ESSAY WRITING

EXAMPLE
Here's a task from Cambridge: First.
• First things first - what do I have to write and who is
going to read it?
• I have to write an essay, which means giving my opinion
on the topic. My English teacher will read it, so I should
write in a neutral tone. I'm going to mention transport,
rivers and seas, and think of a third point, and the whole
theme is pollution and damaging the environment.
• I could write in the style of Donald Trump and say that
pollution isn't real and there's nothing to worry about...
but I do have a brain so I'll write the truth.
 Planning

• Let's take 5 to 10 minutes to plan the essay before I start

writing. 
• I'll do a quick one or two sentence introduction. Then I'll
have three paragraphs, one for transport, one about rivers
and seas, and one for my third point. Now's a good time to
think about that.
• I've decided to take 'pollution in the home' as my third
point. But I could have chosen factories, plastic, cutting
down the rainforest - a billion things.
• Finally there will be a sentence that ties everything
together.
• The next thing I want to do is think about
some vocabulary and grammar I can use in my
essay. Here's me brainstorming some words
and phrases on the 3 topics (all somehow
connected to the topic of pollution):
 TRANSPORT

• traffic congestion
• aviation
• carbon dioxide
• greenhouse gases
• emissions
• exhaust fumes
• electric cars
• driverless cars
• freight/cargo trains
 RIVERS AND SEAS

• barges
• cruise ships
• world trade
• plastic
• factories
• lead poisoning
• water quality
 MY OWN IDEA
THE HOME

• batteries
• power grid
• waste
• recycling (cardboard, glass)
• energy efficiency
• fines
• subsidies
• Okay I feel pretty ready to get started - this is a
topic I know a lot about, and that quick
brainstorm has me READY TO GO.
 Pollution: 3 Simple Solutions

INTRODUCTION
People in every country think that putting an
end to pollution must be extremely hard. But is
it? I believe there are 3 simple things we can do
that will have a big effect.
 TRANSPORT (PARAGRAPH 2)

• We travel much more than we ever did in the

past, and trade more than ever. That means a
non-stop stream of planes, trains, and
automobiles. Almost 100% of these are
powered by petrol or diesel engines, which
means adding tons of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. One improvement would be to
switch to electric cars, and there has been
progress in that direction.
 RIVERS AND SEAS (PARAGRAPH 3)

• Seas are turning to acid, cities don't have

clean drinking water, and fish get caught in old
bits of plastic. The solution? Better controls in
factories and fines for anyone who fails to
recycle plastic.
 HOMES (PARAGRAPH 4)

• Energy waste starts at home - a 30% reduction

in electricity use would be easy if people
turned off their electronics when not in use,
and didn't use tumble dryers so much.
 CONCLUSION
• Pollution is a problem that affects us all, but
we all have the power to make tiny changes
that would improve the situation wherever
we live.
• (200 words)
• So the word count is close to ideal now and it's
much more focused on on-topic. 190 words
isn't a lot! There's no time to ramble and talk
about random things like Americans in wigs!
• I'm quite happy with the addition of the parts
in bold, because it links that very start with the
very end, and it is something mentioned in the
task.