ESSAY
How to write a
paper 2 style
essay in Global
Politics that
will access the
top level
descriptors
w w w . g l o p o i b . w o r d p r e s s . c o m
With grateful thanks and credit to Marcin Sztomberski, Ermitage
International School of France, who provided much of the
material and guidance included in this guide
GENERAL TIPS
These tips are the basics - and you should bear them in mind regardless of the topic or
question - but, get them right and you will be well on your to success in paper 2
1
Write in formal, academic English. Dont
use slang such as 'gonna' and make sure
you write in the third rather than the first
person. So, for example, rather than
saying 'I think...' you might write 'it could
be argued' or 'the evidence suggests'.
2
Include multiple perspectives on the
issue. This could be in the form of
different actors or different theories
3
4
PAGE 1
5
Make sure that you support the points you
make with detailed examples. Detailed
means that you show you really
understand the examples you are using. If
possible, support your examples with
relevant dates, numbers and statstics
6
Do not start writing immediately once the
reading time finishes. Take five minutes to
write a plan so you know exactly what the
structure of your essay is going to be.
7
Be consistent throughout your essay.
Your thesis, arguments and conclusion
should send the same message
throughout the essay. Writing the essay is
not the time to figure out what your
argument is going to be - that is why you
spend time planning your essay before
putting pen to paper
Use key concepts of the course... in
particular the 16 core concepts
Read the question very carefully.
Remember to read between the lines what are the implications of the question
that are not stated explicily?
Unpack the question - clarify what the
question is about. What is the key
political issue(s)? Define - accurately - any
relevant key terms , both those stated
explicitly in the title and those that are
important but are perhaps hidden in the
question
Theoretical approaches (theories and
models): If you plan to use any theories or
models then you should flag this up in
the introduction. You don't need to go
into any real detail at this point but it let's
the reader what is coming up and why
they are relevant to answering the
question
INTRODUCTION
PAGE 2
Thesis: This is essentially a claim that
summarizes the argument you are
making. It is useful to think of the thesis
as your guiding star while writing the
essay and you should be constantly
asking yourself whether what you writing
is directly related to your thesis
statement, either as a claim or a
counterclaim.
Signposting. This is essentially the way in
which you are telling the examiner what
to expect from your essay - it comes after
your thesis and it is helpful to think of it as
a statement that briefly explains how you
are going to test and/or defend your
thesis. For example, you might write a
signposting sentence along the lines of
'In this essay I will argue that the human
rights have a limited impact on state
sovereignty through an analysis of
international human rights legislation
and treaties and the tension between
human rights and the self interest of
states'
If the question asks 'with reference to one
or more case studies you have studied',
you should identify your examples in the
introduction
BODY PARAGRAPHS
Approximately six paragraphs (or more depending on the specific topic)
Pay close attention to the command terms in the question
If the command term is 'Discuss' or 'Examine'
then your body paragraphs should be split
equally between claims and counterclaims.
Typically, this means 3 paragraphs in support of
your thesis and 3 paragraphs arguing against
your thesis.
If the command term is 'Evaluate', 'Justify' or 'To
what extent' then the majority of your body
paragraphs should support your thesis with the
other paragraphs arguing against the thesis.
Typically, this means 3 or 4 paragraphs against
the thesis and 2 paragraphs arguing against it.
You can find more information on the command terms on the GloPo website at this link
Writing a body paragraph in support of your thesis (claims)
Topic sentence - clearly introduces your argument. It should be clear, concise and to the point.
Concept - link the argument to a specific global politics concept
What - using the concept you have linked to in the previous sentence, break the topic sentence
down into smaller pieces and explain in terms of global politics
How - introduce the example you are using to support your argument and explain how it relates to
the smaller pieces of your topic sentence
Why - this is where you will show the examiner why this argument and example are important for the
topic. How does it deepen our understanding? This is where you should refer to political theories if
they are relevant to the topic for this paragraph
So what? - the easiest way to think of this is to see it as almost like a mini conclusion for the
paragraph. What is the overall impact of this argument and example on your thesis?
Link - this is where you stick a signpost in to let the examiner know what your next argument is going
to be. One way to do this is to make sure that the last sentence of a paragraph has the same or similar
keywords as the first sentence of the following paragraph
PAGE 3
Writing a body paragraph arguing against your thesis (counterclaims)
Topic sentence - clearly introduces your argument. It should be clear, concise and to the point.
Concept - link the argument to a specific global politics concept
What - using the concept you have linked to in the previous sentence, break the topic sentence
down into smaller pieces and explain in terms of global politics
How - introduce the example you are using to support your argument and explain how it relates to
the smaller pieces of your topic sentence
Why - this is where you will show the examiner why this argument and example are important for the
topic. How does it deepen our understanding? This is where you should refer to political theories if
they are relevant to the topic for this paragraph
Evaluate - this is where you attempt to assess just how important this counterclaim in relation to the
thesis. Is it a strong or relatively weak counterclaim. It is important to remember the reason for
including counterclaims - to show you are aware of different perspectives - but you do not want to
weaken your overall argument so try to make sure that the counterclaims are not the strongest
argument. Again, this is why taking time to plan your essay before starting is so important.
Link - this is where you stick a signpost in to let the examiner know what your next argument is going
to be. One way to do this is to make sure that the last sentence of a paragraph has the same or similar
keywords as the first sentence of the following paragraph
PAGE 4
CONCLUSION
Pull everything together - look abck
through your body paragraphs and
collect all the 'so what' from your claims
paragraphs and all the 'evaluation' from
your counterclaims
Prioritize your arguments - state which of
the arguments you have just pulled
together are the strongest. If you have
done your job properly then you should
find that your claims in support of your
thesis are the most important for the
topic. This, again, is why it is so important
to spend time planning before beginning
to write your essay.
PAGE 5
Answer the question - this should be easy
as your answer will come directly from
the arguments you have just prioritized
supported by what you have said in the
whole essay
w w w . g l o p o i b . w o r d p r e s s . c o m