Many Economics tuition students face two common fears in essay-writing – running out of time or writing out of point. The application of Mr Koh’s essay writing framework should give Economics tuition students a good sense of how to deal with these problems.
To recap:
“Time is running out!”
– Economics tuition students should memorise definitions and diagrams so that they don’t waste time recalling or regurgitating blindly in hope of hitting the jackpot.
– Quality and not quantity matters. Use the sanity check to avoid writing off-topic and make sure that students do not include unnecessary paragraphs that do not answer the question.
– Planning an introduction that summarises your essay gives you a better sense of how much time you require to finish the essay, and whether certain points need to be cut down.
“Am I writing out of point?”
– Identify and apply the 1-down approach to key words so that you fully capture the context of the question. This means to break down a concept into its su-parts. E.g. for material standards of living, we can break it down into material and non-material aspects, while for impact on consumers, we can break it down into impact on consumer surplus, variety and quality.
– Apply the sanity check to every topic sentence to avoid steering off-topic when writing the essay.
– The introduction summarises your essay. If you are not able to plan an introduction that answers the question satisfactorily, pick another question instead.
– Summarise, summarise, realise –
Introduction (summary of essay)
Topic Sentences (summary of paragraph)
Paragraph (realise your point in full through inclusion the 4 components – DDEE).
This approach instils the discipline for Economics tuition students to constantly eyeball the question as you write.
The logic is similar to driving – if your eyes are constantly focused on the road, it is hard to steer off-course.
