English Essay

What the official syllabus says

Main Written Examination, Paper I: English and English Essay:

• (iii) Essay.

Essay: Candidates will be required to write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of subjects will be given. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective, and exact expression.

Topics in detail

Choosing a topic

• Reading all the choices and their exact wording before choosing
• Choosing a topic on which one has ideas, facts and a clear view, not only interest
• Understanding the key words of the topic: what is asked, its scope and its limits

Planning

• Spending some minutes on an outline before writing
• Listing ideas under heads: historical, social, economic, political, ethical, international, local (Haryana) aspects
• Deciding the line of argument and the order of paragraphs
• Keeping closely to the subject, as the syllabus requires

Structure

• Introduction: defining the topic, setting its context and stating the approach
• Body: one main idea per paragraph, with reasons, facts and examples
• Linking paragraphs so that ideas follow in an orderly fashion
• Considering more than one side of a question and weighing them
• Conclusion: drawing the argument together, with a balanced and forward-looking view

Language and style

• Concise writing: short, clear sentences; no padding or repetition
• Effective and exact expression: the right word in the right place
• Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
• A formal, impersonal tone; quotations only where they add something
• Facts and figures used accurately and sparingly

Kinds of topics to practise

• Social issues: education, health, gender, youth, family, urbanisation
• Economy and development: agriculture, employment, poverty, infrastructure
• Polity and governance: democracy, rights and duties, civil services, corruption
• Science, technology and environment
• India and the world
• Haryana: its society, economy, sport and culture
• Abstract and philosophical topics, proverbs and quotations

Overlaps

The Hindi paper has an essay too: see Hindi and Hindi Essay. Content for essays comes from the four General Studies papers, for example General Studies I (society) and General Studies IV (ethics).