Writing for success at A level

The following pages have been designed for students who are just starting to write essays at the start of year 12. This is probably the first time you have come across this way of having your work assessed and it usually presents at least some difficulties to all students. As teachers we have become accustomed to several common complaints and excuses when it comes time to hand in those first essays of the Sixth Form;

Common complaint 1;

"I knew the answers, I just didn’t know how to write them down!"

Common complaint 2;

"I didn’t know what the question was asking!"

Other excuses ;

"You didn’t give us enough time!"

"The dog ate it."

"The printer didn’t work"

"Nobody told me I had to do it"

"I had too much other home work"

e.t.c.

If one assumes that, as a student who is reading this, you are keen to get on well and make a good impression, take a bit of advice;

Never use any of the "other excuses".

You will find they cause your teacher to role their eyes, assume expressions of deep disbelief and mentally label you at an early stage as a "slacker". And remember;

Nobody likes a "slacker".

Having said this, the first two complaints are perfectly valid. Indeed it would be very surprising if students attempting such a difficult skill for the first time did not experience difficulties, but;

Don’t panic!

Writing essays is a skill. It can be learned and these pages are going to show you how. If you read them carefully, do the practice which they suggest and keep your teacher up to date with your progress, you will get better. Unfortunately this does mean that complaints 1 and 2 will no longer be acceptable but it will also lead to better and better grades, improved confidence, more friends, a fabulously well-paid job and dramatic improvements in your relations with the opposite sex……

….well definitely better grades!

You must be a good Geographer if you are taking an A-level. Developing your writing skills will help you to show just how good a Geographer you are. Writing skills can be learned and applied to any subject and it is important that you know what these skills are and can learn to apply them properly. With practice they should become second nature, leaving you to…. …..concentrate on Geography.

Planning;

This section of the help sheet will show you the planning process which you should go through before you attempt to tackle any writing. Just as a Geographer would never go for a walk without consulting a map so you must have devise an organised plan to guide you through your essay in easy steps.

Step 1 - STOP! – don’t jump in without thinking and planning for at least 5 minutes.

Step 2 - Underline any "command words" in the title – these are words like "describe", "explain", "compare" and "contrast" which tell you what to do.

Step 3 - Write down on a sheet of paper any "key points" which relate to the question. These may be landforms, processes, human activities or case study dates, locations and details. Be sure to leave plenty of space between each one to add extra details.

Step 4 - Decide which order it would be best to put these key points and number them on your rough plan.

Step 5 - Mark in any convenient places for relevant annotated diagrams.

Step 6 - Re-read the question and add / delete details in your plan.

Step 7 - Write out your answer, crossing out each key point as you use it.

Result – You are a winner!

As you may have been told before an essay is like a dog. It should have;

i) A short, snappy, opening at the front. (INTRO.)

A main body of many parts, all(DESCRIPTION),

linked together and working in (EXPLANATION),

harmony. (DISCUSSION)

A short tail, connected to the main (CONCLUSION) body and leading to a final point.

In order to keep your essays healthy you must feed them full of relevant facts and information and exercise your writing skills regularly with plenty of practice. These pages are designed to help.

Tips for writing;

a) An introduction –

Giving definitions of key points and command words in the title is a good way to draw yourself (and the examiner) into the answer. Don’t make the intro. too long, (3 or 4 good sentences are plenty).

b) A conclusion –

Use your essay plan to select and briefly re-cap 3 or 4 key points you have discussed. Finish with one sentence which gives a simple answer to the original question.

This could be;

yes / no, for / against, has an effect / has no effect, most important / least important,

but usually the concluding sentence contains a "qualification" such as;

sometimes yes / sometimes no, in some places yes / in some places no, partly for / partly against, has some effect, is one of a range of important factors.

The most important thing is that your conclusion is clearly linked to and supported by the body of your essay.

Finally if you really want to get a top mark in Geography keep an eye out for the things which don’t quite fit in or the ‘anomalies’. You won’t have to explain why some evidence doesn’t fit in with the general pattern, but if you show the examiner that you have spotted something strange and can hazard a reasonable guess as to why this might be you will be greatly rewarded. The conclusion would be a good place to fit this in.

For example;

Q. Why are global temperatures greatest at the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?

A. (after having explained why the tropics are hot) "…….the only places where temperatures are lower than expected in these regions are (for example) on the West coast of South America and in the North of India. This may be because they are areas of high altitude."

Please e-mail me, M.Partridge (mp@ke7.org.uk), with your comments and suggested improvements. Thanks. This page was last updated 30/11/05.