To write essays, we need ideas. We write the main idea for an essay in a sentence called the topic sentence. In North America, students create their own topic sentences for essay questions in English and Social Studies. This topic sentence is very important for your essay, and you’ve got to get it right. So before you start, make very sure you understand the question. 

Consider an example from my province in Canada. In a grade 12 provincial English exam, students read a poem and a short story and answered this question: What do these texts suggest to you about the forces that inhibit or encourage an individual’s actions? You must also include your own experiences. Youch! If you don’t pass this class, you can’t go on to university. Where do you start? 

First of all, break the question down into easier chunks. The above question can be broken down as: what makes us act (or not act) like we do? Next, think about how the characters acted in the readings. Then, search your memory. Do you have any similar experiences?

Experience is key. To get ideas for an essay, you need experiences outside of the classroom. North American students do part-time jobs to get experience (and money to buy used cars!). Unfortunately, international students do not have work permission in foreign countries. How can they get important experiences to write good essays? More next post!

If you are interested in learning how to write an essay in English, give me a shout!