smartbear33 Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 Hello! I am a student taking HL Literature and I am working on the Written Assignment. I am struggling to do well with writing this - so I am wondering if I could receive some tips on how to write a good Written Assignment essay. I am also curious to know what differentiates a a mediocre essay from a very well-written one. I would greatly appreciate your help Thanks! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosalina Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 Since you didn't specify what stage you're at write now, here are some general tips from what I noticed with my own essay and my classmates' work: - For reflection statements, do not start discussing the book and topic in the book immediately. The purpose of the reflective statement is to show to the examiner that you've understood the cultural and/or historical context of the text. So discuss some of the cultural ideas of the text and comment how it allowed you to under how those values would affect the character's values. Perhaps discuss some of the important historical events if the novel takes place in a certain time period if they are crucial to the novel and the topic at hand. - Try to make an outline and find the quotes before you start the essay. Be sure to cite the page numbers and book correctly! - Try to pick a topic that you can write a 1400-1500 word essay for, so avoid discussing really narrow ideas or very general/broad ideas. For example, instead of discussing symbolism, maybe pick a major symbol from your text or see if a couple of these symbols fit into a specific category that you could write about. If symbols from nature are a recurrence in the text, perhaps you can write about the significance of nature on the main character's development. - Make sure you pick quotes that are crucial to the topic and the point you're making! Not only will points be deducted for analysis and the usage of evidence from text, you'll also be wasting your word count. - After you pick your quotes, be sure to explain them thoroughly. Analyze the quote and think about why the author may have used the diction they did to describe the scenario, or perhaps the imagery created is an allusion to an event. A good rule of thumb i was given was that for every quote I had, I should have at least, 3 well-written sentences to back them up. - Word count is crucial. IB examiners are lenient if you a few words over the word count, but anything over 1510 is a bad idea. After you finish and are over the word, go back and skim the essay to see if you can shorten some of your sentences or remove some of the unnecessary details. There is really no ideal word count for each paragraph but make sure you've discussed the text in your essay and have backed it with the text. Also, worry about the word count after you're done the essay, not while writing. - Another thing to check for after you're done is diction and sentence structure. Make sure you have varied sentence structure and that you're not repeating the same word over and over. This makes a great difference as to the style and presentation of your essay. -Lastly, make sure that you've handed the WA according to how IB wanted it to be formatted and that you have citations for the book. This is an easy mark to earn but one that many students lose out on. Please let me know if you have more questions and good luck! 7 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartbear33 Posted July 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 Since you didn't specify what stage you're at write now, here are some general tips from what I noticed with my own essay and my classmates' work: - For reflection statements, do not start discussing the book and topic in the book immediately. The purpose of the reflective statement is to show to the examiner that you've understood the cultural and/or historical context of the text. So discuss some of the cultural ideas of the text and comment how it allowed you to under how those values would affect the character's values. Perhaps discuss some of the important historical events if the novel takes place in a certain time period if they are crucial to the novel and the topic at hand. - Try to make an outline and find the quotes before you start the essay. Be sure to cite the page numbers and book correctly! - Try to pick a topic that you can write a 1400-1500 word essay for, so avoid discussing really narrow ideas or very general/broad ideas. For example, instead of discussing symbolism, maybe pick a major symbol from your text or see if a couple of these symbols fit into a specific category that you could write about. If symbols from nature are a recurrence in the text, perhaps you can write about the significance of nature on the main character's development. - Make sure you pick quotes that are crucial to the topic and the point you're making! Not only will points be deducted for analysis and the usage of evidence from text, you'll also be wasting your word count. - After you pick your quotes, be sure to explain them thoroughly. Analyze the quote and think about why the author may have used the diction they did to describe the scenario, or perhaps the imagery created is an allusion to an event. A good rule of thumb i was given was that for every quote I had, I should have at least, 3 well-written sentences to back them up. - Word count is crucial. IB examiners are lenient if you a few words over the word count, but anything over 1510 is a bad idea. After you finish and are over the word, go back and skim the essay to see if you can shorten some of your sentences or remove some of the unnecessary details. There is really no ideal word count for each paragraph but make sure you've discussed the text in your essay and have backed it with the text. Also, worry about the word count after you're done the essay, not while writing. - Another thing to check for after you're done is diction and sentence structure. Make sure you have varied sentence structure and that you're not repeating the same word over and over. This makes a great difference as to the style and presentation of your essay. -Lastly, make sure that you've handed the WA according to how IB wanted it to be formatted and that you have citations for the book. This is an easy mark to earn but one that many students lose out on. Please let me know if you have more questions and good luck! Hi Rosalina, sorry for the late reply, but thank you heaps for your advice! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merril889 Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Hey, I know my reply is kind of late but I just want to put my input in because I think I can help you out. I am predicted at least a 21/25 (7) on my Written Assignment. First decide your book(s) Then look at the topic that you liked tremendously From that topic make three significant points accompany each point with at least 2 quotes from your literary piece. Now how to make it nice: Do not use basic vocabulary like shows, uses, things Do not use the same word twice in the same paragraph or the entire assignment if possible. Book--> literary piece Use advanced vocabulary but do not go nuts using vocabulary that is unnecessary. Make sure to talk about why the author included your topic in your paper with each point that brings it back to your topic. If you have any specific questions you can ask!!! 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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