusion.
Let’s now find out how the introductory paragraph should be structured for your essay in Task 2.
Writing the Introduction Paragraph
- INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
- Provide a hook
- Background information of topic
- Thesis statement
- Make your stand - agree, disagree or partially agree
What you see here are the four items that you need to have in your introduction. Your introduction is one of the most important paragraphs in your essay if not the most important one. It is so because, your introduction sets the pace of your writing and signals to the reader of what they can expect to read in the rest of your essay.
This therefore means that you would need to write a strong introduction. This is how you can do that.
How to write a Strong Introduction for your Essay
Start with a hook
First, you should start with a hook. A hook is something that you write that is going to be catchy. It is going to be attention grabbing. You need to get the reader who – in this case is the examiner to want to read more by starting with lines that are interesting. You can do several things like to start with a surprising fact or a quote from a famous person.
Provide background information of the topic
After pulling in the reader, then you would need to tell the reader the topic you are writing about. As this is the introduction of your essay and rightfully so, you would need to introduce the topic of your essay.
You can do this by giving some background information about the subject being discussed. Add in the current situation regarding the topic based on your observation.
After that provide some explanation of the topic and linking it to the statement made in the question. By doing this you are going to give more insight about the topic that you’re talking about.
Write your thesis statement
Following the explanation that you have given about the topic, you would then need to write the thesis statement of your essay.
A thesis statement is a sentence that is going to show the reader how you are going to interpret the subject. The thesis statement you have in your introduction is like a torchlight in a dark cinema. It is going to light the way for the reader of what you will be presenting in your essay.
How the thesis statement would benefit you as the writer is that it will give provide you with what to write in your essay. Yes, that is how important your thesis statement is.
Make your stand
And the very last sentence for your introductory paragraph is for you to make your stand. You make your stand by saying whether you agree, disagree or partially agree to the topic being discussed.
You will have to state your stand in the last sentence of your introduction when writing an argumentative essay. Making a clear stand in this type of essay will make you seem like you are sure of what you are going to say and makes you sound more confident.
For a discursive essay on the other hand, I would say making your stand would be optional. This is because you are going to be giving a balanced view of the topic being discussed. So, it would still be fine if you would like to state your stand in a discursive essay that asks you of your opinion on a subject.
In a problem – solution essay however you would not need to state your stand. This is because the main task that you would need to fulfil for this type of essay is for you to address the problem and provide solutions for it.
Let’s now look at how you need to write your content points for this extended writing essay.
Content Points
- CONTENT POINTS
- Provide 3 relevant content points
- Show maturity of thought
- Elaborations
- Be convincing
Task 2 requires you to write at least 250 words. You would need to provide 2 to 3 content points for this. Having two content points is enough if you can elaborate more on each content point.
But if you think that it will be better if you write 3 content points then it will be better for you. What you need to do is for you to provide a piece of writing that will show some level of maturity of thought regarding the topic. One way of doing this is for you to show some critical thinking. You can do this by analysing the topic and by addressing the topic from different point of views.
Next is for you to have elaborations to support these content points. The elaboration is going to help make your points become clearer.
You will also need to be convincing when writing. Being convincing is when you are able to make the reader believe in what you write. Ultimately you would need to get the reader to see your point of view and to agree to your opinion regarding the subject matter.
Paragraph Writing in your Essay
- PARAGRAPH WRITING
- Topic sentence
- Background info of the topic sentence
- Provide an example
- Closing of the paragraph
Let’s now look at paragraph writing. These are guidelines for you to write a good paragraph. As a teacher I normally ask my students to memorise these items that you would need to have in your paragraph to make it nice and clear.
Start with the topic sentence
First of all, is for you to write your topic sentence which is your content point. Your topic sentence should be in the very first sentence of your paragraph and nowhere else.
Support your topic sentence
After writing your topic sentence you would need to explain what you mean. You would need to make your topic sentence clearer by talking and explaining more about it.
Give a related example
Next is for you to give an example related to this topic sentence. By giving an example you will clarify your ideas even more. However, do not forget to tie up this example with the topic sentence. Providing an example is going to be a very nice addition to your paragraph.
When you write your topic sentence, provide an explanation, give it an example from the current issue happening around you and then tying it all up back to the topic sentence, you are showing critical thinking in your writing. As a result your writing will sound very convincing.
Signal the end of your paragraph
And last but not least is for you to close your paragraph. This is the last line where you are going to write in a way that it signals the ending of that idea you’ve been talking about.
This ending will sound like you’re moving on to another paragraph. So here as a closing of your paragraph you can reinstate the topic sentence. [reinstate: say and focus again]
You can do this by rephrasing your topic sentence and writing it in another way. Start this ending sentence for the paragraph with a sentence connector like ‘Hence..’, ‘Therefore..’ and ‘Thus..’. Then, add in the rephrase of your topic sentence.
Conclusion for your Essay
- CONCLUSION
- Fresh rephrasing of the topic
- Provide your overview of the topic
- Summarise your 3 content points
- Closing for your essay
Your conclusion, I would say is one of the most important paragraphs in your essay if not the most important one.
This is where the examiner would likely make the final decision of what band your writing is going to fall in.
Unfortunately, I sometimes see students turning in their essays without a conclusion during tests. This normally happened because the students ran out of time and also simply because they were not really sure of how to write the concluding paragraphs.
To avoid not having a conclusion to your essay, you would need to manage your writing time well. Be sure to allocate enough time to write a conclusion to your essay.
Let’s see how it is done.
Provide a rephrase of the topic
The very first line of the concluding paragraph is where you write a fresh rephrasing of the topic. Write the topic again but this time using some different words.
Start your conclusion with phrases like ‘In conclusion’ or ‘To conclude’ or other linkers that your prefer and then state the topic. This is to remind the person reading about the topic being discussed.
Write your general feelings of the topic again
Next is for you to provide your general overview of the topic again. You need to reestablish where you stand and what your personal view is of the subject matter. To reestablish is when you put focus on the importance of something again. You can write two to three sentences for this.
Put in a summary of your content points
Next is for you to summarise your three content points. Now summarising do not simply mean for you to repeat what you have said in your content paragraphs. Doing this will only make your writing sound repetitive.
So, what you need to do is for you to state all your content points that you have written in your content paragraphs but to write them using other words that carry the same meanings.
Signal the Closing of your Essay
And last but not least is the closing of your essay. This is 1 sentence or maybe two sentences where you are going to put in your final note on the topic. You can give a hope for the future or you can state a warning of what is going to happen if things are not done the right way.
Read more about writing an essay in my other blogs. Happy reading!
