Linking words

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