STEP BY STEP GUIDE

TO PRODUCE AN EFFECTIVE

ESSAY FOR THE CPE

PART 1
(240-280 words)
PART 1 - ESSAY
MARKS: 20
In Part 1 of the Writing paper you are required to write an essay
based on two short texts.

In the essay you must:

• summarise the key points in the two short texts
• give your own opinions on the topic

THE TEXTS
• The two texts present opinions on the same topic.
• Each text contains two main points/opinions that you must
include in your answer.
• The two texts may present contrasting opinions or they may
make points that are consistent with each other.

YOUR ESSAY
• The content of your essay does not have to follow any particular
order.
• You can summarise the main points of the text and then give your
own opinions.
• You can give your opinion on each point from the text as you
summarise it.
• You can summarise the points in a different order from how they
appear in the text.
• You must include your own opinions but you can put them
anywhere in the essay as long as they connect closely with the
points made in the texts.
STEP #1: READ THE TOPIC OF EACH EXTRACT
AND UNDERLINE THE KEY POINTS

Read the two texts below. Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key
points from both texts. Use your own words throughout as far as possible, and
include your own ideas in your answers

EXAMINATIONS ARE NOT FAIR

Making judgments about the ability of students based on examinations that take
place just once or perhaps twice a year is simply not fair. So many students fail
to show their true ability due to anxiety, stress and a number of other factors.
Many students who do well in exams do so simply by cramming facts into their
heads the week before the exam, to be forgotten by the following weekend.
Surely assessment of the work done in class and at home throughout the school
year would be a fairer system?

CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT IS IDEALISTIC

It’s all very well to talk about teachers judging their students’ work in the
classroom, and students working alone at home on their projects, but everyone
knows that continuous assessment doesn’t work like that. Teachers are only
human, and tend to be softer on their students than an examiner would be (or, in
a worse scenario, harder on a student they don’t like). Parents or older siblings
help students with the projects they have to do at home, even if it’s just coming
up with ideas for them. Exams may not be fun, but at least we get to see what
each individual student is capable of.
STEP #2: PARAPHRASE THE KEY POINTS

EXTRACT 1: PARAPHRASEING KEY POINTS

1 Unfair to judge a year's performance just once or twice a year.

2 This unfair system forces students to temporary parrot-fashion learning

Suggestion: all-year-round assessment.

EXTRACT 2: PARAPHRASING KEY POINTS

3 Continuous assessment depends too much on the teacher who may be either
too lenient or too strict.

4 Parents and siblings may give an unfair advantage to some students over their
classmates who don't have help at home.
Suggestion: exams are an objective assessment of individual performance.

STEP #3: INTRODUCTION

Make a simple reference to the topic of both texts

The two texts express contrasting views on the debated issue of school exams.
STEP #4: BODY PARAGRAPH (1)
TOPIC SENTENCE + POINT 1 + POINT 2

[Topic sentence] The author of the first text considers the annual
assessment of students' performance as inadequate. [Paraphrase the
first (1) point: Unfair to judge a year's performance just once or twice a
year.] Knowing that your only chance to prove your competence relies
on a couple of questions that need to be answered within a suffocating
time limit cannot but fill you with anxiety. [Paraphrase the second (2)
point: This unfair system forces students to temporary parrotfashion
learning] To make matters worse, even when students manage to
cope with the stress it is doubtful whether the academic aims are
achieved. All they do is switch off their critical thinking and employ
their parrot-fashion learning. Once the exam period is over they tend to
'delete' all this array of incongruent information. Therefore, they end up
with lots of pains and hardly any gains!

USEFUL PHRASES
• The first text/passage/extract outlines the
benefits/drawbacks of…
• The first text advocates… +…ing (supports)
• It then goes on to espouse the viewpoint
that… (say)
• The text sheds light on the issue/topic of…
• The text brings the topic of… to light.
• The writer of the first text is a firm believer
in…
STEP #5: BODY PARAGRAPH (2)
TOPIC SENTENCE + POINT 3 + POINT 4

[Topic sentence] Conversely, the second text supports the idea that
exams are the only reliable means of school assessment. [Paraphrase
the third (3) point: Continuous assessment depends too much on the
teacher who may be either too lenient or too strict.] If the students
were continually evaluated throughout the year they would be at the
mercy of the bias of their teachers. If professors are positively pre-
disposed they will inflate the marks and if they have any sort of conflict
with their pupils they could use the marks as a form of punishment.
[Paraphrase the fourth (4) point: Parents and siblings may give an
unfair advantage to some students over their classmates who don't
have help at home] Moreover, the project work that has often been
hailed as the creative alternative of barren exams may prove to be a
hoax. More often than not it is other family members that do the work
and the students undeservingly reap the rewards.

USEFUL PHRASES
• The second text argues/claims that…
• The writer/author of the second text is
highly critical of…
• Both writers seem to agree that…, where their
ideas deviate however is on the topic of…
• The second text makes bold statements in
support of…
• Not only does the first text state that…, but it
also claims that…
• In addition to the aforementioned point, it
also claims that…
• The second text puts forward the idea that…
STEP #6: PARAGRAPH (3) - OPINIONYOUR
OPINION

[Topic sentence] While I agree that the exams entail

counterproductive stress that may spoil the true meaning of education,
I cannot overlook the fact that they are an objective and trustworthy
method of evaluation. If the written tests accounted for a proportion of
the pupils' overall mark and the rest was completed with projects and
class participation we could successfully combine the profits of these
too seemingly contrasting methods.

STEP #7: CONCLUSION - CLOSING REMARK

All in all, the examinations can contribute to an objective assessment of

school performance as long as they are combined with elements of
continuous assessment.

USEFUL PHRASES
• While the writer makes some valid
arguments in favour of…, she ignores the fact
that…
• One area which the writer seems to have
overlooked is…
• While I am generally in agreement with the
majority of the first writer’s points the
obvious hole in their argument is…
• Were I to pick holes in the writer’s
arguments, I would start by pointing out
that…
• I feel it must also be pointed out that…
• When it comes to the topic of…, the text
seems to be lacking somewhat
• One major weakness in the writer’s
argument is that…
• The text neglects to mention that fact that…
• The writer seems to have gone overboard in
their praise/criticism of…
LET’S PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

The two texts express contrasting views on the debated issue of school exams.

The author of the first text considers the annual assessment of students' performance as
inadequate. Unfair to judge a year's performance just once or twice a year. Knowing that your
only chance to prove your competence relies on a couple of questions that need to be
answered within a suffocating time limit cannot but fill you with anxiety. To make matters
worse, even when students manage to cope with the stress it is doubtful whether the
academic aims are achieved. All they do is switch off their critical thinking and employ their
parrot-fashion learning. Once the exam period is over they tend to 'delete' all this array of
incongruent information. Therefore, they end up with lots of pains and hardly any gains!

Conversely, the second text supports the idea that exams are the only reliable means of
school assessment. Continuous assessment depends too much on the teacher who may be
either too lenient or too strict. If the students were continually evaluated throughout the year
they would be at the mercy of the bias of their teachers. If professors are positively pre-
disposed they will inflate the marks and if they have any sort of conflict with their pupils they
could use the marks as a form of punishment. Parents and siblings may give an unfair
advantage to some students over their classmates who don't have help at home Moreover,
the project work that has often been hailed as the creative alternative of barren exams may
prove to be a hoax. More often than not it is other family members that do the work and the
students undeservingly reap the rewards.

While I agree that the exams entail counterproductive stress that may spoil the true meaning
of education, I cannot overlook the fact that they are an objective and trustworthy method of
evaluation. If the written tests accounted for a proportion of the pupils' overall mark and the
rest was completed with projects and class participation we could successfully combine the
profits of these too seemingly contrasting methods.

All in all, the examinations can contribute to an objective assessment of school performance
as long as they are combined with elements of continuous assessment.