Planning a short essay
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| analyse the question | 审题 | shěn tí |
| thesis | 论点 | lùn diǎn |
| synthesis | 综合 | zōng hé |
Five lines before any prose
- An essay that wanders was planned in the writing. An essay that answers was planned before it.
- The plan is five lines: one per paragraph, in order.
- Reordering an outline costs a minute. Reordering a finished essay costs an evening.
Start from the command word
- Analyse the question 审题 first, and underline the command word.
- Discuss wants both sides weighed, then your judgement. Evaluate wants a verdict with criteria. Compare wants the same criteria applied to two things.
- An excellent essay answering the wrong command word loses more marks than a mediocre one answering the right one.
Match each command word to what it asks for.
The command word decides the shape of the whole answer, which is why it is underlined first.
Brainstorm, then cut
- Write more ideas than you need, then keep the three you can actually support with evidence.
- An idea you find interesting but cannot evidence belongs in the conversation, not the essay.
- Order the three so each one leads to the next.
Put the planning steps in order.
Cutting before outlining is what keeps the essay to the question rather than to your notes.
Outline: "Discuss the effects of smartphones on student study habits."
- Introduction — phones are universal among students; thesis 论点: they help access and hurt attention, and which wins depends on how study is organised.
- Access: material, dictionaries, group coordination.
- Attention: notification interruption and the cost of resuming a task.
- What decides which wins: planned use against constant availability.
- Conclusion — answer the question, no new evidence.
Five lines. The essay cannot wander now, because the plan already answers the question.
Introduction, thesis, conclusion
- The introduction gives context and states the thesis — your answer, in one sentence.
- The conclusion answers the question and adds no new evidence.
- Synthesis 综合 means combining sources into your own argument, rather than describing them one after another. It is what separates a GAC essay from a school report.
Which of these is a thesis?
A thesis is a sentence someone could disagree with. The others state facts or announce intentions.
A conclusion is a good place to introduce your strongest new piece of evidence.
A conclusion answers the question and adds no new evidence. New evidence there looks like poor planning.
What does synthesis mean in an academic essay?
Describing sources one after another is a report. Combining them into your claim is an essay.
Write a thesis sentence for: "Discuss whether homework improves learning."
Example: "Homework improves learning when it practises something already taught, and wastes time when it introduces new material."
The thesis is one sentence that could be disagreed with. Smartphones affect study in many ways cannot be disagreed with, so it is not a thesis. They help access and hurt attention, and organisation decides which wins can be, so it is.
Do not save your position for the conclusion. An academic essay states the thesis in the introduction and spends the body proving it. Holding the answer back reads as indecision, not as suspense.