Writing Part 1
Planning an Essay
B2 First Exam
In this section:
Strategies for planning the B2 First Part 1 Essay.
Why you should plan
A lot of people want to skip the planning stage and immediately start writing. However, this often leads to disorganized essays and can lead to frustration while writing. It's actually much wiser to plan your writing, and the entire process will be easier as a result.
Having a plan will:
help your piece be more organized, leading to a higher mark for organization
help you with idea generation
make it easier to double-check that you've done everything required in the task, leading to a higher mark under content
make the writing process will be much easier and faster
result in writing which is easier to read, leading to a higher score under communicative achievement.
Planning is actually really easy and not a waste of time at all. In fact, all high-scoring essays begin with a plan.
Identify what the task is about
Here's an example B2 First Part 1 essay:
Before planning. it is crucial that you know exactly what to write about so take a moment to read the task clearly.
Luckily, Part 1 B2 First writing tasks are always set up in a similar fashion, so you will be prepared about what to do.
Identify the Audience
In the example above it tells us that we are writing an essay for an English teacher. Whenever we write an essay, we must use a neutral or slightly-formal tone, and we also should use a formal tone whenever writing to a teacher.
It's always important to identify the reader so we know what kind of tone to use. For example, the style you use in an essay or report will be different than the style you use for an informal letter. You will be marked on how well you do this, so it's always important to identity the reader.
Answer the Question
These tasks always have a question you must answer. In this task, the question is:
"Some parents teach their children at home rather than sending them to school. Is it a good or bad thing for the children?".
Answer the question before doing anything else.
In this case, my answer will be: Homeschooling is bad for children.
Note: If you get a question that asks your opinion, always pick a side, even if you don't really have one.
It's possible that you will have no strong feelings about the topic. However, it's easier to write an essay when you pick a side; your opinion and essay will be clearer to the examiner, resulting in a higher mark.
Identify the Tasks
Each question will always tell exactly what you must write about.
In an essay, it will list two bullet points which you must address. You must select the third point to talk about.
Notes
Write about:
having a parent as a teacher
making friends
.......................... (your own idea)
Creating your Outline
An essay should have both an introduction and conclusion. You can organize your essay quickly and easily by dedicating one paragraph to each part.
For a B2 First essay task like the one above, the paragraphs will be:
Introduction
Body Paragraph 1 - Bullet point 1 (parents as teachers)
Body Paragraph 2 - Bullet point 2 (making friends)
Body Paragraph 3 - Bullet point 3 (our own idea)
Conclusion
Planning the Paragraphs
Earlier, we were provided with 2 ideas. We also must create our own. I am going to talk about: quality of education
Here are our points:
having a parent as a teacher
making friends
quality of education
Then we must brainstorm what to write for each point. While there are several ways you could do this, I recommend the following way.
Each supporting paragraph should have:
One sentence introducing one of the points.
One sentence which gives an example or a reason.
One sentence which addresses the main question.
Using this format ensures that:
each point is addressed
each point has some relevant supporting information or an example
each paragraph ties back to the main question of the essay (great for a high score under organization.)
What to talk about
A lot of people really struggle with idea generation. They think that their ideas must be really clever or interesting, so they waste a lot of time brainstorming, trying to think of good things to write about.
Your ideas do not need to be amazing. In fact, they can be stereotypical and overused. This is not an ideas test; it is a communication test. You do not need to impress the examiner with original, brilliant ideas, you only need to impress them with your English!
Instead, write about whatever is:
easy for you to talk about that you have vocabulary for
easy to explain
easy to think of examples for that are logical and support your position
This will also make your essay clearer and easier to understand for the examiner, resulting in higher scores under communicative achievement and organization.
The Body Paragraphs
As I mentioned before, pick things that are easy for you to talk about. You get no extra points for creativity or amazing ideas.
Also, it doesn't matter which order you write the points in. You could write about everything in the same way its presented in the task, or begin with your point and address the other two last - it doesn't matter. Do whatever is easiest for you.
Body Paragraph 1:
Introduce the topic (Parent as Teacher) - They are the same person
Point - makes it harder for children to leave school behind
Tie it to the question - It's best to send them to school
Body Paragraph 2:
Introduce the topic (Making Friends) - Can be harder without classmates
Explanation - It's harder to make friends, resulting in loneliness
Tie it back to the question - Better to send them to school where it's easier to make friends
Body Paragraph 3:
Introduce the topic (Quality of Education) - Educators are trained but parents are not
Explanation - The quality of education is not as good because of lack of qualifications
Tie it back to the question - Better education at school
Conclusion
The conclusion will finish your piece. Your conclusion should:
Summarise the main point of your writing.
Not have new ideas.