Advice re Essay writing required

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inspired2win
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2009 2:23 pm

Advice re Essay writing required

Post by inspired2win »

Can someone kindly advice how much is required when a 1 hour essay is given to write at an exam? How many A4 size pages should l expect my Ds to write in one hour?

Kindly advice.

Thanks
Inspired2win
Plum
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:26 am

Post by Plum »

Hi
My DS who is in year 6 now writes about a side to a side and a half of A4 in 30 minutes.
I give him a choice of essay questions that I've written out which I got from this site, his tutor and also past papers for Dulwich etc that you can find on the web.
When he first started doing essays they took forever but he has now improved. I've also got him to write about the same character ie describe them as roughly the same each time and to think about describing things using his senses.
How long will your DS be expected to write for in his exams?
inspired2win
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2009 2:23 pm

Essay writng advice

Post by inspired2win »

Thanks for the response, DS will be required to write for one hour.
mattsurf
Posts: 230
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:44 am

Post by mattsurf »

Quantity is not so important - Quality of writing is very important.

Remember that 11+ examiners will have to mark hundreds of these essays; nothing could be less appealing than a pile of excessively long, poorly written, untidy essays. Much better to focus on writing neat, concise and well, using lots of advanced vocabulary, similies, adjectives, reported speach, quotes, proper sentence and paragraph structure.

In 30 minutes 1/2 side of A4 is more than enough

We have had to work hard with DS to reduce the amount that he is writing
moved
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Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Post by moved »

Never include the boring bits.
ggd
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:17 pm

Post by ggd »

How are marks affected if the essay question is leading a child to write in the 1st person but they answer in the 3rd person?
ourmaminhavana
Posts: 966
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:14 am

Re: Advice re Essay writing required

Post by ourmaminhavana »

During my time as an English teacher it was the weaker candidates who invariably wrote the most. As the previous poster said focus on planning, organisation, developing a main idea. Try to find a few minutes at the end to proof read your essay. I would encourage focusing on a short time period eg an evening, rather than over several days, even weeks which again my less capable students tended to do. This will help a student to develop one main incident, rather than trying to roughly sketch out many events. Far better, IMHO, to write well and in detail about less, than to waffle poorly about a lot! It's also self evident that the less you write- within reason- the less chance you have to demonstrate errors.... :lol: Very good luck!

Now off to my local theatre for the first week of their playwriting course where, naturally, I shall be the one who writes the least! :lol:
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Advice re Essay writing required

Post by Amber »

ggd wrote:How are marks affected if the essay question is leading a child to write in the 1st person but they answer in the 3rd person?
I don't know about for 11+, but if I asked a child to write, for example, a diary entry and said child wrote in the 3rd person, I would have a moan about them not doing what was asked, dock a few marks and then continue with what I had. For me it wouldn't be a pass/fail thing if the quality of writing was good, but equally you have to take something off if they don't do what they are asked. Depends what you mean by 'leading ' too. If it says 'write in the first person' or 'write from the point of view of x'. There is a subtle difference and you can get away with third person in the latter, just about.
leanmeamum
Posts: 736
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:14 pm

Re: Advice re Essay writing required

Post by leanmeamum »

Is this past the 11+ because the time allowed is longer?

If it is, then 2-3 sides of good quality writing would be required. The quality is more important than quantity so concentrate on getting that right first.
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