In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
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Sample C2 level Essay
The following is a sample essay based on the Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English (ECPE) writing section. The question can be found on page 152 of the ECPE Book 1 Practice Examinations textbook published by the Hellenic American Union.
National examinations at the end of high school force students to study very hard, but are they actually learning or just memorizing? Give your opinion about this practice and its outcome.
What do I do with the sample writing found on this blog?
Sample C2 level Essay
The following is a sample essay based on the Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English (ECPE) writing section. The question can be found on page 152 of the ECPE Book 1 Practice Examinations textbook published by the Hellenic American Union.
National examinations at the end of high school force students to study very hard, but are they actually learning or just memorizing? Give your opinion about this practice and its outcome.
Educating
children and teenagers in our day and age is one of the most vital things
needed for a successful career in the future, which is why many experts
disagree as to what the structure of the educational system should be. More
specifically, it is the methods of assessment which generate a great deal of
heated debate as many claim that high school exams at the end of one’s academic
career merely force students to memorize
information and not learn it. It is my view, however, that such exams are
beneficial in the long run.
To
begin with, national exams allow students to review and synthesize facts anew.
The point of major exams in fact is to make students see the whole picture, not
just a chapter or unit of information. For instance, students who learn about
the French Revolution one year and study the American Revolution or the
Industrial Revolution in the next are able to compare and contrast these
separate historical eras and thus have a clearer picture of the 18th
and 19th centuries as a whole when they revise for these finals. Instead
of seeing them as separate events, it is more apt to view them as part of a
continuum, which is what the study of history should make us see.
A
further reason why such exams help students learn better is that school is not
only meant to teach you facts, but to form you as a person as well. Studying
for national exams is arduous work which places you under stress. Life is no
different, and neither are employers who will set difficult tasks with
impossible deadlines. Were a student to learn to discipline themselves to work
hard and weather such taxing moments, they would gain the self-confidence and
experience necessary for tertiary education and the professional world.
There are,
nevertheless, those who rightly point out that examinations like these are
simply exercises in rote learning and that students forget the majority of
things they memorized if not immediately, then in a few years at least. What
such people tend to forget, however, is that the mind is a tool which needs to be
trained like any other muscle. If anything, such exams train children’s minds
to remember and this too will serve them in the future, and although a
considerable amount of what they learn will be forgotten, whatever matters to
them the most will not be erased from their minds.
All
things considered, memorizing information for national exams at the end of
senior year is a good way to prepare students for difficult undertakings in
later life and widens their scope as regards any given subject they are tested
on. Regardless of what is remembered or forgotten, it is a valid way to test
one’s ability to manage time, handle pressure, train the mind and proves a
person’s determination to succeed and dedication to effort.
Word count: approx. 480 words