Writing your Essay
Plan your essay
Read the essay question carefully and plan what you want to include in four or five clear paragraphs.
Take notes – List ideas and vocabulary
Write down some interesting ideas for each paragraph, together with some language you may want to use.
You will need to use varied vocabulary relevant to the topic and some complex sentences using linking words.
Think of reasons to give
Remember that you are presenting your point of view and you need to back it up with some reasons or evidence.
Think about your writing style
Formal or semi-formal?
Make sure you use a formal or semi-formal style and avoid the use of informal language.
How to structure your essay
Structuring your essay
REMEMBER!
Aim to write four or five paragraphs.
PARAGRAPH 1 - The introduction.
Try to write two sentences to avoid a single-sentence paragraph.
The first sentence can be a re-phrasing of the essay title.
The second sentence can be a very brief outline of the main ideas or topics etc. you are going to include.
PARAGRAPH 2
Deal with the first point in the question and on your notes. (es: recycling)
Remember to give reasons and examples
PARAGRAPH 3
Deal with the second note: (cycling or walking instead of using cars.)
give reasons and examples
PARAGRAPH 4 (optional depending on exam question)
Deal with the third note (your own ideas)
give reasons and examples
PARAGRAPH 5 - The conclusion.
Summarise your main opinions by referring briefly to the points mentioned in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.
Try to write at least two sentences to avoid a single-sentence paragraph.
Do not try to introduce new ideas or other people's opinions at this stage.
Ensure your own opinion is clear
How to use your written notes
Write down the main points and draw three lines from each one.
Now concentrate on each note in turn.
Try to think of three ideas that can add content to that note.
Choose the best ideas from your notes and start writing.
Now write your essay
You must answer this question.
Write your answer in 140-190 words in an appropriate style.
In your English class, you have been talking about different ways to protect the environment. Now your English teacher has asked you to write an essay.
Write an essay using all the notes and give reasons for your point of view.
What can young people do to help protect and improve their local environment?
Notes
Write about:
recycling things
cycling or walking instead of using cars
(your own idea)
Tips
Introduction
This topic is really important because...
People often disagree about ...
Many people feel that ...
You often hear people say that ...
Linking ideas
It is true that… But…
It is often said that… However, some people disagree.
Although, individuals can do…, governments also should….
Despite all this, the environment….
Giving opinions
I have thought about this and I have come to the conclusion that…
While I agree there are some advantages in…, I can also see several disadvantages.
It seems to me that… I am convinced that this is the right way to do it.
Conclusion
To sum up, it seems to me that ...
Taking all of this into account,
I believe ...
Having presented all the arguments for and against, it seems clear to me that ...
Finally, I feel very strongly that there are clear advantages in...
Checklist
When you finish writing an essay, make sure you leave yourself enough to check your work.
Content
Have you covered all the points mentioned in the question?
Communicative achievement
Is your style correct for an essay, i.e. is it fairly formal? Are your opinions easy to follow?
Organisation
Have you divided your writing into paragraphs, with an introduction and a conclusion?
Language
Have you used:
some complex sentences using linking words?
a variety of grammatical structures and tenses?
some interesting vocabulary?
Sample Essay
What can young people do to help protect and improve their local environment?
There are many things young people can do to protect and improve their local environment. Some of these are recycling, using cars less, and planting trees.
First of all, they can make sure that things such as plastic containers, glass bottles and newspapers are recycled. And they can pick up any litter they find in the street and put it into a rubbish bin.
Secondly. nowadays the air is polluted because too many people use cars, even to go very short distances. Young people can try to use public transport or walk or cycle to their destinations instead. By doing this, they would make their environment less polluted and they would be able to enjoy cleaner air.
Finally, they can help to make their local environment greener by helping to look after public parks or gardens. They can also plant trees or help people who want to grow vegetables in their gardens.
To sum up, all these actions will make their areas look cleaner and more pleasant and also help save the world’s natural resources. We will all have a better future if young people do everything possible to help protect and improve their environment.
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