GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO WRITING AN ECPE PROFICIENCY LEVEL

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO WRITING AN ECPE PROFICIENCY LEVEL ESSAY When writing a proficiency level composition, the candidate always has to have in mind that apart from a relatively complex syntax, grammatical structure and linguistic (vocabulary) approach which are required, three are the major factors that contribute to the essay’s full, as well as successful development and must be thoroughly observed. These three factors, the pillars upon which the layout of the essay lies, are: FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOPIC, COHESION and finally ORGANIZATION OF THE ESSAY.

A. It goes without saying that full understanding of the topic of the essay is absolutely essential to its complete development. Any misconceptions or gaps coming out from fast and therefore insufficient attempts to read through the topic, will inevitably lead the candidate to endeavor in an inadequate layout and a probable disqualifying mark ( a Borderline Fail for example). Thus, hastiness due to the stress owed to the false conception that the time allotted to the essay writing is too limited, is the worst counsel one might rely on. Therefore, the candidate will have to spend approximately three to five minutes on thoroughly observing and understanding the topic, given the fact that the topic is a microcosm including the core of the essay and the axes it will have to be focused on.

B. Never let the rater wonder what is it that you are writing about and how the idea expressed connects to the topic, to what has been previously mentioned and what is to follow. When a rater goes back and forth in an essay trying to establish non existent as a matter of fact links amongst the ideas put into it, the assessment of such an essay cannot be other than a failing grade. Cohesion, therefore, is a most important factor that contributes to the desired passing grade when Writing is examined. So, a logical, thematically appropriate and when required chronolo-gically correct arrangement of facts, ideas and events, along with the use of the suitable links and linking phrases is a prerequisite when it comes to the layout of an essay that is expected to pass the Exam. After all, we should always bear in mind that the desired effect, when our essay is being corrected, is that the rater go through our essay at one sitting, which means that there are no problems whatsoever with its cohesion and that, in other words, is a passing grade.

C. Last but not least follows the so called “structural organization” of the essay. Organizing an essay into cohesive, clear – cut and yet thematically interconnected and therefore logically “flowing” paragraphs is a procedure that has to be always followed by all candidates. An ECPE level essay can be structured in four to five paragraphs, namely an introductory Thematic Paragraph, the Main Body which consists of two to three paragraphs and a Concluding Paragraph. If such a layout is observed, the reader will have no difficulty understanding the essence of the basic ideas expressed in the essay and following the supporting arguments leading to the logical conclusions required by the topic assigned. As result, a passing grade will be awarded to the candidate(s) who have observed the structural organization of their essays, in correlation of with the correct use of cohesive devices and a thorough understanding of the topic they have chosen to deal with in the Writing Section of the ECPE Examination.

READ AND UNDERSTAND, ORGANIZE AND CONNECT The above are the principal factors which govern the approach to a well written essay for the ECPE examination. Such an approach, of course, would exclude any impulsive attempt on behalf of the candidate(s) to tackle a topic. Let us not forget that an essay is the explicit development of the writer’s thoughts or ideas which are directly connected with a given topic, and the logical conclusion derived from them. It is therefore an informative document and not a work of art, a piece of literature in other words, whose aim is to entertain, impress and instruct.

PARAGRAPH LAYOUT At the end of this introduction, it is imperative that the layout and structural organization of a paragraph, and more specifically, of a paragraph making up the Main Body of the ECPE Essay be addressed. Experience drawn from endeavoring in the composition of such pieces of writing as an essay, has shown that there are two types of paragraphs, which could be referred to as the Simple and the Complex ones.

THE SIMPLE PARAGRAPH The Simple Paragraph is the paragraph that develops one or a couple at the most, of main ideas. These ideas have to be strongly interrelated and lying on one common basis, so that argumentation will have to follow a concise, uninterrupted sequence of sound premises. The procedure that has to be followed with such a paragraph goes like this:

First, a Topic or Thematic Period initiates the paragraph. A maximum of two sentences will suffice for such a paragraph. Second, the Topic Period is exemplified and simplified so that instead of giving the impression of an a priori statement it becomes an a posteriori one and thus easier to follow one. Sometimes exemplification is incorporated in the process of argumentation that follows. Third, the first and second steps are established through argumentation based on two – at the most – sound premises. Argumentation can or has to be (when it is explicitly required by the topic) enhanced with the use of relevant examples, especially when the candidate realizes that there are “bits and pieces” missing from their attempt to compose sound arguments. Such an undertaking of course is optional, unless, as sited above, it is required (it happens a lot of happens) by the topic. Finally, the Concluding Period of the paragraph comes as a summary of the main issues discussed in it, always in accordance with the Topic Period and, if possible, it introduces the paragraph to follow.

An example of a Topic Period and the way it should be developed in a paragraph could be accounted in the verse, “Πόσο μ’αρεσουν οι καραμελίτσες – θάθελα νάχα δέκα σακκουλίτσες» of a popular children’s song. Given this verse as the Topic Period of a Simple Paragraph (the main ideas here are two: Fondness – “the taste for sweets” – and desire – “I’d love to have ten bags of them”), this paragraph should be developed to cover three basic points; why the objects of the writer’s palatable desire are sweets and no cake or any other type of sweet substance, why they have to be kept in bags and not in anything else like packets for example and finally why these bags must be ten in number and not more or less than ten.

THE COMPLEX PARAGRAPH A complex paragraph can be nothing else, than the composition of a couple or more basic ideas, whose common bases are slightly different or diverge, so they have to be incorporated in more than one Topic Periods. An example of such paragraphs could be the “problem – solution” ones, where the issues of the problem and the solution, incorporated in one paragraph, must be presented in two Thematic Periods. The paragraph is the fundamental block of the Essay, and should be dealt as such. It has to be organized so that through its complexity it comes out as a whole, coherent in its structure, and easily read and understood.