I wanted to do this in time for IBSAT 2008, but couldn’t do it, due to stupid time constraints. Anyways, better late than never. Here, I would give you a brief on how to approach essay writing, of course, a lot depends on your basic writing skills and your reading habits but this post will help you in window dressing your essay.

A few days ago, I came across this article that talked about similarities between an essay and a burger. An essay, it said, is like a burger, You bite into the top bun first which is the main point linked to the topic. Next you reach the meaty filling, which is the evidence or examples used to back up your main point. Finally you bite into the bottom bun which is the explanation of the relevance of your evidence to your main point. The approach is called LEER approach,

L = Lead statement making a point relevant to key words in the topic.

E = Evidence and Examples.

E = Explanation, Elaboration and discussion of the evidence.

R = Relevance of these to the overall argument, therefore a more analytical discussion.

To do this, you got to understand the essay topic really well. You should Read the Topic and then jot down your opinions about it. Once done, then you should see which one of your ideas carry weight and then you should plan your essay, what should come when, what should be the flow etc. Then comes the difficult part, writing the essay. Essay should have an Introduction, followed by main body and finally ending with the conclusion.

Five Steps to writing Essays

1. Understand;
2. Think!! Come up with a central thought.;
3. Plan;
4. Write and
5. Check.

Keep these five steps and LEER approach in mind. Read well for next 15 days. Start going through some quotations. Subscribe to Road to MBA because XAT 2009 is just round the corner. Keep reading, coming next is What to Expect : XAT 2009.