| 1: Select a title from the IB list. | 4. Organize your ideas and plan argument. |
| 2. Read the instructions and the marking criteria. | 5. Write the essay. |
| 3. Gather your ideas. | 6. Hand it in. |
ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS
IN PREPARATION FOR WRITING.
Now comes probably the greatest struggle of the essay – to move from scribbled notes of intertangled ideas to a plan for an essay which lays out (one, two, three!) a sequence of arguments which respond clearly to the title. If you find this step difficult, remember that no one is born (as far as I know!) already knowing how to write an essay. It takes concentration and practice to learn to swim, to tango . . . or to organize ideas for an essay. Allow yourself only a few minutes to wail “But I can’t . . .!” and then settle down to try.
As you put your ideas into related groups and shuffle them into order, you should identify your THESIS – that is, the central point which you want to make in your essay. Distil it into a single sentence to write at the top of your plan. Make sure that every subsection of your essay develops this core idea in some way, including considering counter-arguments to it. If any ideas you gathered in step 3 are not actually relevant to the title, force yourself to cut them out of your plan no matter how much you like them.
There are many possible ways of structuring ideas in an essay, depending on the topic. For example,
• you might develop three reasons for accepting a particular conclusion, then counter them with four stronger reasons for rejecting it and accepting a different one;
• you might compare two areas of knowledge by developing first what they have in common and then how they differ in the terms of the title;
• you might consider a series of possible approaches to knowing and reflect upon the problems and the strengths inherent in each in turn in the context given by the title.
There is no formula for a perfect plan. The only thing essential is that the sequence of ideas as you move from subsection to subsection in the body of your essay must develop your thesis, which in turn must respond to the set title.
PATTERNS OF ESSAY WRITING: THESIS FIRST, THESIS LAST
NEXT: STEP 5, WRITING THE ESSAY