Essay Writing

The Essay paper is 250 marks for two essays, and it is scored on thinking and structure rather than information. It is the single most neglected paper relative to its weight, largely because it looks like something you already know how to do.
A strong essay does three things a good General Studies answer does not: it holds one argument across 1,000 words, it earns its examples rather than listing them, and it reads as though a person wrote it. Philosophical topics need a position; factual topics need a shape. Both need an opening that is not a definition.
Model essays across the recurring themes are collected here, with the reasoning visible rather than hidden.