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Need ideas!

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:25 pm
by Hannah Shewan
My child is a brilliant writer but needs help thinking of ideas when she is faced with an essay title.
Need help and quick! She has a grammar school exam later this month and is never in the mood to work since it is almost her birthday, I do feel sorry for her!
Need help thinking of ideas when faced with titles, quick! :

Re: Need ideas!

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:23 am
by RLB10
I think that schools are looking for originality and a different way of looking at the subject matter/ given title. Ask your child what they like writing about. Sometimes it is good to show them that they can integrate their interests into the essay. For example, if they are interested in animals, you could take the main character in an essay about, let's say 'Hairdressers', and give them a pet that they love. Or if they have a passion for music, the main character may spend their free time playing an instrument. Of course, they can't go completely off topic, but the title/ topic can always be interpreted in more subtle ways that will give them space to add in little bits of their own interest. An example of this is the the common 'What's in the box?" type title. Most children will write an essay about some sort of mysterious box. A good way of thinking about this would be trying to think of what the 'box' could actually mean. The answers to that are much more varied than you may think - it could be a Doctor Who police box, it could be a metaphor for the brain, it could be about a box office selling tickets. Try giving more structure to the whole thing too. Of course she doesn't have to work on her birthday, but leading up to it is a completely different question. Having essay sessions 3 or 4 times a week is probably a good idea. Make sure to plan out when they will take place so that your child can plan out her week accordingly. She can still do the things she enjoys, and make that clear to her. But a good work ethic is always important, birthday coming up or not. I hope this leads you in the right direction.