EssoyWriting for
EnglishTests
Gobi Duigu
@ Gabi Duigu 2002 All rightsreserved Revisedand reprinted2003 Publishedby AcademicEnglishPress 9/13 ArmstrongStreet CammerayNS\f 2062 Australia P h : 0 2 9 4 3 76 3 3 0 edu.au email:
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Distributedby: Melting Pot Press 10 Grafton Street NS\W2008 Chippendale Australia Ph: (61) 29212 1882 Fax:02 9211 1868 corn.au email:
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ISBN:0-9578996-1-0
lntroduction StogeI
TheQuestion . . . .3
the Question L Understonding
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1.1 The Instructions
1.2 Kev Terms
2. AnolysingtheQuestion...
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2 . 1F i n d i n g t h e F o c u s 2.2 Understandingthe Context 2.3DefiningtheTerms .
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ldeos Stoge2 Selectingond Presenting 3, Findingldeos 3 . 1B r a i n s t o r m i n g 3.2 FindingMore Ideas 3.3UsingExamples 3.4The "'s7hatifNot"Situation 3.5 Looking at the Other Side .
4, Selectingldeos 4 . 1S o l u t i o n s t o P r o b l e m s . .2Evaluation . . 4.3 Classificationof Ideas
....r3 ...14 . . . .15 ' '.... '17 '. '.. 'I7 . . .18
......1e ......19 . . ' .20 . . . . . ' '21
4 . 4 T y p e so f C l a s s i f i c a t i o n 4.5 SelectingRelevantldeas 4.6Levelof Generalisation 4.7 OvergeneralisationsandExaggeration
5, Orgonisingldeos... 5.1 RankingIdeas 5.2Consequences 5.3Comparisons 5.4$ternatives.. 5.5Speculation..
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Stoge3 Writing ond Style. .az 6, Usingthe RightGrommor,Vocobulory 6 . 1G r a m m a r 6.2Vocabulary
7, TheSectionsof the Essoy
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.....40 7.lThe Introduction 7.1.1 Grammar andVocabularyin the Introduction . . . . . . . . .43 .....45 ....: 7.2TheBody. ......47 T.2.lYocabularyintheBody ......48 7 . 3 T h eC o n c l u s i o n . . . . .49 in the andVocabulary Conclusion Grammar 7.3.1
8, Style 8 . 1M o d i f i e r s S.2Overgeneralisation 8.3Overemphasis 8.4UnderstatementandConfusion. 8.5Waffle 8.6FormulaicandThoughtlessVriting 8 . 7I m m a t u r e ' W r i t i n g 8 . 8C u l t u r a l D i f f e r e n c e s i n S w l e
9. Proof-reoding 10,Appeoronce
AnswerKey
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AppendixA
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AppendixB
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This course describesa step-by-stepapproach to writing essaysfor the IELIS Academic \Writing Module Task 2 and for other similar essaytasks. It provides exercisesto practisethe stagesindividually (Appendix A) as well as giving a list of rypical essaytopics, and there are model essaysgiven in Appendix B. The Answer Key provides explanationsas well as answers.
ThePurpose In order to be able to write good essaysit is first of all essentialto make sure that you understand the purpose of the task. It may seemobvious: the purpose is to test your abiliry to write essaysfor university or collegein English. However, a momenr's reflection will make it clear that the test task is quite unlike a university essay,since it is typically 1 to 2 pageslong and is written on an unprepared topic in about 40 minutes. No university essayis like that. Even in universiry examinations,where you may have to write about two pagesin half an hour, you are expectedto have studied the subject in advance. So let us consider some possiblepurposesfor the English test essay.These can be said to be: a) to show that you are able to selectrelevant ideasand information to answer a question