Take our quiz to find out what your revision personality is! >>

essay structure

I've always been taught to follow a petal structure when writing an essay. Point, evidence, technique, analysis, link. However, after looking at some grade 9 model answers, I found out that most of them don't follow it. For example, some of them don't even contain a point sentence. However, they contain in depth analysis, context, and lots of embedded quotations. Therefore, would ie be fine for me to not write points, or is it essential and is it in the mark scheme?

Reply 1

rsstudent007

hi! (sorry if this is long) I finished my English igcses last summer and got 9s. it depends which subject you’re on about but generally speaking you don’t want to stick to any structure at all. an essay should have a flow throughout which shows cohesive thought (that’s why planning is vital)

in writing analysis I typically would do an intro then go onto a news paragraph with point, exaplain/evidence and then further explanation of the evidence with an opposing or supportive idea. I do one main points (usually a large paragraph - although could be split to make two) and repeat that twice again with a justified conclusion at the end.

Reply 2

Pwca

TSR Community Staff

Original post by ahmadmuh

I think that once you've mastered writing a tightly structured essay then you would move onto being more experimental with how you put your thoughts together. The petal structure is a useful way of ensuring that you are building a strong, coherent argument. At this point, you should start there and develop the skill before you move onto more complex structures :smile: