Essay writing
Good writing Skill CAN Exams Have to
How can I improve my writing?
The key to improving one’s writing is… PRACTICE! Writing is a process and to write a really good piece of writing you need to go through different stages
Planning Planning your essay is very important Time spent planning is never time wasted. Spend 5 or 10 minutes planning your essay. In the ‘planning’ stage you should…
Read the essay question carefully Identify the key words in the question and underline them Explore these key words by jotting down ideas, brainstorming, etc
Write a plan which addresses these key words and orders your ideas Allow yourself the time to think your ideas
STRUCTURE
PARAGRAPHS
EXAMPLE:
Drafting After planning, you start writing your draft, rough, copy You should refer to your plan regularly at this stage This is not your finished product, but it may need just a little bit of editing.
Editing When you finish writing your draft, read through it You should then go through the vocabulary, connectors and mistakes checklist This will help you to identify your mistakes and polish your work
CONNECTORS To conclude the topic: In conclusion/ To sum up/ In short/ All in all/ Overall To express personal opinions : On balance/ In my opinion/ I believe (that)/ I feel (that)/ It seems to me/ In my view/ As I see it/ I agree/ I don’t agree/ I think/ Personally To show purpose: / In order to/ so as to/ so that/ To list ideas: Firstly/ secondly/ finally/ In the first place/ Lastly To contrast ideas: However/ although/ In contrast/ Whereas/ but/ Nevertheless/ in spite of/ Despite To show a sequence: First of all/ Then/ After that/ Eventually/ In the end or Finally To describe a cause: Because/ Since/ As/ Due to To describe a consequence: Consequently/ As a result/ Therefore/ So/ Thus/ For this reason/ That is why To add information: In addition/ Moreover/ What’s more/ Besides/ Too/ Furthermore/ And
COMMON MISTAKES Everybody have. Everybody has. When somebody, somebody,anybody, everybody etc are subjects, the verb must be singular * I’m very surprised see you here. I’m very surprised to see you here. We use infinitives after adjectives describing feelings. I like go shopping. I love going shopping. Write letters is boring. Writing letters is boring. An –ing form is usually the subject/object of another of a verb. In a few years will have a new communication system. In a few years we will have a new communication system. A verb always needs a subject . More fast. Faster Comparatives: with 1 syllable (or 2 ending in vowel), add -er People is . People are. Mensmen Irregular plurals Person/ people, man/men, woman/women, fish/fish…
Just to end, ask yourself… Have I kept in mind the audience and the purpose of this piece of writing? (register) Have I used punctuation correctly? Have I used the correct grammar tenses? Have I made any spelling mistakes? Have I kept to the word limit?
Final Version Always remember the importance of legible handwriting and good presentation
Self-evaluation After the teacher corrects your work, read through the comments and the corrections and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of that essay
Try not to repeat the same mistakes in your next piece of writing and follow any tips, suggestions and feedback given by your teacher
Key to symbols used in marking essays
Essay Marking Meaning in Full Grammar T Tense VOC Vocabulary (wrong choice of word) ( ) Unnecessary words P Punctuation ? Difficulty to follow ∧ Missing word S Spelling WO Word Order