C1 Advanced

ESSAY

IN THIS LESSON
Why write?

ANY PIECE of knowledge Overview &

Assessment
I acquire today has a value at
What is an essay?
this moment exactly
Essay layout
proportional to my skill to deal
Task + Model answer
with it. Tomorrow, when I
Useful expressions
know more, I recall that piece
Sample Task +
of knowledge and use it
Examiner Comments
better.
Exam Task: Practice
—Mark Van Doren

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen
WHY WRITE?
WRITING IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Whereas, only 20 years ago, many people wrote very little day by day, the advent and popularity of email, blogs, text
messaging and social media has meant that there is now a huge increase in written communication.

This new kind of communication has its own peculiar rules and rituals, and in some cases has evolved its shorthand,
abbreviation and lexis, often because of the perceived need to write quickly or within a limited word/character count.
You can even buy little dictionaries of text-message conventions and abbreviations. There are also new ways of
expressing oneself. You can now communicate instantly across the world and use a little picture of a cartoon face to
express your reaction to something written by your friend. Is that writing?

Beyond these new ways of communicating, many people actually do very little writing (in a traditional sense) in day-
to-day life, and a great deal of what they do write is quite short: brief notes and emails to friends and colleagues,
answers on question forms, diary entries, text messages. The need for longer, formal written work seems to have
lessened over the years.

THE AREAS WHERE WRITTEN WORK IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT

Many language learners have specific needs that require them to work on writing skills:
academic study
taking down notes in lessons / during lectures
examination preparation
Business English contexts (formal emails, reports, proposals)

WRITING IS CRUCIAL FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Some language learners acquire languages in a purely oral/aural way, but most of us benefit greatly from the
process of writing. Writing involves a different kind of mental process. There is time to think, to reflect, to prepare, to
rehearse, to make mistakes and to find alternatives and better solutions.

The visual demonstration of language construction is invaluable for both our understanding of how it all fits together
and as an aid to committing the new language to memory. The actual process of writing helps us to learn as we
go along. The mental activity we have to go through in order to construct proper written texts is all part of the ongoing
learning experience.

One highly recommended approach to improving your writing is through reading. Specifically, it is recommended that
you read widely in the area of your study/interest. The best way of becoming familiar with the demands of academic
writing is to study how other writers meet these demands. For example, if you are unsure of how to use definitions in
an academic text, or how to move from one topic to another, it makes sense to see how established writers deal with
this issue.

An obvious way you can help yourself to improve is by writing regularly. Part of writing ability is skill-based, and like
any skill it gets better with practice. Even writing that nobody reads except yourself is good practice, helping you to
think about ideas and how to express them. But especially important is attending to any feedback that you get on
your writing. Without attention to feedback, improvement will not take place.

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 02

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH WRITING
OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT
The texts and tasks in Cambridge English Qualifications are designed to reflect real-world communication and to
test learners’ true abilities in English, so preparing for the Writing test shouldn’t be very different from developing
and assessing your writing skills in general. But of course, the tasks, timings and assessment scales for the exam
are very specific and you should have plenty of practice before you take the real exam.

The C1 Advanced Writing paper has two parts and lasts for 1 hour and 30 minutes in total. You have to show that
you can write different types of text in English.

There are two writing tasks in the exam:

Part 1 - a compulsory task (an essay)
Part 2 - one from a choice of three options (a letter/email, a proposal, a report or a review).

The different task types are intended to provide frameworks in which you can put together and develop your ideas
on a topic, with a specific purpose for writing and target reader in mind.

You will be expected to show awareness of the style and tone required by a task, and to demonstrate appropriate
use of two or more of the following functions as specified in the task: describing, evaluating, hypothesising,
persuading, expressing opinion, comparing, giving advice, justifying and judging priorities.

Examiners mark writing tasks using assessment scales that were developed with explicit reference to the CEFR (the
Common European Framework of Reference). The scales consist of four subscales: Content, Communicative
Achievement, Organisation, and Language. Here's what each entails, and questions which you should ask yourself
in the process of writing.

Content: how relevant the content is to the question -- i.e. if you have done what you were asked to do
Have I included all the essential information in my text?
Why am I writing the text and what do I hope to achieve?
Have I focused on the topic and the specific questions?

Communicative Achievement: it focuses on how appropriate the writing is for the task and whether you have
used the appropriate register, how well you communicate your message to the reader and hold the attention
Who am I writing the text for and what are their expectations?
What style of text do I need to produce?
Do I need to use a formal, neutral or informal tone?
Can I include personal opinions or should I be objective?

Organisation: focuses on the way you put together the piece of writing, in other words if it is logical and
ordered (paragraphing and linking words)
Have I organised my ideas in a logical way?
Do the ideas develop logically so the reader can follow my ideas or arguments?
Have I used cohesive devices to connect ideas across sentences and paragraphs?
Have I used appropriate linking words for the genre of text?

Language: the range and accuracy of the language you use (grammar and vocabulary)
Have I used a range of simple grammatical forms correctly?
Do the verbs agree with plural, singular, countable and uncountable nouns?
Have I used complex structures, such as passive or conditionals, with control and flexibility?
Have I used topic-specific vocabulary ?
Is there any repeated vocabulary?
Can I use any other words?

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 03

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH WRITING
OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

Cambridge English
writing examiners
are extensively
trained to assess
learners’ writing
using the
assessment scales,
bands and
descriptors. The
quality and
consistency of their
marks is closely
monitored by a team
of senior examiners
through an annual
certification process
and during live
testing sessions.
This means that
learners around the
world can feel
confident that their
exam results reflect
their true ability to
write in English.

Understanding the assessment criteria is CRUCIAL. Once you know what you need to focus on and what the
examiners expect from your written work, your writing will radically improve.

You get 0 to 5 marks for each criterion.

This means that you can score a maximum of 40 points in total, 20 for the essay and 20 for the other writing task.

You might be stronger in one area than another – for example, you might be good at fully answering the question
(Content) but not very accurate in you use of grammar and vocabulary (Language). For this reason, examiners give
each piece of writing a separate mark for each subscale, from 0 to 5. Together, these indicate your areas of strength
and weakness in the four different areas of assessment.

For example, if a candidate scores Band 5 for Content and Band 2 for Language, this suggests that they answered
the question well and the reader would not feel that any information was missing, but that the use of grammar or
vocabulary was not very accurate. If a candidate scores Band 3 or above in the C1 Advanced exam, this generally
indicates an ability of at least CEFR C1 level. Bands 1 and 2 indicate that the learner is still performing at B2 level.

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 04

EXAM PRACTICE
WHAT IS AN ESSAY?

What is an essay?
The word "essay" has various meanings: "trial, attempt, endeavor," "short, discursive literary composition", from
French essai "trial, attempt", from late Latin exagium "a weighing, a weight," from Latin exigere "drive out; require,
exact; examine, try, test". (Source: etymonline.com)

An essay (definition):
An essay is a presentation of a case. When you write an essay, you are making a case for a particular point of
view, analysis, interpretation, or set of facts or procedures. There are many types of essays. An argumentative
essay is the most common type of essay assignment students write at university. In response to your essay
question, you pose an argument to your reader, and defend it throughout the body of your assignment. That is
exactly what we will be doing here.

Who is the reader of your essay?

You write an essay for an academic tutor/teacher, and it is written as a follow-up to an academic activity (for
example, the task will state that you attended a panel discussion, listened to radio programme or watched a
documentary).

What does the task look like?

You are provided with a set of notes on the topic, consisting of three bullet points + three short opinions related to
the bullet points. You are required to write an essay based on two of the bullet points. Ignore the third bullet point
in your essay, do not mention it anywhere! You will be asked to explain which of the two points is more important in
a given respect, and to give reasons for your opinion (= this is what you do in the conclusion of your essay).

Important:
The main purpose of the essay task is to underline relevant issues on a topic, and support your arguments
with reasons and examples. You should be careful to read every part of the task and not to omit any required
development of the topic.

Your answers will be marked on how well they are written, not on whether the examiners agree with you.

Write in a formal style. Do not use contractions (e.g. don't) and avoid colloquial expressions, phrasal verbs and
idioms. (Note: There are certain phrasal verbs which you can use in formal writing: e.g. put forward, point out,
set out, carry out, look into).

How many paragraphs should an essay have?

An essay should be well organised with an introduction, clear development, and an appropriate conclusion.
This means that our essay should be divided into four paragraphs. The flow of ideas in your writing should be
logical and easy for the reader to follow. Effective planning is important in essay writing, as is the appropriate use of
linking words and phrases. You also need practice in writing effective opening and concluding paragraphs.

How long should it be?

Your essay should have between 220 and 260 words. Still, it is not a problem if your word count goes over the limit.
No one is actually counting the words. What is crucial is that you keep to the point and provide relevant content.

How much time do I have to write it?

The whole Writing Paper lasts 90 minutes. This means that you should spend about 45 minutes on writing the
essay. (Writing your first essay is bound to take more than 45 minutes, but the more model answers you read, and
the more you practise writing them, you will learn to write better and faster. Trust me.)

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 05

EXAM PRACTICE
ESSAY LAYOUT

The easiest way to understand the structure of an essay might be to imagine it as a double cheeseburger.

top bun = introduction

patty 1 = body paragraph 1

patty 2 = body paragraph 2

lower bun = conclusion

The two buns are holding the burger together. The meat has to be perfectly grilled. And all the toppings are there to
hold the meat and the buns together and to give them perfect taste. These toppings stand for our cohesive devices
and linking words.

Here's one more useful metaphor: the introduction of every essay should resemble a funnel -- wide at the top,
and narrow at its neck. What does that mean? An effective introduction needs to have two things: a general
statement, and a thesis statement. We ought to start with some background information related to the topic of the
essay, and move towards the very specific topic of the essay task -- the thesis statement.

general statement = background information related to the topic

thesis statement = the specific topic of the essay task

As you might have already guessed, each body paragraph should have a specific layout, as well. We need to start
with a topic sentence (it states the topic of the paragraph, which refers to one of the bullet points from the task),
followed by supporting information: reasons/examples + a contrasting point (if necessary).

Finally, the conclusion. Here you should summarise the main points, or restate your thesis statement. And then,
the crucial part! You need to explain which point you believe is more useful/beneficial/important -- we need your
opinion here!

And that's it! One yummy essay has been served!

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 06

ESSAY
TASK + MODEL ANSWER
In order to understand what a strong essay looks like, it is best if we analyse good model answers. Let's read the
task and one excellent answer.

You have listened to a discussion on how people in richer countries can be made more aware of poverty in other
parts of the world. You have made the notes below:

Ways of raising awareness of poverty as a global issue.

• education
• campaigns by charities
• increased media coverage

Some opinions expressed in the discussion:

“Schools should teach every child the terrible effects of poverty.”
“We should support charities that expose the awful reality of poverty.”
“People would be shocked if they saw real poverty on TV every evening.”

Write an essay for your tutor discussing two of the approaches in your notes. You should explain which approach
you think would be more effective, giving reasons to support your opinion. You may, if you wish, make use of
the opinions expressed in the discussion, but you should use your own words as far as possible. Write your
answer in 220–260 words in an appropriate style.

Battling poverty

At no time in recorded history has there existed such a wealth gap between INTRODUCTION
different parts of the world, with an increasing number of people living in extreme general statement
poverty. Naturally, urgent measures are needed, and the first step must surely
+
be to raise awareness in richer countries of just how desperate the situation is.
thesis statement
To achieve this, there would appear to be two possible approaches.

One solution is the media, which could cover world poverty much more
frequently and in far greater depth. Currently, television rarely focuses on this BODY 1
human tragedy, despite the awful conditions in which hundreds of millions of topic sentence
people spend their entire lives. Regular in-depth reports, however, would surely +
bring it home to viewers that this appalling situation never goes away, leading to reasons/examples
greater pressure on governments to take steps such as increasing overseas aid.

Another approach would be education, as schools could also have an BODY 2

important role to play. Although it is essential that pupils are taught the social
problems of their own country, attention should also be paid to the hardships of topic sentence
those, especially children, in poorer nations. Students need to learn why such +
terrible living conditions exist, both by studying the history of those countries reasons/examples
and by looking at the political, economic and social factors that make poverty so
difficult to mitigate.

On balance, what I personally believe is that relying on the education CONCLUSION

system would take many years to bring results, whereas change in needed at
summary
once. Apart from that, we should also involve the whole population, not just the
+
youth. Obviously, it is the media which can have an immediate impact, since it
your opinion
is the only thing nowadays that almost everyone pays attention to.

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 07

ESSAY
USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

As you can see in the model answer, the orange expressions and words serve as our hamburger toppings --
they hold our essay together.

Here are some more useful expressions you can use in your essays:

INTRODUCTION - GENERAL STATEMENT ADJECTIVES THAT COLLOCATE WITH

Not until recently had anyone… "ARGUMENTS/REASONS"
Many people contend that… compelling / convincing
It is common knowledge / a well-known fact that… forceful / powerful
logical / sound
INTRODUCTION - THESIS STATEMENT
The issue of… is undeniably important and needs to BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS
be addressed. a chief advantage
There would seem/appear to be two possible a great asset / difficulty
approaches/areas where... a major benefit / disadvantage
a primary concern
TOPIC SENTENCES a serious drawback
One of the solutions put forward to achieve…
The first approach that could be taken is to… PRIORITISING, COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
Another approach would be to… I believe X should be our top priority.
Another aspect of... that was mentioned was… lt is my opinion that X should take second place.
lt seems to me that X must come first.
STATING FACTS As we have seen, X is the most important because...
It goes without saying that... Nevertheless,...
As should now be clear...
JUSTIFYING OPINIONS
CONCLUSION The reason I think this is because...
On balance, I can honestly say that the best solution That is why I believe...
is to… For that reason I feel that...
Taking everything into consideration, there are many From my perspective,
good arguments for...

GRAMMAR

Sentence structures you should try to include in your answer:

a range of tenses (e.g. present perfect, advanced future forms)
conditionals
negative inversion
passive voice
participle clauses
modal verbs
comparison

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 08

 SAMPLE TASK
WITH EXAMINER COMMENTS
Here's a sample answer from a real C1 Advanced candidate. This includes the band scores and full comments
given by real Cambridge English writing examiners.

Your class has listened to a discussion about the role of journalists in society. You have made the notes below:

Aspects of the role of journalists in society:

• provide information
• influence opinion
• inspire action

Some opinions expressed in this discussion:

‘A good journalist will simply set out the facts accurately.’
‘A good article won’t change my views on a subject.’
‘Many successful campaigns have resulted from stories in the press.’

Write an essay for your tutor discussing two of the aspects of the role of journalists in your notes. You should say
which aspect of their role you think is more important, giving reasons for your opinion. You may, if you
wish, make use of the opinions expressed in the discussion, but you should use your own words as far as
possible. Write your answer in 220–260 words in an appropriate style.

Sample answer:

It is clear for everyone that this century is the era of mass media. There are plenty of supporters of the theory of
media being "the forth power“. But we should discuss the role of a journalist in this world of information.

First of all, the main purpose of journalism is to provide a society with the news. Mass media is able to connect
main social institutions, that is why without the news our society is not able to function. But at the same time we
should look after the quality of information: it should be reliable, trust-worthy and presented in a neutral way.
Nowadays at the golden age of tabloids, when this principle seems to be forgotten we need to bring back to life the
image of an honest journalist who is a servant of society.

Though today journalism is seen as an evil instrument of manipulation it has not always been like that. At the
beginning of the twentyeth century there was the start of the investigative journalism. The correspondents tried to
change the world, fighting against illegal or immoral actions of a government. With the help of these brave soldiers
of pen there were numerous cases when social catastrophies were prevented.

To sum up I would like to say that there is much more behind journalism than simply telling the news. In my
opinion journalists should inspire people to change the society for the better.

TOP TIP
Before you read the examiner’s comments (page 10), try making your own assessment using the official
subscales (page 3). Then, compare your assessment with the band scores and comments given by the real
examiners.

Content:
Communicative Achievement:
Organisation:
Language:

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 09

SAMPLE TASK
WITH EXAMINER COMMENTS
The examiner's comments:

CONTENT: 5
All content is relevant to the task.

The target reader is fully informed about two aspects of the role of journalists (providing information and inspiring
action) and which of these the writer considers most important: there is much more behind journalism than simply
telling the news. In my opinion journalists should inspire people to change the society for the better.

COMMUNICATIVE ACHIEVEMENT: 3
The conventions of essay writing are used effectively. There is a clear development of the topic from introduction
through to conclusion and the style is consistently appropriate, using an objective tone, which holds the reader’s
attention throughout.

Straightforward and some more complex ideas, for example when discussing people’s attitudes to journalism, are
communicated.

ORGANISATION: 4
The text is well organised and coherent. The writer uses a variety of cohesive devices with flexibility to connect
ideas both within and across sentences: that is why; Nowadays, when this principle seems to be forgotten; an
honest journalist who is a servant of a society; With the help of these brave soldiers of pen; To sum up, and move
the argument forward.

Organisational patterns are used to generally good effect, for example the use of inversion for emphasis: that is
why without the news our society is not able to function; Though today journalism is seen as … it has not always
been like that. However, more attention to punctuation would improve the overall effect of the text.

LANGUAGE: 4
A range of vocabulary, including some less common lexis appropriate to the topic, is used generally effectively: the
era of mass media; the golden age of tabloids; principle; servant of a society; an evil instrument of manipulation;
investigative journalism; immoral actions; brave soldiers of pen; catastrophies, although there are occasional
instances of less appropriate usage: look after the quality of information; trust-worthy [information].

A range of simple and complex grammatical forms is used with control and flexibility. There are slips, for example
with the use of articles, but these do not impede communication.

Sources and References:

May, P., Compact Advanced, CUP, 2014
Cambridge English Qualifications, C1 Advanced, Handbook for Teachers

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 10

EXAM TASK: ESSAY
PRACTICE
Read the TASK and the 4 STEPS below.
Study the LAYOUT plan again and the USEFUL LANGUAGE. Write the essay.

Your class has been listening to a scientist talking about using plants as natural remedies.
You have made the notes below:

How can we make the most of plants?

• Natural remedies
• Clothing
• Innovative recipes

Some opinions mentioned in the recording:

• ‘Medicine from plants is ineffective compared to modern medicines.’
• ‘Cooking up the concoctions on TV is such fun.’
• ‘In some cultures, plants are an essential part of daily life.’

Write an essay discussing two uses of plants. You should explain which use is likely to be most important in
future, giving reasons for your answer. You may make use of the opinions expressed in the scientist’s talk, but you
should use your own words as far as possible.
Write your answer in 220–260 words in an appropriate style.

STEP 1 - Plan your essay

highlight all the significant points you must include in your essay
brainstorm ideas (everything that comes to mind that is related to the topic)
think about the vocabulary specific to the topic

STEP 2 - Organise your essay

group your points
use evidence to support what you say and explain why what you say is relevant

STEP 3 - Write the essay

keep to the point by referring frequently to the task

STEP 4 - Edit the essay

check it carefully for errors and see if it can be "tightened"; check your spelling
replace any words with better ones; make sure you don't have any unnecessary repetition

GRAMMAR CHECKLIST VOCABULARY to use: VERBS + PREPOSITIONS to use:

present perfect treatment be defined/known/regarded as
advanced future (e.g. be bound to) cure be applied/attributed/related to
future in the past (was to help) natural medicine be associated/correlated with
negative inversion traditional medicine be comprised of
impersonal passive alternative medicine be included/involved in
conditionals healthcare be divided into
participle clause (in)effective be based on
chemicals to centre on/around
LINKERS to use: supplements be aimed/estimated at
nevertheless relieve stress
despite (the fact that) / contrary to
furthermore / consequently / thus

Copyright Ⓒ CambridgeEnglish.Ellen page 11