Making Essay notes
Essay notes hold arguments, not answers: points for and against a statement, each backed by an example, a quote, a story or an expert. This video builds notes for the theme of justice from two PYQs, adds current affairs from CA Tracker Pro, and then uses the notes to plan a new question.
In this video
Steps
- Pick a theme in Essay, here Justice and fairness, and a PYQ such as "Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole".
- Brainstorm your own points first and write them down.
- Open Learn to Write and add the dimensions you missed, each with something that backs it up: dignity and self-respect, sustainable solutions, the Grameen Bank, active citizenship.
- Open CA Tracker Pro, search a word from the theme, and add lines from the article's key takeaways or highlighted parts to your notes.
- Do the same for a second PYQ. Note that the antithesis is not always the exact opposite of the thesis; Learn to Write's sides to argue shows what it should be.
- Test the notes on a new question, here "The most valuable of all capital is that invested in human beings", and plan the essay from your notes alone.
