Writing – Part 1 Essay Introduction

PART 1 – WRITING AN ESSAY (also known as a discursive essay or composition)

The student must write 140-190 words.

There are basically 4 types of essay/composition.

1. Advantages/Disadvantages (Pros and cons).

2. Agree or disagree with the title (in a logical way!)

3. Giving opinions or suggestions about the title.

4. Writing about issues in modern society such as: health, pollution, internet, technology,
ecology, men and women, economic crisis.

How to write a good discursive essay (composition)

Before you start

Read the question carefully. DO NOT write an irrelevant answer. ANSWER THE
QUESTION!

 Plan your essay. Spend about 5 minutes on this. It will make your life easier
 Give your essay a title
 Control your time. Spend about 40 minutes

Remember this!

 You MUST write your essay in 140-190 words. Write 190 words, NOT 140!!
 A composition is usually more formal than an article, so present your work as a
‘scientific’, coherent argument
 Use formal language. DO NOT use contractions, colloquial expressions or a ‘chatty’
style
  Write at least 3 paragraphs with a clear introduction, contrast of arguments and a
logical conclusion
 Make sure your argument is clear
 Use difficult grammar and more complex sentences
 Use conditional and passive sentences
 Don’t worry if you make small mistakes. You will get more points for using difficult
grammar
 Give an opinion ONLY when appropriate
 Give your opinion at the end, NOT at the beginning

When you have finished

 Make sure you have expressed yourself clearly

 Check your writing for grammar mistakes
 Check your writing for spelling mistakes

Structuring your composition

Most people write about 10-12 words per line.

Mathematics! You have to write a total of 190 words, so you should write about 15 lines in
total.

Here’s an example of how to set out your essay

Introduction 3 lines

Contrasting arguments

Paragraph 1 4 lines

Paragraph 2 4 lines

Conclusion

3 lines

Here’s an example of some good expressions you could use in the 4 parts of the essay
Introduction To begin with/ Firstly,

First of all I would like to consider…

The first thing (I would like to consider) to be considered is…

Nowadays, it seems that…/ In recent times…

Contrasting arguments Paragraph 1

On one hand, it could be said that…

Despite the fact that …/ In spite of…

Although it could be said that…

It is often thought that…

Paragraph 2

On the other hand, it could be argued that…

Although it appears that…

Apart from that…

What is more, …

It would seem, however, that…

Conclusion

To sum up,/ In conclusion,

Because of / As a result of this / Owing to / As a consequence of

Therefore, in my opinion,

On this basis, I can conclude that