Essay Writing and Comprehension

The conclusion answers the question asked. It draws the threads together and states the position the essay has argued for. It must not introduce a new argument, and it must not merely repeat the introduction in different words.

Language

Short sentences. One idea each. Ordinary words in preference to grand ones. Connectives that show the direction of the argument: however, on the other hand, moreover, consequently, nevertheless, in contrast, for that reason.

Avoid the padding that examiners see in every script: "in today's fast-moving world", "it is pertinent to note that", "last but not the least", "since time immemorial". They occupy space and add nothing.

Keep to one tense, ordinarily the present for general statements and the past for events. Do not write in the first person plural about yourself.

Comprehension

What is being tested

Four things, and the questions are usually in this order: whether you can locate information; whether you understand the meaning of words in their context; whether you can infer what is implied but not stated; and whether you can express the answer in your own words.

The method

One, read the passage once, quickly, to get the sense of it.

Two, read the questions. Now you know what you are looking for.

Three, read the passage again, slowly, and mark the place where each answer is. Number the marks to match the questions.

Four, answer from the passage and from nothing else. This is the rule most often broken. A comprehension is not an invitation to write what you know about the subject; it tests what the passage says. If the passage is wrong about the law, you answer according to the passage.

Five, answer in your own words unless the question says "quote". Copying whole sentences shows nothing.

Six, match the length to the marks. A one-mark question wants a phrase. A four-mark question wants four points or a short paragraph.

Seven, answer in complete sentences, and answer the question asked and not a nearby one.

The kinds of question, and how each is answered

Factual. "What does the passage say about X?" Locate it and restate it.

Vocabulary. "What does the word 'construe' mean as used in the passage?" Give the meaning in that context, not every meaning the word has.

Inference. "Why does the author say the rule is unsatisfactory?" The answer is not stated in one line; assemble it from two or three places.

Title. A good title is short, covers the whole passage and is not a sentence.

Summary. Reduce the passage to about a third, keeping the main ideas and dropping the examples and the repetition, in your own words and in continuous prose.

A worked example

The paper sets an essay and a comprehension as two separate long-form questions, so this section works one of each end to end. Read the essay for its shape and the comprehension for its discipline: the essay is built from what you know, and the comprehension from what is on the page and nothing else.

One: a worked essay

Topic: "Free legal aid is a promise the Constitution has not kept."

Plan, in note form. Meaning of legal aid. Constitutional basis: article 39A, article 21 fair trial, article 14 equality. The machinery: the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, the authorities from the national to the taluka level, Lok Adalats. What works: the authorities exist, they are funded, Lok Adalats settle enormous numbers. What does not: awareness, quality of the lawyer assigned, an amicus appointment that is formal rather than real. Conclusion: the promise is partly kept and the gap is in delivery rather than in design.

Introduction. Access to justice means nothing to a person who cannot afford a lawyer. The Constitution recognised this: article 39A directs the State to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity, and to provide free legal aid so that no citizen is denied justice by reason of economic or other disability. Whether the promise has been kept is a question about delivery rather than about design, and this essay argues that the machinery exists and that its quality is uneven.

Body, first paragraph, the design. The constitutional base is stronger than a single directive principle. Article 39A is supported by article 21, from which the right to a fair trial is drawn, and by article 14, since a trial in which one side has counsel and the other does not is not an equal contest. The Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 gave the directive a structure, with authorities at the national, State, district and taluka levels and with Lok Adalats to settle disputes by agreement.

Body, second paragraph, what works. The structure is real. Legal services authorities function throughout the country, they are funded, and Lok Adalats dispose of very large numbers of cases, particularly compoundable criminal matters, motor accident claims and cheque cases, at a fraction of the cost of a trial. Free legal aid is available as of right to the categories the Act names, which include women, children, members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and persons in custody.

Body, third paragraph, what does not. The failure is at the point of contact. A person entitled to legal aid must first know that they are entitled, and awareness among the people the scheme is meant for remains low. The lawyer assigned is often junior and is paid modestly, so the standard of representation varies widely. In criminal cases an advocate appointed as amicus curiae sometimes meets the accused for the first time in the courtroom, which satisfies the form of the right and not its substance.

Conclusion. The Constitution's promise was to make justice reach a person who cannot pay for it. The design does that; the delivery does so unevenly. To say the promise has not been kept is too strong, and to say it has been kept is complacent. What is needed is not a new right but better funding, better training and a serious effort at making the existing right known.

Notice the length of each paragraph, the topic sentence at the start of each, and the fact that the conclusion answers the question in the title rather than summarising the essay.

Two: a worked comprehension

Passage. Every legal system that follows precedent must be able to find its precedents. A rule that the decisions of the highest court bind every court below it is of no use if a judge in a district town cannot discover what those decisions are. Law reporting exists to solve that practical problem, and it has a second effect that is less often noticed: a judgment written in the knowledge that it will be printed and read is written with more care than one that will not. Reporting is, however, selective. Editors decide which decisions add to the law and which merely apply it, and their decisions shape what is later cited. A correct decision that is never reported has no influence at all, and the reasons for selection are not always as neutral as they look.

Question 1. Why does a system of precedent need law reporting? Because a rule that lower courts must follow the decisions of a higher one cannot work unless those decisions can actually be found. A judge who cannot discover what has been decided cannot follow it, so reporting is what makes the rule operate in practice.

Question 2. What is the second effect the author mentions? That judgments are better written. A judge who knows the judgment will be printed and read takes more care over it than one who does not, so reporting improves the quality of judgments as well as making them available.

Question 3. What does "selective" mean as used here? That not every decision is reported. Editors choose which judgments to print, according to whether a decision adds to the law or merely applies settled law to particular facts.

Question 4. What criticism does the author make of that selection? That it shapes what is later cited, so an unreported decision has no influence however correct it is, and that the grounds of selection are not as neutral as they appear.

Question 5. Suggest a title. "Why law reporting matters, and its limits."

Notice that each answer is in the writer's own words, is drawn from the passage alone, and is as long as the question deserves and no longer.

Distinctions table

What these do NOT mean

An essay is not a list of headings. Continuous prose is the form, and bullet points in an essay question lose marks.

A comprehension is not a general knowledge test. Answer from the passage even where you know the passage is wrong.

"In your own words" does not mean changing every word. It means restating the idea, and a technical term is kept as it is.

A conclusion is not a summary. It answers the question the title asked.

Length is not quality. A short, ordered essay beats a long, shapeless one.

Quick revision

Essay: read the topic twice and underline the key words; plan for five minutes; decide the line; allot the space; write. Introduction states the subject and the line, about a tenth. Body: one idea per paragraph, with a topic sentence, development, support and a link. Conclusion answers the question, introduces nothing new. Short sentences, plain words, connectives, no padding.

Comprehension: read the passage, then the questions, then the passage again marking the answers. Answer from the passage alone, in your own words unless asked to quote, in complete sentences, matched to the marks. Four kinds of question: factual, vocabulary in context, inference, and title or summary. A summary is about a third of the length, main ideas only.

Test yourself

1. What are the parts of an essay and what does each do?

The introduction states the subject, indicates why it matters and signals the line the essay will take, in three to five sentences. The body develops the subject in paragraphs, each carrying one idea, with a topic sentence, two or three sentences of development, an example or authority in support, and a link to the next paragraph. The conclusion answers the question the topic asked and draws the argument together, without introducing any new point and without merely repeating the introduction.

2. What are the four parts of a well-built paragraph?

A topic sentence stating the single idea of the paragraph; development, being two or three sentences explaining or qualifying that idea; support, being an example, a figure or an authority that shows the idea is not merely asserted; and a link, being a sentence that points forward to the next paragraph so that the essay reads as one argument rather than as a series of separate notes.

3. What is the commonest mistake in a comprehension answer?

Answering from general knowledge rather than from the passage. A comprehension tests whether the candidate has understood what is in front of them, so the material for every answer must come from the passage, even where the candidate knows the passage to be mistaken. The second commonest mistake is copying whole sentences instead of restating the idea, since the instruction to answer in one's own words is itself part of what is being tested.

4. How should the length of a comprehension answer be decided?

By the marks allotted and by the form of the question. A one-mark question asking for a fact wants a phrase or a single sentence. A question worth three or four marks wants a short paragraph or an equivalent number of distinct points. Writing far more than the marks justify wastes time that the essay question needs, and writing far less leaves points unclaimed even where the candidate knows the answer.

5. Write an opening sentence for the topic "Judicial activism: a boon or a bane", and say why it works.

"When the legislature is silent and an executive is unwilling, the question is whether a court should act, and if it does, whether it is doing justice or making law." It works because it states the subject in one line, identifies the real question rather than defining the term, and signals that both sides will be taken, which is what a "boon or a bane" topic requires. It also avoids the two standard openings that lose marks: a dictionary definition, and "in today's world".

6. How is a summary different from a comprehension answer?

A comprehension answer responds to a specific question and takes only what that question needs from the passage. A summary reduces the whole passage, ordinarily to about a third of its length, keeping every main idea and dropping the illustrations, the repetition and the asides, and it is written in continuous prose in the candidate's own words. A summary therefore has to preserve the proportions of the original: an idea the passage treats at length should not disappear because it was hard to compress.