Tips On How To Write A Winning Essay

Essay writing has often been cited as one of the challenges that KCSE candidates face in their quest to score good grades in English. Problems faced in this area chiefly emanate from poor grasp of the texts. Therefore, you cannot avoid a thorough reading and rereading of the text. You, the candidate, are expected to present essay answers that portray coherent thinking and a mature approach to issues. You should demonstrate your ability to write neatly, legibly, and effectively. In the course of your English classes, I am sure you have had opportunities not only to engage in critical analysis of various literary texts but also to write essays on that analysis. My dear KCSE candidates, only thorough reading of the texts and constant practice in writing these essays will put you in a good position to tackle English Paper Three. Cramming the study guides will not help you. In this paper, you will be required to write two essays on set texts, each of which accounts for 20 marks.

The first essay is on one of the compulsory set texts while the second essay is written on the optional text that a candidate has prepared on. As an examiner of long standing, it has always pained me to see candidates waste their time attempting more than one optional question. You should know that the examiner only marks the first optional essay presented. It is imperative that you read the question carefully, noting any key words in the question as they will guide you in writing a relevant answer. Use the spaces found on the question paper to note down points that you will use to compose your essay. These points help you to remain focused on the subject of the essay. Candidates often lose marks by wandering off the topic in the body of their essays. My dear students, it will help if you keep glancing at the question as you write your essay just to ensure that what you are writing actually answers the given question.

The first paragraph carries the introduction and is awarded two marks. In my experience, I have seen some candidates failing to introduce their essay, needlessly losing these crucial marks. You can write this introductory paragraph by beginning with a general statement and then narrowing down to the issue at hand by echoing the question. Using illustrations from Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between, write a composition on the causes of conflict in society. Conflict is a disagreement or a clash between ideas. In many parts of the world, conflict stalks various communities and influences the way these communities conduct their daily activities. This antagonism is caused be various factors. In The River Between, the ridges of Kameno and Makuyu are engaged in a perpetual dispute over which ridge is superior. This conflict is further amplified by religion, culture and individuals who take the centre stage in this unfolding story of rivalry. In the main part of your essay, you discuss between four to six points.

Write your essay in prose, not in point form. Carefully paragraph your work. You can decide to either indent or block your paragraphs. Each paragraph discusses only one point. In composing the paragraph, introduce a point and explain using illustrations and facts from the text. Then make a comment on that issue you have explored in that paragraph. Look at the following sample. First, adherence to different faiths leads to conflict between the two ridges. Kameno residents followed the traditional Kikuyu religion and can not see eye to eye with the people of Makuyu, who are staunch followers of the white man’s religion. Each group holds onto their beliefs and fail to accommodate the other. Joshua considers himself and other Christians holy and sees the traditionalists as children of darkness, who are still languishing in Egypt. After Muthoni’s death, the two ridges can no longer accommodate each other. Children of the converts are kicked out of Siriana and the traditionalists form the Kiama to preserve the purity of the tribe. This heightens the antagonism even further.