Structured essay questions require you to look at various factors and/or issues and weigh the factors in deciding if anyone of it is more or less important than the others.

STRUCTURED ESSAY QUESTIONS

Getting started

Getting Started

Types of SEQ

Types

Marking

Marking

Techniques

TechniquesWeighing

Weighing

TYPES OF SEQ

Types

• Type 1: 1 factor vs the others E.g. The most important cause of conflict in Sri Lanka was over the Language Policy. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

TYPES OF SEQTypes

• Type 2: Discuss two factors E.g. The Sinhala Only Policy was a more important cause of conflict than the University Admission Policy. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

TYPES OF SEQTypes

Type 3: Discuss three factors E.g. Given below are three causes of conflict in Sri Lanka: (a) Citizenship Rights Policy (b) Sinhala Only Policy (c) Resettlement Policy

Which do you think is the most important? Explain your answer.

TYPES OF SEQTypes

• Type 4: Discuss an issue E.g. Conflict in Sri Lanka is mainly caused by the LTTE. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

TYPES OF SEQTypes

GETTINGSTARTED -

TOOLS

Getting Started

Getting Started

The Mother Story3 Teck Whye Secondary pupils have done extremely well in their O level examinations. As they are the best performers in the Combined Humanities examinations, the Press is here to interview them on their success story!!! Let’s go live to Teck Whye Secondary School.

Getting Started

The Mother StoryJane, who is the person behind your success?

There are many people behind my success. They include my

mother, father, teachers, friends, uncle, aunt, my brother, my

sister, my sister’s friends, my mother’s friend, my uncle’s friend and many more

Well, that does not tell me much. Maybe I

should ask someone else.

Getting Started

The Mother StoryJason, who is

the person behind your success?

I would say that my mother is behind my success. She took

leave from work during my exam period; she made coffee for me; she stayed awake with me when

I did my revision; she cooked good food for me. I love my mother. [L2 – Description

only]

These are things Jason’s mother did. But where is the

LINK between what his mother did and Jason’s success?

The person behind my success is my mother. She is very caring and kept telling me how capable I am. In doing so, she gave me much confidence and made me

work harder. This led to my success.

Getting Started

The Mother StoryJody, who is the person behind your success?

This is a very good answer indeed.

Getting Started The Mother StoryQuestion: The person behind my success is

Factor: my mother.

Story: She is very caring and kept talking to me about how capable I am. [Description]

Explain: My mother is the person behind my success because by caring she gave me more confidence and encouraged me to work harder, leading to my success. [Link: How / In what way she helped]

Getting Started

Question Factor

StoryExplain- detailed (show understanding of content)- example will be good

- link from story to explanation (because)- link from explanation to question (leading to)

Square Approach

Getting Started

Square Approach

Question Factor

StoryExplain

The person behind my success is

She is very caring and kept talking to me about how capable I am.

My mother is the person behind my success because by caring she gave me more confidence and encouraged me to work harder, leading to my success.

My mother

Let’s See An Example – The University

Admission Policy was the most important

cause of conflict in Sri Lanka. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

Getting Started

Getting Started

ExampleYes I agree that the University Admission Policy was a very important cause of conflict. Before 1970, university admissions were based on merit and the exams were in English. The English educated Tamils benefited and there were more Tamils that qualified to enter university even though their population was smaller than the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese felt discriminated. After 1970, the government introduced new university admission criteria. Tamil students had to score higher than Sinhalese students to enter the same courses in the universities. A fixed number of places were also reserved for Sinhalese. This led to conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils because university admission was seen as a road to a bright future. Not being able to go into the university would cause the Tamils to have difficulty getting good jobs and it would affect their social and economic positions. Thus, there was tension between the Tamils and Sinhalese leading to conflict

QuestionFactor

Explain

Story

Marking-The common

mistakes

Marking

No story [No description of what happened / Un clear]

Marking Question Factor

StoryExplain

“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you

agree? Explain your answer.

Student 1:

Yes, the Sinhala Only Policy was an important cause of conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. This led to conflict because it made the Tamils very unhappy with the Sinhalese as they felt discriminated against. Tensions thus developed between the two races, leading to conflict between them.

No explanation [No link to the cause of conflict]

Marking Question Factor

StoryExplain

“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you

agree? Explain your answer.

Student 2:

Yes, the Sinhala Only Policy was an important cause of conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. When Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule, the British appointed more Tamils than Sinhalese into important positions in the government service because they could speak and write English better than the Sinhalese. After the British left, the Sinhalese government tried to improve the position of the Sinhalese in the government by introducing the "Sinhala Only" language policy. Sinhala was to be used as the official language of the country and government instead of English. The Tamils were only giver 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed.

“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you

agree? Explain your answer.

Yes, I agree that the Sinhala Only policy was an important cause of conflict bet. The Tamils and Sinhalese.When Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule, the British appointed more Tamils than Sinhalese into important positions in the government service because they could speak and write English better than the Sinhalese.[Description or story ] As a result, the Sinhalese felt discriminated and because of this, there was tension between the Sinhalese and Tamils during the colonial period which later led to conflict. [Link].

“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you

agree? Explain your answer.

After the British left, the Sinhalese government tried to improve the position of the Sinhalese in the government by introducing the "Sinhala Only" language policy. Sinhala was to be used as the official language of the country and government instead of English. The Tamils were only giver 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed. [description or story]As a result of this, the Tamils felt discriminated as they would lose their jobs and would have difficulty doing business in Sri Lanka. Their Tamil culture would also be lost. The Tamils protested against this policy but they were broken up by Sinhalese supporters and violent clashes took place between the Sinhalese and Tamils. About 100 people died in the clashes and racial tension continued until Tamil was recognized as a language of administration in the northern and eastern provinces in 1966 where there were Tamil majority. [Link]

Do’s and

Don’ts

Techniques

Techniques

1. Answer the question

Techniques

Techniques

2. Remember the square:

Techniques

Techniques

Question Factor

StoryExplain

3. One paragraph for one factor

Techniques

Techniques