WRITING YOUR HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY 2

There are various skills that you require to make your essay appealing to the examiner. We have already looked at the Introduction, the body, and the conclusion. In this episode, we are going to focus on individual writing skills. 

In the last post, we talked about the topic sentence. This sentence should tell the reader what your paragraph is about. When writing the topic sentence, one of the best ways to make it resonate with the reader is using the EDINGLY format. Edingly refers to the use of an -ed and -ing verb form and a -ly adverb. For example, you can say, "Beaten and bruised, he hurriedly ran screaming to his mama." " Realising that he was in deep trouble, Azdak slowly made his exit from Grusinia taking Simon's 30 piasters with him. Such sentences create a more dramatic entry into a paragraph which is your intention to attract more marks. However, you cannot fashion such sentences out of whim, you need to practice it until you make it. Edingly is also a useful tool when crafting sentences with your essay, not only topic sentences. Be warned not to overuse it though. Secondly, you can use transitional words. Such words include; however, meanwhile, nevertheless, on the other hand, in addition, despite, in spite of among others. Though juicy, they make become irritating when used at the beginning of every paragraph. 

Another way is using sentence inversion skills. Inverted sentences begin with the subordinate clause then followed by the main clause. Inversion sounds similar to edingly sentences but here you don't have to follow the standards sentences by edingly. For example, you can say, "When he saw them coming, he rushed into the house to put on a pair of pants," instead of, "He rushed into the house to put on a pair of pants when he saw them coming." 

Furthermore, remember a good essay requires vocabulary, build your language skills by learning a little of the English vocabulary out there. Do not use a lot of jargon though. Just throw in a little vocabulary to spice up things. Learn synonyms, so that you can avoid repeating the same word over. Also, use impactful words instead of obvious ones, for instance, say famished instead of hungry. A sentence like "I am starving." has more impact than the boring, "I am hungry." 

Finally, little creative writing skills like the use of common English idioms, descriptions and imagery add flavour to your work. They light up the reading bulb in the reader and in the case of examination, usher in a lot of good tidings. Always remember that even in official wear, a little accessory is not bad. 

As an afterthought though, the basic rule of writing a good essay is the use of PEE (Point, Evidence, Explain)- the rule of thumb being that you point is the topic sentence, Evidence is a reference to the set text or research and Explain your clincher sentence. A clincher sentence is a sentence that carries your thoughts about the topic under discussion. It should, therefore, be memorable and captivating to the reader. Clinchers sometimes resound your original idea especially when they come at the end of your essay.