How to write an essay in 30 minutes

By Matt Burdett, 28 February 2020

This article is about how to write a Geography exam essay in just 30 minutes.

In most Geography exams for pre-university courses, such as the IB Diploma or the UK A-level, you’re expected to write one or more essays. This is on top of the short-answer questions that come before then. And your teachers tell you to read all the questions first…and plan your answers…and leave time for checking… so it can seem impossible to actually write a full essay. So here’s my eight tips on how to cover all the bases in the time available.

Tip 1: Plan your essay

Your teacher will always tell you to plan your essay. They are 100% correct. A well-planned essay gets points for structure. You’ll also write more concisely, so you’ll fit in more information. And your argument will develop in a logical way, so you’ll have many more marks for evaluation.

Tip 2: Write your essay plan as a flow diagram…

I was marking an exam when I discovered a really clever idea from a student. They wrote their essay plan in flow diagram form, rather than a table or concept map. This was a really smart idea. It meant that, as an examiner, I could easily follow the essay.

The main point is that it didn’t lose marks. Remember, essays are almost always marked positively. That means you gain credit for clear, concise writing. You don’t lose marks for getting something wrong, so write the essay in a way that helps you to gain credit even if you later change your structure a little bit.

Tip 3: …then draw a box around it and label it ‘Figure 1’

The even smarter thing about this idea is that the student then drew a box around the plan and called it ‘Figure 1: the links between X and Y’. Throughout the essay, they referenced the ‘Figure’ to show the links between the issues being discussed. Even if they hadn’t finished writing the full set of paragraphs, I could have credited ideas they included in the plan. Genius!

Tip 4: Write an introduction that sets the direction of the essay

There’s more about this in my post ‘How to write a good introduction’. Basically, make sure you don’t just waffle. There’s no point in saying ‘The transmission of disease can be for many reasons. These reasons will be debated in this essay’. It doesn’t set up the essay well.

Instead, say something simple like ‘Diseases may be transmitted through relocation and expansion diffusion, which have different social and biological causes’. The direction of your essay will be much more clear to the examiner.

A good essay can be written in just three sentences:

The direction of your essay (like my example above).
Identify the case study locations you’ll use.
If necessary, define key words from the question. There is no need to define words that have a commonly agreed definition e.g. ‘hectare’ but you do need to define words where there is debate over their use, such as ‘resilient city’.

Tip 5: Don’t cross anything out unless (and until) it’s repeated later.

It’s so frustrating when students cross out a perfectly good paragraph, then write it all out again anyway but miss out the key point that got a mark in the first place. Examiners are used to stressed out students waffling a bit. If there is repetition, it will be ok. Just don’t cross out work because once it’s crossed out, the examiner won’t read it and it can’t get any marks.

Tip 6: Read what you’ve written, and stick to the plan

As you write, make sure you’re sticking to your plan. It’s fine to add extras, but you had a plan for a reason: it helps you avoid wasting time.

Also make sure you read what you’ve written. If you notice yourself becoming waffly, stop and think carefully about exactly what you want to say. Never start writing just because you’re running out of time. Three sentences of well considered words is worth far more than a page of nonsense.

Tip 7: Write in paragraphs

Paragraphs have a beginning, middle and an end. Make sure you use a consistent formula to write your paragraphs so that you don’t keep writing unnecessarily. I’ve written more guidance on paragraph structure in my post ‘How to write a good paragraph’.

Tip 8: Always write a conclusion that answers the question

Even if you’ve run out of time, always always always conclude – and use words from the question. It’s essential for the examiner to see that you have answered the question. I’ve written more about how to conclude in just three sentences in my post ‘How to write a good conclusion’.

Tip 9: Keep to time

Sometimes it’s tempting to keep going on a point because you feel you’re writing good stuff. But, you’re probably not leaving enough time for the counter-argument, or the second or third major theme of your essay. Make sure you allocate yourself a specific amount of time for each paragraph, e.g. 6 minutes. If you are going over that time, read it back and check whether it’s worth continuing.

That’s it! If you have any more tips on how to write an essay in thirty minutes, leave a comment below. And good luck with all that writing!!!

How to write a good conclusion

By Matt Burdett, 21 February 2020

This article is about how to write a good conclusion in a Geography essay.

This is one of the hardest things in a Geography essay. How do you avoid repeating yourself?

The simple answer is: paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is where you write the same thing, but using different words. However, some students end up repeating themselves a lot, even if they paraphrase, and waste time by writing out all their evidence again, as well as the theories they’ve referred to. Unfortunately, they fail to answer the question! For exam essays, I recommend aiming for four sentences.

Sentence 1: The main argument in favour (or against)

This is a one-sentence summary of the strongest points you have made in your paragraphs that support your view. It can help your thinking process to actually say ‘in conclusion’ at the start of your sentence. For example:

Sentence 2: The main argument against (or in favour)

This is a similar sentence to the previous one, but with the opposing view.

“Some people argue that there are important drawbacks, such as short term employment although this may be a result of the globalized workforce rather than the sporting events themselves.”

Sentence 3: Close the debate

Make clear the main reason you think that one side is better than the other. For example:

“The benefits are clear and undebated, whereas the negatives may have far more complex underlying causes.”

Sentence 4: Answer the question directly

Answer the question directly, with firm language. For example:

“Therefore, I agree that large-scale sporting events often create more benefits than problems.”

Putting it together

When we look at it together, we can see how this sums up the entire essay without repeating specific facts:

“In conclusion, there are many benefits of large scale sporting events such as billions of dollars of increased funding, an increase in social well being and a positive long term impact on the local environment. Some people argue that there are important drawbacks, such as short term employment although this may be a result of the globalized workforce rather than the sporting events themselves. The benefits are clear and undebated, whereas the negatives may have far more complex underlying causes. Therefore, I agree that large-scale sporting events often create more benefits than problems.”

How to write a good paragraph

By Matt Burdett, 21 February 2020

This article is about how to write a good body paragraph in a Geography essay.

Almost every pre-university Geography course will expect you to write an essay. These essays almost always involve some kind of debate. Some students are tempted to present the debate with two paragraphs – one in the affirmative, one in the negative.

The two paragraph problem

The problem with using just two paragraphs is that you end up with a really simplistic essay. In fact, you’re not really encouraging any evaluation of the issue until the conclusion – all you’re doing is making each argument. You might even end up presenting the arguments as equally valid. It also means that you’re probably looking at the question from just one perspective. This table shows some examples of how this often looks to the examiner:

Perspective	Affirmative	Negative
Time	Yes, it’s a long term solution.	No, it’s not a long term solution.
Importance	Yes, it’s important.	No, it’s not important.
Benefit	Yes, it’s beneficial.	No, it’s harmful.

As you can see, this is pretty basic. And it will probably end up being quite descriptive too.

How to write a good evaluative paragraph

Your essay is a chance to show off your evaluation skills. Following this structure is a good start, so have a look below. But don’t feel you have to always follow this. Ideally, you will be original and come up with more of your own style as you develop your writing skills.

Let’s look at a paragraph in its entirety:

“The economic benefits of major sporting events are immense. An Oxford Economics study commissioned by the Lloyds banking group estimated that the 2012 Olympic Games would generate GBP16.5 billion for the British economy from 2005 to 2017. The cumulative causation associated with such an influx of income contributed to the development of long term employment opportunities at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre, which therefore created knock-on benefits well beyond the period of the Games themselves. Even so, these employment benefits were in relatively low-income positions, and often went to foreign and temporary workers who would agree to the minimum wage. This meant that the local population may not have benefited as much as expected. On balance, the long term jobs still provided an economic benefit, suggesting the benefits of major sporting events outweigh the advantages.”

It doesn’t look much when it’s typed out on the screen, but in a hand-written exam, this is probably two-thirds of a page.

The main point is, you know what the question is, don’t you? Yet you won’t find the question written anywhere on this page. A good body paragraph makes itself clear to the reader even if they don’t know the question. Let’s see how that happened.

Topic sentence

A topic sentence is sometimes known as a thesis statement. It is the first sentence, and should identify the point of the paragraph. For example:

“The economic benefits of major sporting events are immense.”

The examiner can immediately see that the economic benefits are the focus of the paragraph. It has given the paragraph a purpose.

Integrate evidence

The next step is to ensure that you are writing from a position of authority. You have been studying this issue, so show off your knowledge by including some specific evidence. In Geography, this usually comes from a case study.

“An Oxford Economics study commissioned by the Lloyds banking group estimated that the 2012 Olympic Games would generate GBP16.5 billion for the British economy from 2005 to 2017.”

This shows that you are not writing off the top of your head: the ideas you present are grounded in the real world.

Explain in detail

Of course, evidence without explanation is just a list of facts. That leads to a descriptive essay. Aim for things such as:

Using connectives like ‘because’, ‘due to’, ‘therefore’ and ‘so’ several times
Naming a theory that supports your view
Linking to other parts of your essay

“The cumulative causation associated with such an influx of income contributed to the development of long term employment opportunities at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre, which therefore created knock-on benefits well beyond the period of the Games themselves.”

Introduce a counter-argument

More advanced evaluation occurs when you introduce the counter-argument within the paragraph. Remember the two paragraph problem I explained at the start of this article? Well, it wasn’t that the counter-argument didn’t exist – it was just that it wasn’t directly compared to the argument.

You can signal the counter-argument by using phrases like ‘on the other hand’, ‘despite this’, ‘however’, and so on.

“Even so, these employment benefits were in relatively low-income positions, and often went to foreign and temporary workers who would agree to the minimum wage. This meant that the local population may not have benefited as much as expected.”

Just a note of caution: make sure your counter-argument relates directly to the argument. Don’t make the argument about job opportunities being created, and then make the counter-argument about the lack of social opportunities. The counter-argument should be a criticism of what you’ve already said.

Use a hammer statement

Imagine a nail being hammered into the wall. You hit it again and again. That’s what your essay needs to do to answer the question: hit it again, and again, and again.

A good paragraph will end with a hammer statement. This is a statement that sums up the paragraph in relation to the question. It will:

Balance the argument and the counter-argument
Use words from the question
Avoid concluding the entire essay; instead, it will use conditional language

Here’s an example:

“On balance, the long term jobs still provided an economic benefit, suggesting the benefits of major sporting events outweigh the advantages.”

Where next?

This structure means you can have more than one theme. Instead of one paragraph about all the good things and another paragraph about all the bad things, our paragraphs are now structured around themes. This one was about economic benefits versus drawbacks. What other themes would you discuss? Social, political, environmental? Long versus short term? Important versus not important?

What do you think? Do you have any other tips? Comment below!

How to write a good introduction

By Matt Burdett, 3 March 2019

This article is about how to write a good introduction to a Geography essay.

How useful is this introduction?

“The question of whether water consumption is increasing worldwide is an important one for humanity. Water consumption is defined as the amount of water used by people per year in cubic metres. Water consumption may be high or low depending on many factors which will be discussed in this essay.”

Answer: it’s not very useful. This article will suggest another way that gets your introduction done quickly and painlessly.

Weak introductions

Lots of students think the best thing to do in an introduction is to do the following:

Restate the question in your own words
Define each key term in the question
Ask a rhetorical question

Sure; your teacher might like that. But in the exam, when you have about 30 minutes to write a three side essay, it’s not a very effective way of introducing your essay.

But first – what’s the point of an introduction? Why bother? Introductions are the ultimate in signposting. Signposting is when you tell the reader where you’re going next. It helps them to understand how your ideas are organised. The introduction should inform the reader of the main points that you will discuss in your essay.

So, what’s wrong with that first type of introduction?

Restating the question is a waste of time – the examiner has probably already read fifty of these, so they don’t really need to know what the question is
Defining key terms often takes a long time, and doesn’t introduce what you’re writing about
Asking a rhetorical question is great for debate club, but it doesn’t add to your essay

Improving introductions

How can we switch these things to be more effective?

Instead of restating the question, interpret the question. For example, if the question states ‘development’, you could show that you are interpreting it as ‘economic development’ or ‘multidimensional human development’
Instead of defining key terms, only define debated or new key terms. For example, there’s no need to define ‘settlement hierarchy’ because it’s an accepted term with little ambiguity. But the term ‘sustainability’ could be defined because there are lots of types of sustainability – such as environmental sustainability, nexus thinking, social sustainability, economic sustainability and so on. What you mean by sustainability is up to you, and it’s worth defining because someone else might define it differently.
Instead of asking rhetorical questions, try to briefly include the thesis statement of each body paragraph. For example, ‘xxx may be justified through the long term improvements in infrastructure and healthcare, but these must be balanced against the environmental consequences’. Each of the words in italics is the thesis point of a body paragraph.

Even better: three points for a perfect introduction

Now that we’ve improved a bit, let’s think about what would make the examiner even happier. What should you include in an essay introduction? Remember these three points for a perfect introduction:

The focus of the essay (your interpretation of the question) plus any important definitions (remember – define only words that have some debate about them!)
Case studies
Signposting of your body paragraphs

Here’s an example of a good introduction:

‘Water consumption may be agricultural, domestic or industrial, all of which are likely to show increases in the future. The experiences of two countries at different levels of economic development – the USA and South Africa – show that consumption is increasing due to population growth and economic development, although conservation attempts may be made especially within agricultural consumption.”

What’s better about it?

It’s clear that the author interprets water consumption in all main sectors i.e. domestic, industrial and agricultural
The introduction indicates that consumption is increasing…
…but only says ‘likely to’ which shows that they aren’t attempting a conclusion yet
The case studies are really clear – it’s obvious there will be a comparison between the USA and South Africa
The main reasons are stated clearly i.e. population growth and economic development – these make good body paragraph points
There is a counter-argument included i.e. conservation attempts in agriculture
There was no definition. It’s not needed because it doesn’t show where the essay is going

This introduction gives the examiner a very clear idea about what to expect.

A final point: many people believe that an essay introduction should captivate the reader and make them want to read on. However, you also need to consider the audience for your essay. Your audience is an examiner. They have no choice: they have to read your work! An examiner is looking for clarity – which means they want to quickly read your work and easily find where to give the marks. Short, sharp introductions with focus, case studies and signposting will brighten your examiner’s day.