how to write english essay in waec

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HOW TO WRITE A HIGH-SCORING ESSAY IN YOUR WAEC ENGLISH EXAM

(Here’s an Audiovisual Lecture on How to Write a High-Scoring Essay in Your WAEC English Exam )

1. Why is it Important to Score High in Essay Writing in the WASSCE English Ex am?

Essay writing carries the highest marks in the WASSCE English exam. In the essay writing section, you’re given four or five topics and you’re required to write on only one of them; yet that single essay writing question carries 50 marks. This implies that if you can write a good essay you’ll score maximum marks in this section, and this will enhance your overall performance in the entire English exam. This is the focus of this article – to show you how exactly you can write a high-scoring essay that will boost your overall performance in the exam.

2. Types of Writing to Expect in the Essay Writing Section

In the essay writing section of the WAEC English exam, questions are usually set on the following various topics:

1. Letter Writing

2. Article Writing

3. General Essays

4. Speech Writing

5. Report Writing

6. Story Writing

From these various types of writing, 5 questions are set, and you’re required to pick just one question and write on it in about 450 words. This one question carries 50 marks, and your score will depend on how well you perform in the following areas of assessme nt: 1. Content = 10 marks 2. Organization =10 marks 3. Expression = 20 marks 4. Mechanical Accuracy =10 marks.

The following past WAEC English essay questions exemplify the types of essay questions that frequently occur in this theory section of the exam:

WASSCE JUNE 2020 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2 THEORY QUESTIONS (SECTION A) ESSAY

1. Your brother who is in the third year in another school has written to confide in you that he is about to stop schooling and go into business. Write a letter to him advising him against the decision.

2. Write an article suitable for publication in a national newspaper on the topic: The Importance of Promoting Good Reading Habits in Students.

3. As the Senior Prefect of your school, write a letter to the Principal pointing out at least two practices among students that should be discouraged and two habits that should be promoted among teachers.

4. A new Principal has been posted to your school. Write a speech you will deliver at the welcome party organized for him informing him about some of the problems faced by students.

5. Write a story that ends with the statement: I had never felt so embarrassed in my life.

In the above June 2020 WASSCE English essay questions, you can see two questions on letter writing, one question each on article writing, speech writing, and story writing respectively. From these five questions, you are expected to pick only one and write on it. Let’s assume that you finally pick a question on letter writing. How are you going to write a high-scoring letter in this exam?

Here are 15 Top Tips on How to Write a High-Scoring Letter :

1. Identify the Type of Letter you’re asked to write. Find out whether it is a formal letter, a semi-formal letter, or an informal letter. This is because each type of letter has a different way of writing it in terms of address, salutation, topic, language and tone, and so forth. For example, a formal letter requires two addresses and a title or topic, whereas an informal letter requires only one address and doesn’t need a title.

How exactly do you identify the type of letter you have been asked to write? The first thing to consider is the question “who am I going to write the letter to?” In question 1 of the June 2020 WASSCE Essay Section mentioned above, you are asked to write a letter to “your brother who is the third year in another school.” This is an informal letter because the person you are going to write to is someone who shares a personal relationship with you. Once it’s a personal letter, it’s an informal letter. In the other letter in question 3 above, you are to write a letter to “the Principal” of your school. This is a formal letter because the person you are going to write to occupies an official position. Once it’s an official letter, it’s a formal letter. Right?

2. Find out the Purpose of the Letter. This is important for two reasons. One, the purpose of the letter helps you to identify the type of letter you are going to write. Two, it helps you to know the exact content of your letter. Let’s take another look at the letter in question 1: Your brother who is in the third year in another school has written to confide in you that he is about to stop schooling and go into business. Write a letter to him advising him against his decision (WASSCE June, 2020). Here, the purpose of the letter is to advise your brother against the decision to stop schooling and go into business. One, since the purpose is to give personal advice, it’s an informal letter. Two, this given purpose provides the basis for your outline (the points to jot down – the exact things you’re going to say in your letter).

3. Write the Appropriate Address(es). Once you identify the type of letter you’re going to write, you will be able to start with the appropriate address(es). In a formal letter, write your address (the writer’s address), the date, and the the receiver’s official designation and full address. In a semi-formal or informal letter, you need to write only the writer’s address, and then go straight to the salutation.

4. Use Appropriate Opening and Closing Greetings. The following are the appropriate opening and closing greetings for the different types of letters: (1) Formal Letter: Dear Sir/Madam; Yours faithfully; (2) Semi-formal Letter: Dear Mr./Mrs/Dr./Prof. Okon; Yours sincerely; (3) Informal Letter: Dear Jane/Sister/Brother/Father/Mother; Yours sincerely/ever/affectionately… Or Your brother/son/daughter/…

5. Use a Title/Topic Where Necessary. The title is necessary in a formal letter but not in semi-formal and informal letters. In the letter to the principal of your school, for instance, you can create the following title: STUDENTS’ PRACTICES THAT SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED AND TEACHERS’ HABITS THAT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED.

6. Start Your Letter with an Appropriate Introduction (Paragraph 1). Each type of letter requires its appropriate introduction, which is based on the given purpose of the letter. The following are some examples of different ways to introduce different types of letters:

Formal/Semi-formal: I am writing to inform you that…/I am writing to draw your attention to…./I am writing to apply for…/I am writing in connection with….

Informal: How are you doing?/I hope you and your family are all well/It’s been quite long since we were last in touch…

7. Create an Outline for the Content of Your Letter. For a letter to advise your brother against the decision to stop schooling and go into business, you can jot down the following points:

Outline: 1. Your dropping out of school will offend Dad and Mum 2.You need education to do better in business. 3.To occupy certain political offices in our country, you’ll need a certain academic qualification

8. Divide the Body of Your Letter into Paragraphs 2,3,4… as the case may be. Discuss one main idea in each paragraph. You can start each paragraph with a topic sentence, and then use two or three other sentences to support the point you’ve raised.

9. Make Sure You Discuss at Least the Specified Number of Points. Let’s take a second look at another past WASSCE letter writing question: You are dissatisfied with some practices in your school. Write a letter to your friend in another school discussing at least three of these practices and the improvement you desire (WASSCE June, 2018). In this example, you are required to discuss”at least three of these practices…”

10. Use the Last Paragraph for Conclusion. Use this last paragraph to make the appropriate call for action or simply to re-emphasize the key points already discussed.

11. Write your signature and name appropriately after the closing greetings:

Formal: Yours faithfully + signature + full name

Semi-formal: Yours sincerely + full name

Informal: Yours sincerely + first name only.

12. Use the Appropriate Language Variety and Tone for Your Letter. Examples:

Formal: Standard expressions, formal tone, no use of short forms, jokes, or slang expressions.

Semi-formal: Standard language and polite tone.

Informal: Short forms and decent jokes are allowed; informal language should reflect the level of familiarity you share with the addressee.

13. Write the Required Length of 450 Words. To do this, you can use the following smart technique for approximating the length of your letter:

Divide 450 words by the number of words you write per line to determine how many lines you ought to write, e.g. 10 words per line = 45 lines (450 divided by 10); 9 words per line = 50 lines; 8 words per line = 56 or 57; 7 words per line = 64 or 65, etc.

14 Use Clear, Legible Handwriting. You must avoid writing in unclear, illegible handwriting. If what you’ve written cannot be read, how can the marker know whether you wrote the right or wrong points? Illegible handwriting results in poor marks.

15. Crosscheck Your Letter and Correct All Errors. Use your time well to ensure you proofread your letter and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and any other mistakes. This will ensure that you don’t lose marks under mechanical accuracy.

If you follow the above tips, I am sure you will write a high-scoring letter that will enhance your overall performance in your WASSCE, NECO/SSCE, NABTEB or any other English exam.

For a more detailed audiovisual explanation of how to writes high-scoring essay in WAEC English exam, watch the following video lecture: https://youtu.be/Z9AqetXxkRA

The following eBooks will give you further insight into other areas of language proficiency, such as grammatical structures, essay writing – letter writing, article writing, speech writing, report writing, story writing – comprehension, summary writing, vowel and consonant sounds, and so forth:

Good Success in English: A Study Package
Good Success English Handbook

About the Author

Benjamin Abugu is a university graduate with a flair for content writing. He is an English teacher with over twelve years experience, a published author of many books (both paperback and eBook editions), a blogger and Youtuber.

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The 5-Paragraph Essay: A Simple Way to Write WAEC Essay

– Dr Ibraheem Dooba

When we were in secondary school, we had excellent English teachers. However, while they taught us essay writing, they paid scant attention to how to write it. That is, we were not shown the moves that matter in essay writing. This means that while we could tell a good essay from a bad one, we didn’t know the steps to follow to write good ones. So, we were left to shoot in the dark, sometimes we hit the target, some days we missed. Today, I want to remove students from the uncertain situation.

I understand that senior secondary students have started writing their NECO examinations and that they will sit for the English language exam on the second of August 2021.

Accordingly, the 5-paragraph essay is one useful tool that any student can use to write the required 450 words effortlessly. As the name implies, this essay is written in five paragraphs: one each for the introduction and conclusion and three paragraphs for the body.

The good thing about this tool is that you can use it to write any of the six questions in the essay section – from the formal letter to the article for publication.

But if I were a student writing the examination, I would choose to answer the debate question or the informal letter. The debate is easy to tackle. However, there are some years (such as WAEC 1997) that do not feature the debate question – even though such omissions are rare. When that happens, you should choose to write an informal letter.

In this article, I will show you how to write an essay using the 5-paragraph technique, then I will use one of the WAEC (1996) questions to implement the steps.

Here is a summary of how to write the essay: in the introduction, tell the readers what you want to tell them. In the body, tell them (using three or more points). Finally, use the conclusion to tell them that you have told them. Let me explain each step.

Introduction

The goal of the introduction is to tell your reader what the essay is about. Therefore, the introduction of a debate is divided into three parts: the greetings, stating your position (whether you’re opposing or proposing) and a brief mention of your three points.

Example: “Mr Chairman, the panel of judges, the time-keeper, my co-debaters, ladies and gentlemen. I stand before you today to oppose the motion that says ‘the female child is more beneficial to her parents than the male child’. In doing that, I will support my position with the following three points: one, the male child is the only one guaranteed to keep the family name. Two, it is the male child who shoulders the responsibility of providing for the family and the male presence in the family is enough security. In the next paragraphs, I will argue each point in detail.”

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The body has three paragraphs. One paragraph for each point. Some students find the body to be the most difficult part to write. After writing the first sentence of their point, they get stuck. They don’t know how to explain the point to increase their word count. I have a solution. For every paragraph, follow five steps: one, state your point. Two, use meta-commentary to repeat the point once or twice (setting it off by using phrases like that is, this means that, in essence, etc.). Three, give an example. Four, use a proverb, a quote or a metaphor and explain it. Five, introduce a naysayer. That is, argue the viewpoint of your opponent and immediately attack it. For example, “my opponent will argue that female children are more beneficial to their parents because they help in the kitchen. But that argument is weak if you consider the fact that it is the male child who provides the food for the parents. So I believe that the person who provides is more useful than the person who prepares.”

Then move on to the next point. If you follow the above five steps for each paragraph, you would never be short of what to write again. To demonstrate, let me write one complete paragraph.

“First, the male child keeps the family name. This means that it is the boy who perpetuates the father’s name. In essence, the girl will get married and adopt her husband’s name. For instance, my friend’s sister got married and changed from Maryam Ahmad Bukar to Maryam Mahmud Sodangi. Since they are the only children of their parents, it became the sole responsibility of my friend to maintain the father’s name. I agree with our religious teacher who was fond of saying “you boys are supposed to be the providers, the protectors and guardians to your female relatives. You should remember this responsibility. A boy is never too young to learn this.” The essence of my teacher’s counsel was to prepare us to shoulder our responsibilities and be the pillars of our families and communities. I know that the opposing speakers would say that some cultures, such as Islam, allow – even mandate – their women to keep their fathers’ names. I concede that this is true. But you should also concede that even in the Islamic culture, some women prefer to use their husband’s names.”

Easy isn’t it? I generated 178 words in the paragraph above because I followed the five steps. Two additional paragraphs will fetch you 500 words. So you should follow the same steps for the remaining two points. If you do that, your problem would be having too many words. But that is a better problem to have than having too few.

The conclusion is like the introduction except that it restates what you have already stated and why that is important. So it also has three parts: one, restate your position. Two, mention the three points again. Three, mention why your position is important and why it should be accepted.

“In conclusion, I am opposed to the motion say says boys are less beneficial to their parents and poignantly argued my position with irrefutable facts; namely, the male child is the only one guaranteed to keep the family name, it is he who shoulders the responsibility of providing for the family and it is the male child who offers security for the family. This position is important because while it is commendable to fight for the equality of women, it is completely unacceptable to demote and demean the men in the process.”

I wish you the best grade in your examination.

Series count: 17/100

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~ Ibraheem Dooba