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ESSAY WRITING || WASSCE, ENGLISH LANGUAGE

In the paper one of the English Language exam, the student's ability is tested on his effective use of the Language as a means of communication. The test is basically designed to look critically at student's ability to express themselves with detailed analysis in an appropriate and clear order, that suits the needs of the audience, purpose, topic and situation before them. Therefore, the student is tested on writing an argumentative, narrative, exposition, descriptive essays, creative and letter writing.

Inorder to achieve this, a student should be able to write good grammar, good paragraph, the use of standard English etc. A student should also be able to present good ideas and write a good punctuation and error free spelling with good use of vocabulary idioms and phrasal verbs.

Note : A student's essay should be 450 words long, and an essay that has twenty (20) errors will be awarded zero for mechanical accuracy.




HOW TO APPROACH AN ESSAY QUESTION?


For a student to write a good essay they need good organizational skills and style to plan and present their ideas in a coherent order. Without a good planning skill the student is bound to fail the exam. 
So read carefully as I take you through this trepidating topic. 


Below is the list of key things to consider while answering an essay question. 


  • GATHER POINTS
Inorder to gather points, a student should be able to read between the lines of the given topic and be able to target what he is asked to write about. In view of this, a student should select the question he thinks he has the most relevant points and is able to present the points in a good and convincing order, because this gives him more marks. Afterwards, the student is expected to write down the relevant facts on a rough draft.

  • ORGANIZE YOUR POINTS
When you complete drafting your ideas or points, make sure you select them honestly and arrange them well. You can arrange them by relevance from top to bottom or from bottom to top. But I will advise that you present them from top to bottom. That is, from the most relevant to the least relevant. By this you give a good impression to the examiner about your work before it's too late. Remember, most examiners don't read all through your essay, so make use of the opportunity you have on the first or second paragraphs of your essay.
  • BUILD OR DEVELOP YOUR POINTS
You are required to build your essay from what you have drafted and it should be well developed in paragraphs. You are expected to write a single point in a paragraph backed up with enough explanations, examples, illustrations etc., inorder to earn a better mark. Make sure that you write a simple and concise English. You can't prove yourself too knowledgeable by writing ambiguous sentences simply because you want to impress the examiner. Put your words in a clear sentence that makes sense and will thus earn you a good mark.

  • PROOF-READ YOUR ESSAY
Some of you are too confident that you can write without errors. Sometimes it's a lie. Don't be 100% sure of what you have written. Make sure you revise your work before presenting it. You will be able to correct basic errors in your essay if you re-read your essay.

Thanks for reading and do leave a comment on which point(s) you struggle with most so that I can help you with it in my next write-up. 

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