Idea for English essay?

[Shamus]

Hello all,

I have a English SAC (School Based Assessment Task) that I need to complete tomorrow. It can be an argumentative, informative or instructional piece. I just cant think of an idea! . If any of you have any ideas for an essay in this category and able to be written in about 700-1000 words, it would be greatly appreciated if you could share, or spark an idea .

Thanks

- Shamus

 

[kretzy]

Ah, English SACs. It seems like such a long time since I've done one. I always chose argumentative things, because I found that that allowed me to write something I was interested in. It also has benefits that it is easier to structure and you can show of your vocabulary.

Ideas: pick something that you're interested in. If there's nothing that you're that passionate about, have a flick through the newspaper. A few possibilities that have been in the media lately - Aborigines camped in King's Domain, return of the wrong body of the soldier that got killed in Iraq, ethical issues on Big Brother. Or maybe something local, or even school related.

Hope that helped at least a little.

 

[Shamus]

Hey, thanks for the writing tips! Also, thanks for the point in the right direction with the ideas, you have been a great help .

 

[baby duck monge]

You could always do an instructional piece on how to set up your new Mac. Of course, you would fall well short of the world limit, but maybe they would forgive you because you introduced them to such a wonderful world of computing?

Seriously, though, the advice about picking something (even from the newspaper) that you have strong feelings about it great because it will give you a lot to talk about, and your writing will be much stronger.

 

[nbs2]

Seriously, though, the advice about picking something (even from the newspaper) that you have strong feelings about it great because it will give you a lot to talk about, and your writing will be much stronger.

I would suggest against that. You don't have a lot of time to get this done. I imagine that writing about something you know well and are well versed on would be a better fit for the timetable. With something that strikes "stong feelings," I'd be worried about too much bias in the language. Plus, you would need to take the time to understand the opposition - no good argument fails to consider what the opponent will say.

That being said, I just noticed that you posted this much earlier. you've probably finished now and this comment is pointless...

 

[®îçhå®?]

Until i saw the argue/persuade bit, i was thinking about my physics teachers. I ad two who never set anything but essays with weird titles. One was 'The Magical Dream Of Josh's Pencilcase'.

I find it easy to do a preset topic. I just did one on arguing why spending £2 billion on space travel was not worthwile and talking about the problems in the world.
1500 words in 45 mins. This fits your time limit and word ount

 

[calebjohnston]

You might want to read up on Rhetoric. Understanding that is the key to persuasive speech and writing of any kind.

 

[Shamus]

Thanks heaps for the help guys, it helped a lot. I went ahead and completed my essay today in class, an argumentative essay on the topic: "Is losing weight just a matter of individual will?" Based on an article I found in the Opinion section of the Age. Hopefully it turned out ok.

So big thanks again, really appreciated