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WRITING AN ESSAY

Exam Practice

If you plan to sit English examinations you will have to write an essay sooner or later. The essay part of an exam can be worth about 25% to 35% of the total marks available, so it’s worth the effort to get it right and score higher marks.

The Oxford Dictionary of English tells us that an essay is: ‘A short piece of writing on a particular subject.’

I suggest that another definition for you is: ‘an opportunity.’

It is a chance for you to show your writing skills, your knowledge of English, your command of grammar and vocabulary and your knowledge of synonyms, among other things.

The dictionary doesn’t say anything about PRACTISING but you will need to write an essay every week or two and have it corrected, to bring you up to your best possible level.

In an exam you will usually be asked to write 120 words (approximately one page of A4 or large exercise book size) in 30 minutes, or 250 - 300 words in 45 minutes depending on which exam you take.

There are three points to note about the dictionary definition –

1.  ‘Writing’. This is obvious. But it also implies that anyone can read it. Are you sure your writing is legible (clear)?

2.  ‘Short’ – a time limit is always specified, so you have no choice here.

3.  ‘On a particular subject’. This is crucial. The subjects will be specified and you can choose the one you want to do. In my opinion this does not mean the one you think will be easiest.

The subject YOU choose should be the one for which you think you have the most vocabulary – or interest. So this might also mean your favorite.

The subjects might vary a lot but the instructions are usually something like:

Write about:

a)  Your last vacation.

b)  “Television is a waste of time.”

c)  Write a letter to a friend describing where you live.

The instructions will usually tell you to write with a pen and not a pencil. If you decide that the ‘particular subject’ of your essay is ‘pens and pencils’ you might write a wonderful essay of 300 words.

But you will get NO MARKS. This was not one of the subjects you were asked to write about.

The specified time is the period in which you must finish the task.

It does NOT mean the time allowed to write the essay.

If you believe that you can write for the whole period you will lose marks.

Every essay must have a beginning, middle and an end. You must know what these are and where they are. You must plan.

It is your responsibility to use the allotted time correctly. How should you do that? Quite simply –

in a 30-minute test you must give yourself three or four minutes to think about and plan what you’re going to write.

At this point you should make brief notes. For example, if you choose ‘Your last vacation’ you might scribble,

Where, good bad, enjoyable, when, activities, friends, journey, cost, first visit, adventures, travel, hotel, camping/

If you choose the television question you might note,

What does this phrase mean, do I agree? examples for, against

TV everywhere, different countries, kinds of programmes?

Then you can think of the order in which you’re going to present these elements. This gives you your BEGINNING – mention what you’re going to write. Then write it – this is your MIDDLE.

Once you start writing you have approximately 26 minutes left.

But you must not write for 26 minutes

because you need to save another two or three minutes when you have finished writing, to check what you’ve written.

These are very valuable minutes which can give you 5 to 10 marks that would have been lost. Try to make an impartial review of your essay for simple errors. See The Seven Deadly Errors in Written English.

However, before that you must write the END. This should arise naturally from what you’ve said: a summary (summation), a look to the future (the vacation choice), a comment that the statement (e.g. the TV choice) is not simple, is not all ‘right’ or all ‘wrong’.

On the subject of ‘where you live’ the easiest ending is that you wouldn’t change it for anything (or that you would).

I have more to say on this subject but I end this note here as these are the essential points you need to know now.

Note: you will observe that I ended this piece by simply telling you it’s the end. You are permitted to do that in your writing too.

Have you read our article Strange British Surnames?

You can now hear the correct pronunciation of these names,

and some places, in my video Strange British Surnames on YouTube

Please tell all your friends about PAGES IN ENGLISH at

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