STRUCTURING
ANSWERS
UNDERSTANDING QUESTION
• 1. READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE OF THE QUESTION (MOST OF THE QUESTIONS GUIDE THE LEARNERS TO HOW TO ANSWER)
• FOR BROAD/ESSAY TYPE QUESTION MOSTLY USED TERMS: DISCUSS, ELABORATE, EVALUATE, COMMENT ON, ANALYZE, CRITICALLY
COMMENT/ANALYZE , COMPARE & CONTRAST -15/20
• FOR BRIEF QUESTIONS EITHER THE BRIEF IS MENTIONED OR THE ALLOCATED MARKS GUIDE US-7.5/10
• FOR SHORT, IT IS CLEARLY MENTIONED OR INDICATED BY ALLOCATED MARKS -3/5
• DO NOT GIVE YOUR OPINION UNLESS ASKED FOR-objective
ESSAY TYPE QUESTION
• AN ESSAY IS ALWAYS AN ESSAY
• MUST HAVE AN INTRODUCTION, BODY PARAGRAPHS AND A CONCLUSION
• EACH PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE STRUCTURALLY A PARAGRAPH : HAVING A TOPIC SENTENCE, 3/5 DEVELOPING SENTENCES (WITH EXAMPLES) AND A CONCLUDING SENTENCE
• EACH PARAGRAPH MUST BE ORGANIZED BY LINKING WORDS, CONNECTIVES
• EACH NEW PARAGRAPH MUST BE INITIATED BY TRANSITIONS
ESSAY-TYPE ANSWER-2
• TEXT INTRODUCTION/topic introduction
• AUTHOR INTRODUCTION/
• AT LEAST 3 EXTERNAL REFERENCES : (DIRECTLY QUOTED OR PARAPHRASED)
• 3 INTERNAL/TEXTUAL REFERENCES (DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE TEXT)
• INTRO+ 3/4/5 BODY PARAGRAPHS+ CONCLUSION
• 15 MARKS= 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY INCLUDING REVISION
• BE CAREFUL OF HOW MANY PARTS ARE THERE IN THE QUESTION.
ARRANGE THE PARAGRAPHS ACCORDINGLY.
MID-LEVEL QUESTIONS
• DEMAND BRIEF (BUT NOT TOO SHORT ANSWER). EVEN IF IT CONTAINS 7.5-10 MARKS, IT IS IN FACT A BRIEF ESSAY SO IT MUST HAVE THREE FULL FLEDGED PARAGRAPHS
• MUST BE GIVEN: INTRO-BODY PG.1/2/3 (AS PER THE QUESTION DEMANDS), CONCLUSION
• MUST HAVE ONE LINE TEXT INTRO, AUTHOR INTRO, AT LEAST 1 EXTERNAL AND 2 INTERNAL REFERENCES
• 10 MARKS QUESTION SHOULD BE COVERED WITHIN 25/30 MINUTES INCLUDING REVISION
• CAN BE BOTH NARRATIVE OR DESCRIPTIVE. MOSTLY HAVE A SINGLE SENTENCE QUESTION DEMANDING FOCUSED ANSWER.
SHORT NOTES/SHORT QUESTIONS
• MOSTLY WH. QUESTIONS OR SHORT NOTES: ALLOCATED(3-5) MARKS
• SHORT NOTES ARE USUALLY DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN IN THIRD PERSON (DO NOT GIVE YOUR OPINION UNLESS ASKED FOR):
USUALLY PRESENT SIMPLE
• ALL THESE ANSWERS SHOULD HAVE ONE PARAGRAPH ONLY
• TEXT AND AUTHOR CAN BE INTRODUCED IN ONE SINGLE SENTENCE
• EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL REFERENCES ARE NOT COMPULSORY
• WH. QUESTIONS MOSTLY DEMANDS NARRATIVE ANSWERS
• 9-12 SENTENCES (1/2+2/3+2/3+2/3+1)
EXPLANATION
• WRITE THE GIVEN QUOTE FIRST
• GIVE REFERENCE : TEXT, AUTHOR, IF PLAY: MENTION ACT, SCENE , IF NOVEL/ FICTION :MENTION CHAPTER IF POSSIBLE
• MENTION: WHO SAID THIS TO WHOM, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, IN WHAT MANNER. AUTHORIAL COMMENT? CHARACTER’S?
• DO NOT GIVE ELABORATED DESCRIPTION OR OVERALL SUMMARY
• DO NOT GIVE OPINION BY ANY MEANS
• ONLY EXPAND THE QUOTE
• INTERNAL/EXTERNAL REFERENCES ARE NOT COMPULSORY
COMPARE & CONTRAST ANSWER
• MOST CHALLENGING AND SOPHISTICATE
• CAN BE BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS, TWO SITUATIONS, TO SCENES OF THE PLAY, TWO TEXTS/ TWO IDEAS/
• OF COURSE ESSAY TYPE QUESTION
• USE TRANSITIONS CAREFULLY (COMPARE: SIMILARITY) (CONTRANT:DIFFERENCES)
• FOLLOW IELTS WRITING 2 SAMPLE ANSWERS (BAND 9)ON COMPARATIVE ESSAYS
• THEY ARE THE BEST EXAMPLES FOR YOU
• DO NOT GET BIASED TOWARD A TEXT OR CHARACTER(IT IS DIFFICULT THOUGH)
GRAMMATICAL ISSUES
• 1. READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY, IT WILL GUIDE YOU TO CHOOE THE TENSE YOU WILL USE YOUR ANSWERS.
• 2. YEAR OF PUBLICATION SHOULD BE IN BRAKET : A PASSAGE TO INDIA (1924) /“SHORT STORY/POEM/ESSAY”/ DRAMA
• THE YEAR OF BIRTH AND DEATH WILL ALSO BE GIVEN IN BRAKET: E. M.
FORSTER (1879-1970)
• IN CASE OF EXTERNAL REFERENCES THE NAME OF AUTHOR, BOOK, ESSAY, SOURCE SHOULD BE MENTIONED
• IN CASE OF TEXTUAL QUOTES ACT, SCENE , CHAPTER SHOULD BE PROVIDED
• EACH PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE A COMBINATION OF SIMPLE, COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
• SYNONYMS BRING VARIETY , ENERGY
• USE VARIETY OF LINKERS, MARKERS, CONNECTIVES
• IF YOU NEED BRING REFERENCES FROM OTHER GENRE (FILM, SONG , OTHER THAN THE PRESENT TEXT GENRE), YOU CAN ALSO USE CROSS- CULTURAL REFERENCE, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM BENGALI LITERATURE
• AVOID I, WE UNLESS YOU ARE ASKED FOR GIVING OPINION
