Recipe for essay writing
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

Each year, I try to assist you, my students, by providing you with some terms that are often used in the questions that will be on Paper 02 of your external examination. As you know, you will be writing THREE responses to questions and I think that it is time for you to become familiar with them, if you are not yet.

COMMENT:

This means that you should give a judgement or opinion about something. You could be asked to comment on justice in The Merchant of Venice, in which case you would write about whether fairness obtains in the handling of all legal matters.

COMPARE:

Tells you to examine (look closely at) or judge one thing against another to show how they are the same or how they are different. For instance, you may be asked to Choose TWO books and compare how a major character in EACH is affected by his upbringing.

CONSIDER:

This advises you to think about a situation carefully; that is, to examine all the facts of a situation before coming to conclusions.

CONTRAST:

Here, the question requires that you examine or judge two people or things in such a way that their differences are made clear.

DESCRIBE:

Say what someone or something is like. You would explain and give illustrations. For example, 'describe the opening scene of the play' would demand that you say what the setting is, what is on the stage, how the characters dress, how they relate to each other, what is their physical appearance and so on.

DISCUSS:

Talk or write about details of something with someone else or share your ideas about something/anything in an organised manner. A question such as 'discuss what these difficulties reveal about the characters involved in the relationship' requires you to align the action/reaction of the one facing the difficulty with the difficulty in order to see whether the person panics or the person deals calmly with the situation. This is how you can decide on the person's character.

EXPLAIN:

Means to make something clear and easy to understand. In explaining, you must organise your facts logically. If you are asked to 'explain how the relationship between Toycie and Emilio affected Toycie', you should recount what you know and then give the facts on how what happened between them caused certain results in her life.

GIVE:

This is simply asking you to supply or share information as required.

HOW:

Is used when you are stating the way in which something happens.

IDENTIFY:

Asks you to recognise and name someone or something.

OUTLINE:

To share the main ideas or facts of something with no details.

REFER:

This requires that you give an example or make a remark, mentioning or giving information about someone or something. You must, in other words, supply direct and precise information. If you are asked to make close references or refer closely, you are to give examples directly from the text.

PRESENT:

Give information or show someone's character to people in a formal way.

SAY:

To express something about someone or something.

SHOW:

Allow or cause something to be seen.

STATE:

Say or express.

SUGGEST:

To give someone an idea to consider.

Please familiarise yourselves with the above so that you can use your knowledge to write good essays. Remember to plan your answers, identifying suitable supporting points and relevant quotations to use. Do not itemise, number points or skip lines as you move from idea to idea in your essay - just start new paragraphs. You should write in standard English and get into the habit of reading over your work, making the necessary corrections and additions. Please sharpen your essay writing skills!

In our next lesson we will, as promised, return to Wilson's Fences.

Remember always to do your best, regardless of circumstances. God bless!

Kingston College's Noel Mais (left) and Jamel Hamilton of Norman Manley High School tussle for possession during a recent Manning Cup match at Tinson Pen. Norman Manley won 2-0. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer