Exam Success and
skills building task
Last week we discussed
the Exam Success system and we also discussed how to
write an introduction. This week we will be
examining how to write the first paragraph to three exam questions.
Main
Body:
Body — First paragraph:
·
Start off with the strongest
point. The first paragraph of the
body of your essay needs to contain your strongest argument, hands down and the
most significant example, cleverest illustration,
or an obvious beginning point. Get to this
argument automatically -- it should be in the first or second sentence.
· The
first sentence of this paragraph should include the "reverse hook"
which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the introductory
paragraph. If there's an obvious starting point to your reasoning, use it. The topic for this paragraph should be
in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the line of attack
in the introductory paragraph.
·
Each paragraph should
focus on one clear element of the argument and be well supported by evidence.
The final part / sentence should link back to the question - Students should
write a BALANCED answer showing an understanding of both sides of the debate -
the conclusion is an opportunity for a judgement to be made (however this is an
area where there is some contention) and you tie up / summarise the main points
of the debate.
·
Though it's only listed here, each
body paragraph should contain the following:
·
Introductory Sentence. This
should include the theme of the paragraph and how that loops to the thesis
statement.
·
Concrete Examples. These
should be facts or evidence that comes straight from text like a quote or plot
point. This should somehow prove the thesis. Each paragraph should have 2-3
concrete examples.
·
Commentary. This
should explain the concrete example, not summarize. Discuss what this fact
shows about/means to the theme and/or thesis. What does it prove?
Traditionally, each concrete example should have 2-3 sentences of commentary
following it.
· Conclusion
Sentence. The
last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into
the second paragraph of the body. This
should include the theme of the paragraph and how that proved the
thesis statement. This is wrapping up the paragraph, not the paper.
ESSAY DOS
AND DON’Ts
So, your
essay and each paragraph in it should each have a three part structure: intro;
main body and conclusion.
DO be confident. Your opinion is as valid as
anyone else’s. The most successful historians in the world often have their
work very harshly criticised by other historians.
DO plan. 99.9% of people write much better when
they plan.
DO support your opinion with evidence,
especially when you are given sources to use by the examiner.
DO take time to read through what you have
written at the end.
DO prepare properly…
• have a timeline of events when you are
revising so that you can use them properly in your essay. Nothing’s worse than
a claim that an incident was caused by something that actually happened after
it.
• think about the different questions you may be
asked.
• make sure your subject knowledge is strong.
Structuring will come with practice, but there’s no excuse for not knowing your
stuff.
DO leave lines between paragraphs. It takes zero
time or effort and makes your structure significantly more clear to the
examiner.
DON’Ts
DON’T tell the story. It’s the same as someone
asking you whether a film was any good, or why a football team won or lost a
game you saw, and you just droning on about every last thing that happened.
ANALYSE.
DON’T worry too much in the exam about
spellings. But once you’re in the exam, you either know them or you don’t. Try
to make sure you remember difficult subject–related spellings, e.g. Stresemann,
whipped, armaments, constitutional, but in the exam just write what you think
is the correct spelling and leave it at that.
DON’T use informal language.
DON’T think presentation doesn’t matter. If the
examiner can’t read your work or even just has difficulty doing so, he or she
will not be keen to give you good marks.
DON’T use “I”. The examiner can see your name at
the top of your sheet (well, should be able to see, maybe DO write your name on
your work should have been included). He or she knows that what is written is
your opinion, and he can tell the difference between the evidence you have
quoted and your interpretation of it.
Opening paragraph essay work (The following
essays are A level Politics essays I will also send some IR & Politics BSc
essays next week)
Please see example below: Review and assess using the above structure and
write your feedback in the comment box
Are Supreme
Court justices politicians in disguise? (45)
The power of judicial review
is the largest job of the Supreme Court. Judicial review is a political role as
it gives Supreme Court justices the ability to change laws by declaring acts of
Congress unconstitutional. Bills that are struck down by judicial review become
null and void, thus giving the Supreme Court the power to undermine the
decisions of elected representatives. For many Americans this is infringing
upon the liberty installed by the Founding Fathers, who had attempted to create
a political system which prevented any one body from gaining too much power and
all representatives needed to be elected. For example, the Warren Court
(1953-1969) in the Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka (1954) declared that state laws which permitted
segregation of public schools were unconstitutional. This countrywide
controversial issue was laid in the hands of nine unelected officials who on
such a substantial decision, may not have been bipartisan, instead following
their own political convictions. Insightful
Some Supreme Court justices
take the position of judicial restraint rather than judicial activism. The
Supreme Court as a restrained body aims to make judicial decisions rather than
political ones. They focus on whether each case shows someone as breaking a
particular law rather than is the law they have broken just. Judges of judicial
restraint also aim to interpret the constitution for each case, rather than act
as legislators and make laws, leaving that to the politicians. However, as
guardians of the Constitution, the Supreme Court justices are effectively
politicians through their interpretation. By interpreting the Constitution,
they are determining the politics of the present and declaring congressional
laws to be constitutional or unconstitutional. This can be seen in the case of Furman v. Georgia (1972) when the court
deemed the death penalty in this case to be unconstitutional due to being a
cruel and unusual punishment. This shows that although some Supreme Court
justices aim to be restrained and avoid political decisions, their role as
Constitutional guardians inadvertently propels them into the role of
politicians. Good
Please aware that there is no mark scheme for this essay
Comment box
My feedback
Good essay produced, however please be aware I have
no access to the mark scheme, well/tightly focused on the question throughout,
good analysis, explanation and evaluation for ways in which the supreme
justices wield and do not wield political power, I concur with your class-room
teacher that you did not assess or discuss political activism, I understand why
you didn’t. However, it would have been
a useful evaluation of the political restraint that you did discuss and could
clearly and explicitly have been linked to the exam question, well done
1.
Why are US
presidential elections campaigns so long? (15 marks) January 2010
Content for paragraph 1
• Describe the invisible
primary, explain that it lasts at least a year, with preparation for running in
elections being made even earlier (the 2012 website for Mike Huckabee has
already been set up)
Write paragraph 1
A primary can be defined as election
to choose a party’s candidate for an elective office, such as the presidency. The majority of states hold primaries however
some states hold caucuses instead. A caucus is a meeting for the selection of a
party’s candidate for an elective office. States that hold caucuses are usually
geographically large but thinly populated, such as Iowa, North Dakota and
Nevada. In 2008, 14 states held Democratic caucuses and ten held Republican
caucuses. In a caucus, would-be voters must attend a meeting rather than go to
a polling station. Turn-out is generally lower in caucuses than in primaries
and those who do turn out are disproportionately more ideological than primary
voters. Hence, caucuses tend to favour more ideological candidates. In 2008,
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, who is on the libertarian wing of
his party, had some of his strongest showings in caucus states. For example, he
won 21% in the North Dakota caucuses and 19% in the Maine caucuses. An advantage of the use of caucuses is higher
commitment to the party and a greater level of political awareness in
comparison with all primaries. A key
disadvantage of closed primaries is lower participation in comparison with all
primaries. Furthermore, the two main functions of presidential primaries are to
show the popularity of presidential candidates; primaries can therefore be
thought of as political ‘beauty contests’.
They are also to choose delegates to go to the National Party
Conventions.
See paragraph above
evaluate and give feedback
What are the most significant factors that
influence a President when choosing the Cabinet? (15 marks)
Mark Scheme
Presidents
will have a variety of motives in selecting their cabinets. They may
aim
to:
•
recruit policy specialists
•
build links with Congress through the appointment of serving congressmen
and
senators
•
bring trusted advisers into government
•
strengthen links with key racial groups and with women
•
represent different wings of the party and different regions of the country
President
Obama could be seen to want to:
•
bury campaign divisions through the appointment of Hillary Clinton as
Secretary
of State
•
send a message of bipartisanship through the retention of Robert Gates at
Defense
•
make his Cabinet ‘look like America’ through the appointments of, e.g., Eric
Holder
Steven Chu, Hilda Solis and Eric Shinseki
Writing paragraph 1
To what extent does
the President control foreign policy?
Write a paragraph 1 for
this essay
Review the paragraph
below and improve
Henceforth the
president’s control of foreign policy is far from straightforward as noted
earlier, nevertheless it is often the case that the President is indeed in
control of foreign policy. However,
conversely the federal bureaucracy and public opinion may also restrain the
president. Nevertheless, evidence which suggests that the president has come to
dominate foreign policy includes the following: US v Curtiss-Wright, establishing the
principle of executive supremacy, and the subsequent reluctance of the courts
to take up cases involving foreign policy, support the question under
discussion. Additionally, the use of
executive agreements to circumvent the need for Senate approval of treaties.
Provide examples to
support this statement
President Truman’s dispatch of
forces to Korea without congressional authorisation and President Johnson’s use
of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to escalate the war in Vietnam. The massing of
500,000 troops in Saudi Arabia before President G.H. Bush sought a
congressional vote on the first Gulf War all support the idea that the
President does indeed control foreign policy.
Then finally the bombing campaign in Kosovo, the first major use of
force conducted despite an explicit refusal by Congress to authorize it. Therefore in evaluation of the President’s
powers to control foreign policy, all of these examples serve to illustrate and
reinforce the idea that the president does indeed control foreign policy
especially since World War II and the development of the USA as a superpower.
