What Makes a Good Essay? — Essay Writing 1 (C1)

ESSAY WRITING · LESSON 1

What Makes a Good Essay?

C1–C2 · IELTS Writing Task 2 · 90 minutes

Myth: the secret formula

Task Alone: score each statement on the 1–5 scale and write your numbers down. Keep them for later. In pairs: compare. Find the statement where your scores differ most, and explain your number to each other.

1

strongly agree

2

mostly agree

3

on the fence

4

mostly disagree

5

strongly disagree

1. There is a formula: learn the right structure and phrases, and band 7 or higher follows.

2. A good IELTS essay and a good university essay are different things.

3. An examiner can tell when a sentence has been memorised.

READING

What an essay is for

In 1571 Michel de Montaigne, a French nobleman tired of public life, retired to his family's château in south-west France to read, think and write. The first two books of what he wrote appeared in 1580 under the title Essais. In the French of his day, an essai was a trial, a test or an attempt, from the verb essayer, to try. Montaigne was not filling in a form. He was trying out his judgement on a question to see where it led.

Four centuries later the essay is still an attempt, but it has gained a reader. In 1979 the writing researcher Linda Flower published "Writer-Based Prose" in the journal College English. She described two kinds of writing. Writer-based prose follows the writer's own path through the material: ideas in the order they occurred, linked by a private logic the

writer never explains. Flower saw it as a natural way to think on paper, and a normal first draft. Reader-based prose has been rebuilt for someone else. It states the point, puts ideas in the order a reader needs them and explains what the writer had taken for granted.

Put the two together and you have this course's working definition. An academic essay answers a question with an argument, for a reader. It takes a position, gives reasons someone else can follow and test, and stops when the question has been answered.

IELTS Writing Task 2 asks for exactly this. The prompt is the question. Your essay is the attempt. The examiner is the reader, and has only the page.

One question, two answers

Task In pairs, read both openings. Agree which one you would rather keep reading, and which one says more. Then find three things Essay A does that Essay B doesn't, and write them down in your own words.

Some cities now ban private cars from their centres. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

ESSAY A · 83 words

ESSAY B · 95 words

In today's modern world, the issue of banning private cars from city centres has become a hotly debated topic. This essay will discuss both the advantages and the disadvantages of this policy before reaching a conclusion.

Firstly, there are many advantages. To begin with, banning cars reduces pollution. Moreover, it makes streets safer. Furthermore, it encourages people to use public transport. In addition, it can help local shops. On the other hand, however, there are also some disadvantages which need to be considered.

Many of the world's oldest cities were built long before the car, and their narrow centres have struggled to make room for it. Some have now decided to ban private cars from these centres altogether. Although the ban has real costs, I believe its advantages outweigh them.

The clearest gain is the street itself. A road that once carried four lanes of traffic can hold trees, benches and a cycle lane, and people who used to drive straight through begin to stop, sit and spend. Local shops, often the ban's loudest critics, may gain most.

Four questions a reader asks

Task Take the three things you found in Essay A. Which question does each one fail?

Every essay is read by someone who asks four questions. Each one matches one of the four IELTS criteria.

TR

CC

LR

GRA

Task Response

Coherence and Cohesion

Lexical Resource

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

“Did it answer the question?”

“Can I follow it?”

“Is every word the right one?”

“Is every sentence under control?”

The Task 2 frame

40

250+

×2

4

MINUTES

WORDS

WEIGHT

CRITERIA

About 40 minutes are suggested for Task 2, out of 60 minutes for the whole Writing test.

Write at least 250 words.

Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the Writing score.

It is marked on four criteria, equally weighted: the four reader's questions.

The Task 2 frame (2)

The word budget (this course's recommendation): introduction 40–50 words · body paragraph 1 100–110 · body paragraph 2 100–110 · conclusion 30–40, for about 280–300 words in all. Aim at about 300, and stop at about 320.

Introduction

Body 1

Body 2

Conclusion

40–50

100–110

100–110

30–40

0

100

250 minimum

200

~320 ceiling

~300 target

Task (Pairs, 2 minutes) The minimum is 250 words, so why does this course stop at about 320? Why not write 400? Agree one reason.

Fix the opening

Some cities now ban private cars from their centres. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Task Alone (6 minutes)

Task In pairs (3 minutes)

In your own document, rewrite the introduction of Essay A in three sentences, 50 words or fewer: (1) set the issue in a wider context; (2) say what the question proposes, in your own words; (3) give your position, without your reasons yet. Don't reuse sentences from Essay B.

Swap with a partner. Check their introduction against the four reader's questions, and tell them one question it answers well and one it doesn't answer yet.

What makes an essay good?

Task Groups of 3 or 4. Choose the three cards that matter most for a good essay and the three that matter least. Write their letters, and agree one reason for each choice.

A

A clear answer to the question

E

Length

B

Rare vocabulary

F

A memorable opening

C

Many linking words

G

No errors

D

Developed examples

H

A balanced view

Matter most

Matter least

Where you learned to write

Task Discuss as many questions as you can. Then choose the one you disagreed about most, and be ready to give both sides in one sentence each.

1. At your school, what counted as a good essay? Who was the reader?

2. Were you taught to give your opinion at the start, at the end, or not at all?

3. Does IELTS reward one culture's idea of a good essay? If so, is that fair in an international test?

4. Is "clear" the same in every language, or do some writing traditions value a slower, less direct route to the point?

5. Which habit from your school writing would you keep for this course, and which would you drop?

Back to the myth

Task Score the three statements again on the 1–5 scale. Has any of your numbers moved? Why?

1

strongly agree

2

mostly agree

3

on the fence

4

mostly disagree

5

strongly disagree

1. There is a formula: learn the right structure and phrases, and band 7 or higher follows.

2. A good IELTS essay and a good university essay are different things.

3. An examiner can tell when a sentence has been memorised.

Before Lesson 2

A good essay answers the question with an argument a reader can follow, and no formula can do that for you.

TR

Task Response

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

Before Lesson 2, write one timed essay exactly the way you write now: it is your starting point, and you will compare it with your finished portfolio essay in Lesson 10.

LR

Lexical Resource

Next lesson: The Criteria in Plain English. What the four reader's questions look like in the public band descriptors, and what really separates bands 7, 8 and 9.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Homework

Task Write a timed diagnostic essay on the prompt below. Set a timer for 40 minutes. Use no dictionary, no notes and no online tools. Write at least 250 words, the way you normally would: don't try to use today's ideas yet.

40

MINUTES

In many countries, adults now spend years caring for an elderly parent while still working full time. Should the main responsibility for looking after older people lie with their families or with the state? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

250+

When you have finished, write down at the end: your word count, and how many minutes you spent planning, writing and checking. Save the essay and don't revise it: it stays untouched until Lesson 10.

WORDS

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key (1)

ONE QUESTION, TWO ANSWERS teacher notes; both texts are only an introduction and the start of a first body paragraph

• Which would you rather read, which says more: most readers choose B on both counts, though A is longer in sentences and uses more linkers. B makes one point and follows it through; A names four points and says nothing about any of them.

• Things A does that B doesn't (any three):

1 Opens with filler, not context. "In today's modern world" and "a hotly debated topic" could open an essay on almost anything; delete them and nothing is lost. B's first sentence is just as wide (it starts with the history of old cities, not with the ban), but it is about this issue, so it sets the scene the question sits in. The difference is not wide versus narrow; it is substance versus filler.

2 Announces instead of answering. "This essay will discuss both the advantages and the disadvantages … before reaching a conclusion" promises an answer later. The prompt asks whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages; A never says, and B says in its third sentence. B gives its position without its reasons: those wait for the topic sentence ("The clearest gain is the street itself"), so nothing is said twice.

3 Lists ideas without developing them. Pollution, safety, public transport and shops each get one short sentence and no reason, example or consequence. B takes one idea (the street) and develops it: what changes, what people then do, and who gains.

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key (2)

4 Stacks linking words. "Firstly … To begin with … Moreover … Furthermore … In addition … On the other hand, however": seven linkers in six sentences, two of them saying the same thing at the start and two together at the end. They join items in a list, not steps in an argument. B uses almost none, and is easier to follow.

5 Leaves the paragraph without a point of its own. "There are many advantages" is not a claim anyone would dispute. B's paragraph opens with a claim ("The clearest gain is the street itself") that the rest of it supports.

• What A does well, to say out loud: its grammar and spelling are accurate. Its problem is the thinking on the page, not the language. That is why it is useful: it is the kind of essay a formula produces.

• What B leaves open: it admits that the ban "has real costs" without yet saying what they are. In a full essay that is body paragraph 2's job.

• B's introduction in three steps (the shape Lesson 5 teaches): a wide context sentence (old cities built before the car), a reference to the question (some now ban cars from their centres), and a position without reasons ("Although the ban has real costs, I believe its advantages outweigh them").

WHAT MAKES AN ESSAY GOOD? there is no single right ranking; this is the reasoning the four reader's questions point to

• Likely top three: A, D and, arguably, G or H.

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key (3)

• A. A clear answer to the question is the first reader's question ("Did it answer the question?"). Without it nothing else is an essay.

• D. Developed examples are how an argument earns belief: an idea explained and shown, not just named. Essay B's one developed point says more than Essay A's four listed ones.

• Likely bottom three: B, C and E.

• B. Rare vocabulary: the question is "Is every word the right one?", not "Is every word rare?". A rare word in the wrong place does harm. Lesson 9 takes this on.

• C. Many linking words: Essay A shows that more linkers can make a text harder to follow. Lesson 8 takes this on.

• E. Length: beyond the minimum of 250, more words don't earn more credit, and they cost checking time.

• The ones worth arguing about:

• F. A memorable opening: an opening that is memorable because it is about this question helps; a memorised one, as in Essay A, doesn't. Lesson 5.

• G. No errors: accuracy matters, but "Is every sentence under control?" is about control across a range of sentences, not only about avoiding mistakes. An essay with no errors and no position still fails the first question. Lesson 2 decodes this.

• H. A balanced view: a balanced view is not the same as no view. This prompt asks whether advantages outweigh disadvantages, so weighing both sides is part of the answer, but the essay still has to come down somewhere. Lesson 3 asks whether every essay must cover both sides.