KS3 Rules for Essay Writing
Essay Structure
Introduction
Outline the direction of your argument in relation to key themes raised by the essay question.
Make use of the buzzwords in the essay question.
Two or three sentences are sufficient for your introduction.
Main Body of the Essay
You must write three to four main paragraphs in your essay. A substantial paragraph should be 200300 words.
Start each paragraph with a topic sentence using the buzzwords (a sentence which explains the
central argument of your paragraph).
Close each paragraph with a link sentence using the buzzwords (a sentence which links your ideas
back to the essay question).
Use quotations to support your points and evaluate the significance of the quotations that you use –
e.g use phrases such as “This demonstrates that...”, “This implies that...”
Quotations must be embedded into your sentences.
Conclusion
A summary of the most significant points that you have discussed in the essay.
Format and Literacy Expectations
Length: Your essay should be between 1000-1500 words. You should put the word count on the
bottom of your final page.
Font: If you are typing your essay, you should use Times New Roman, size 12 font.
Layout: Do not leave more than one line between paragraphs.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
You must use a wide range of vocabulary which is appropriate to the subject in your essay.
Do not use contractions such as “don’t”.
Apostrophes must be used correctly.
Spellings must be correct. There is no excuse for spelling key words incorrectly, such as the names of
characters, authors’ names and words in the essay question itself.
Marking
You will be give 15 marks for the content of your essay and 5 marks for the accuracy of your spelling,
punctuation and grammar. Note that 25% of the marks are allocated to the accuracy of your writing.
How to write an essay at A-level
In many of your A-level subjects you will not be able to achieve your potential unless you are able to
write a good essay. But what is it that makes a good essay? This short guide aims to give you some
general advice that should help you to excel in this area.
Before you begin… Read the question!
Writing a good essay at A-level is not simply about writing down everything you know about a
subject. In fact, if you do this you are likely to do very poorly because you probably haven’t
addressed the specific requirements of the question. It
may sound like obvious advice, but the first thing you
need to do is to carefully read the question so that you
know exactly what it is you are required to do in order
to achieve top marks.
Command words
“Writing a good
essay… is not simply
about writing down
everything you know
about a subject”
The first thing to look at is what ‘command word’ is used
by the examiner. Most essay questions will require you
to cover both sides of the argument by constantly
evaluating the claims that you make with reference to
evidence and competing viewpoints. For example, if the
question asks you to ‘examine, evaluate, discuss,
assess,’ or if it uses language such as ‘to what extent,’
you need to make sure you structure your essay in a way that allows you to pick up evaluation marks
by looking at the significance of the factors and arguments that you discuss. If an argument is not
very convincing, you should explain why this is the
case and provide a competing view. If an argument
is important and significant you should explain why
it is so convincing or important and why it is more
significant than competing perspectives.
Alternatively, if the question asks you to ‘describe,
outline, identify or state’ then this question only
requires you to outline one viewpoint or factor in as
much detail as you can.
“If an argument is not
very convincing, you
should explain why
this is the case and
provide a competing
view.”
Defining key words
The next thing for you to do is to highlight any key
technical words in the question that might need to
be defined in your introduction. For example, if an
Economics question asks you about ‘economic
growth’ you will need to define this difficult term as
it will help the reader to understand your argument. Equally, if a Politics question asks about a
‘participation crisis’ in the UK, you will need to make sure that you explain what this is, and what
evidence would help you to determine the extent of the crisis.
What is the question asking?
The biggest mistake that A-level students make in the
pressurised conditions of the exam room is to answer
the question they wish they had been asked rather
than answering the question in front of them. A
careful reading of the question will help to ensure that
you never do this. So if a History essay asks you to
‘examine the motives that influence the religious
policies of Louis XIV,’ you should focus on the motives
of the King and not on the policies themselves and the
effects that these policies had on the people of
France. Whilst an essay about the effects of the
policies might be interesting to read and exceptionally
written, it will not pick up many marks in the exam
because it doesn’t answer the question set.
“Like every other
piece of analytical
writing, your essay
should have a
beginning, a middle
and an end”
Planning your essay
Like every other piece of analytical writing, your essay should have a beginning, a middle and an end,
and each of these sections should do a different job. The bulk of the essay should be spent on the
middle section of the response because this is where more of the marks will be picked up; however,
you should not neglect your introduction and conclusion because most examining bodies will be
awarding you marks for the quality and coherence of your written communication, and to achieve
top marks your response will require a good structure.
“…you shouldn’t
spend too much time,
or give too much
space to the
introduction. It should
be brief, clear and
focussed on the
question. ”
Introduction
Once you’ve defined any key terms you need to
introduce the reader to the essay by summarising the
key themes and contentious issues that you will discuss
in the main body of the text. For example, if you are
writing an English essay about a poem you have
studied, you might want to briefly introduce the reader
to the themes that occur in the poem. In a Psychology
essay, by contrast, you might introduce the reader to
the different schools of thought in Psychology that you
will be applying to the context of the question.
Whatever your approach, you shouldn’t spend too
much time, or give too much space to the introduction.
It should be brief, clear and focussed on the question.
If you write a good introduction this should help you to
structure the rest of your essay.
Middle
The main body of the essay is the most important part
because it is where you will explain your key points and
evaluate the claims that you make. As discussed above,
most essay questions will invite a debate and engaging in
this debate is where you will pick up most of your marks.
One way of doing this is to make a developed point and
then immediately argue against it, making sure that you
use appropriate evidence to back up your claims. You
could also qualify your answer by making an argument
about its scope or significance, or you could assess which
of the factors you have discussed is the most important
and why. In this section you need to demonstrate to the
examiner that you understand the content, that you can
make an argument that is well supported by evidence, and that you can evaluate the extent and
significance of any claims made.
“…most essay
questions will invite a
debate and engaging
in this debate is where
you will pick up most
of your marks.”
For example, if you were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using a particular voting
system for an election in Politics you would need to look at some of the advantages of the system
(e.g. fairness, delivering a decisive majority in the House of Commons, maintaining the personal
relationship between the MP and his constituents) before contrasting these with some of the
disadvantages (e.g. disproportionate seats compared to the votes cast, makes it easier for extremist
parties to get a seat). At this point a very good essay would then evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of each argument before moving to a logical conclusion.
Conclusion
If you have followed the advice above your conclusion should follow naturally from the discussion
that has preceded it. It should therefore be easy to state the conclusion, making sure to refer back to
the question and why your argument supports the conclusion reached. At this point you might also
consider adding some further depth by using a sentence such as: ‘The most significant reason I have
discussed is…’ This will help you pick up some extra marks, and it will also ensure that your
conclusion draws on, and follows logically from your argument.
What skills do I need to demonstrate?
The skills you will need to demonstrate will differ slightly from subject to subject, so you should
make sure to check with your teacher about how the marks are broken down, but typically there are
three (sometimes four) broad areas where you will need to pick up marks in order to achieve the
very best marks in any subject.
First of all, you will need to make sure that you are demonstrating good subject knowledge by using
evidence, data and context to back up your argument. You should also ensure that you address all
aspects of the question, especially if there is more than one part to it. Secondly, you need to make
sure that your reasoning and arguments follow logical chains of reasoning and that you support all of
your claims with evidence. Finally, you need to make sure that you discuss competing viewpoints
and constantly evaluate the significance of every factor and argument that you discuss.
Introduction:
Define key
terms &
introduce the
main themes
of your
argument
Middle:
Make your
arguments,
ensuring that
you evaluate
the
significance
of each claim.
Conclusion:
Reach a firm
conclusion by
referring back
to your
argument.
This should
be brief.
Finally
If you can do all of this then you will achieve an exam result that ensures that you fulfil your
potential. However, essay writing skills are challenging and they require practice! Just like a
professional footballer needs to take penalty kicks over and over again to train for taking one in the
FA Cup Final, you will have to practise your essay writing skills constantly throughout your course of
study in order to make gradual improvements towards your goal. Your teachers are here to help you
along the way, but there is no substitute for hard work. As the famous inventor Thomas Edison said,
“Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”