A guide to writing well and using descriptive language

Essay writing is a skill that you will carry beyond the Leaving Cert and into your college life. It can be an intimidating prospect when your teacher tells you that you have to write a five-page essay answer to a ‘King Lear’ or comparative study question. The task can seem insurmountable. However, it should be treated like that old (corny) joke: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. This is where planning and comes in.

Your first job is to read the essay title carefully. Try to rephrase it in your own words. If you cannot do this, it means that you don’t understand the question and therefore, should avoid it like the plague. Don’t forget that Purpose is the king of the PCLM marking scheme. You can only ever score a similar or lesser mark to that you achieved for purpose. So, if you’re not answering the question, you’re not getting the marks that you hope for.

Try to find the key words in the essay title. There should be a few. Write these on top of your planning page and plan the major points you will make to answer the essay question. You should aim to make 6-8 coherent points in 6-8 paragraphs in the main body of your essay. The points can be organized into an outline. Reading over the outline will give you the chance to organise the points and think about how one point (paragraph) moves to the next. Without planning like this, an essay is rarely successful. Unplanned essays tend to meander, wander off point and lack clarity of purpose.

Once you have your essay planned it is time to start writing. The opening line of your introductory paragraph needs to show clear focus on the essay question. You should also briefly introduce a few of the strongest points that you will make in the main body of the essay. Finish your introduction with a flourish, a nicely worded sentence that focuses on the task – that summarises your answer to the question. This takes practice, so you might try to incorporate writing introductions to past essay titles in order to make it second nature.

At this point you are in the main body of your essay. Every paragraph of the main body of your essay needs to make one clear point that it focused on the essay question/title. Make this point clearly at the opening of each paragraph. Explain why this point is relevant. Use evidence/examples/quotes to strengthen the point you are making. Elaborate the importance of this point and the evidence you chose in order to make a fully argued paragraph. Never forget, you make only ONE point per paragraph.

Your final writing task is to write a wellformed conclusion. This is your last chance to impress the examiner, so make it a good final impression. Re-state your position on the essay topic/title. Sum up the best points that you made to prove your opinion in the main body of the essay. Again, finish with a flourish here. Show an appreciation for the poet/play/ particular question that they were being asked to answer.

And one last, very important thing: get into the practice of checking over your finished essays and self-edit as often as you can. This will gain you higher marks for the essay you complete as part of your homework, and it will also make you a more reflective writer, aware of the writing mistakes that you commonly make. This attention to detail will hold you in good stead during the Leaving Cert exam as being a self-aware writer means that you will recognise your writing mistakes even before you make them. Check for spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and verb agreement. Verb agreement is a common mistake I see my own students making – jumping between tenses – from past to future to past again. These may all seem like small things, but believe me they all add up when examiners are marking your work for language and mechanics.

Keep in mind, your mission in this exam is to answer the questions you are asked, display all the study and hard work that you’ve put in and impress the examiner by showing how proficiently you can use the English language. It’s not just about giving the right answer, it’s about showing off how well you can do it!

UNPLANNED ESSAYS TEND TO MEANDER, WANDER OFF POINT AND LACK CLARITY OF PURPOSE