Bishup Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) I wanted to ask people on this forum how much time you spend planning your essays? In the past i never use to plan much just give me 2 minutes to forecast a series of things to say and then splurt them onto the sheet.Now I have appreciated how important planning is and rereading my essay as I go on with my essay but I sometimes feel I can plan too much. I usually do 6-10 minutes of planning?How much do you guys do? And what do you think is ideal for you and why? Edited January 8, 2011 by Bishup Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 I plan my essays based on how much time I have to do write but on average I'll spend about 10 minutes planning, with each major point organized as to where I want it. That way when I go to write I can just write for the remainder of the time allotted. I've noticed this usually gives me better marks. I got a 4 on my first essay (where I just started writing, but then again I forgot to answer part of the question) but a 6 on the last one. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbangfan Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 Hey Bishup, here´s my advice.Time planning depends much on differing capacities and abilities. In my case, I wrote a quick mindmap in 5 min, identifying the main points of the questions to be answered in PAPER 2. One point for each paragraph. I found it really helpful. I´m not those kind of people who spend much on planning, cuz PAPER 2 is really short in time. So, here´s my PAPER 2 structure:5´: Roguh Plan (Fast, identifying main points only)40´: First Essay (usually on Single party rulers)40´: Second Essay (on Cold War)5´: Thorough revision.So, that makes 1 hour and 30 minutes, just enough for completing PAPER 2.Btw, what book do you use? Because the Pearson Baccalaureate one, on the Cold War has great writing tips and exercises to improve your essay writing skills. If you can get it, go for it!! It rocks! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 5 minutes first essay planning35-40 minutes writing first essay5 minutes second essay planning35-40 minutes writing second essayleft-over time (if any)- reread for revision/mistakes/etc. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laryxle Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) I remember reading the November 2009 history exam report and it said that they recommended people spent 10 minutes planning.For me, 5 minutes was enough per essay for paper 3, where you have a bit more time to write your essays. In paper 2 it is so flat out that I spent far less, although for one of the essays I wrote was one I had done a practice on, I spent less than 1 minute planning, just scribbled down 4 things to remember to write and then got started. This meant I had longer to plan for the second one which required more than 5 minutes. So really it depends on the question you get. If you have a comparison/contrast I would say spend at least 5 minutes, because structure is important for those questions. If you get a causes question then you should spend less than 5 minutes as those are way easier to structure.edit: And for paper 1 make sure you have enough time to spend 3-4 minutes planning your mini-essay for question 4. Edited January 8, 2011 by laryxle Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proletariat Posted January 9, 2011 Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 However much it takes me to scribble down my paragraph topics. Usually 1-2min. If it takes longer than 3 I just start.It's worked for me, but it sounds like it wouldn't work so well for others. I know I personally have random lightning bolts of inspiration and ideas for other areas of my essay constantly while writing, so I end up jotting down pieces of sentences that sound good, or ideas for supporting evidence for other paragraphs in the middle of writing another. I guess if you count the time I spend writing random "flashes of genius", it might add up to 5-10 min in the end. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Glau Posted January 9, 2011 Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hmm my teacher told us that paper2 was a mind dump. Literally just dump everything you know that answers the question, the order doesn't even have to be that good. And hopefully by now you can write a good essay off the top of your head (not an awesome essay, but coherent). The order of the topics didn't seem to matter either. I don't know for paper3, SL doesn't have one sorry =/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishup Posted January 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hmm my teacher told us that paper2 was a mind dump. Literally just dump everything you know that answers the question, the order doesn't even have to be that good. And hopefully by now you can write a good essay off the top of your head (not an awesome essay, but coherent). The order of the topics didn't seem to matter either.I don't know for paper3, SL doesn't have one sorry =/ According to your sig you got a 4 for History so maybe the mind dump isn't such a great technique. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Glau Posted January 9, 2011 Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 This is true, that's why I said my teacher said that And I fail at history in general, paper2 is all about details and I don't seem to remember details for history. But yea...just what my teacher said. And we had people getting high 5's or 6's, so it was really just me who fails at history Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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