In order to be able to write good essays it is first of all essential to make sure you understand the purpose of the task. It may seem obvious: the purpose is to test your ability to write essay for university or college in English. However, a moment's reflection will make it clear that the test task is quite unlike a university essay, since it is typical one and a half (1 & 1/2) to two (2) pages long and it written on an unprepared topic in about half an hour. No university essay is like that. Even in university. | PART I INTRODUCTION I. PURPOSE In order to be able to write good essays it is first of all essential to make sure you understand the purpose of the task. It may seem obvious the purpose is to test your ability to write essay for university or college in English. However a moment s reflection will make it clear that the test task is quite unlike a university essay since it is typical one and a half 1 1 2 to two 2 pages long and it written on an unprepared topic in about half an hour. No university essay is like that. Even in university examinations where you may have to write about two pages in half an hour you are expected to have studied the topic in advance. 1. Key terms This is the easiest part of the essay to deal with usually. Normally the key words deal with a familiar topic such as computer or television in the examples given above. This is be cause the examiners are not testing you for knowledge but rather for you ability to write well. Therefore the topics chosen will be about concepts and issues that they expect every educated person to know something about. Common topics include. Education Population The Environment Computers Lifestyles including Life in Cities the Country Traffic problems Culture and Society Foreign languages and travel Television Health Development Issues Try to suggest other topics that you known have been used in previous examinations or that you think might occur. In order to be prepared with ideas on such key concepts it is necessary to keep up to date with the major issues being discussed in the world. The editorial pages of newspapers and news magazines are important sources of such information as are current affairs radio and television programs. 2. The aspect of the topic This is where students often make a mistake because they jump to conclusions about what it is that they are expected to say about the topic. Consider the following topics A Computers have provided great benefits to modern society. Discuss. B Computers are the
