Writing your way to better grades

Essential ingredients for a good essay

1. Past papers: Make sure you ask your teacher where you can get past papers from. They are really important because they can give you a feel for what the questions will be like.
2. Key themes: Write down what you think the main themes and/or events of your topic are. What's your topic really all about? What are the causes and effects? How does it compare with other texts/events? Trust your judgement - you'll probably be right!
3. Outline: Write a brief overview of what you want to include in your essay. Break it up by introduction, then paragraph by paragraph until you reach the conclusion. A good outline is 75% of a good essay. You should be able to write an outline for an essay in 10 minutes-get the hang of it early.

"Write a practice essay in the time you will have in the exam"

4. Timed practice: Write a practice essay in the time you will have in the exam. Think carefully about how you felt. Were there any places in the process you got stuck? Did you find it more difficult to start? Was it hard to stick to your schedule? How easy did you find writing your introduction/conclusion?
5. Second opinion: Get a guardian, parent or teacher to read some of your practice essays. They will be able to point out what you can improve.

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