Prelim Student - Short answer and essay writing (1 Viewer)

NinjaDatHSC

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Hey guys,

I wanted to consult you guys regarding my short answer and essay writing. I've had a look at some other posts including mreditors guide to economics but I wanted to really wanted to get a nice, clear approach to tackling short answers and extended responses. I have a pretty good understanding of my content and I just wanted to learn how to express myself clearly.

Long Response
The questions that come to mind when I attempt answering extended responses or essays:

1. Knowing the meaning of directive terms as stated by the bored of studies how do you put this into application?

Ex: Describe the benefits of increased productivity for a firm and the economy and explain the factors causing internal and external economies of scale for businesses.

Okay, so when I see this question points that come to mind are:
Describe : Provide characteristics and features
Productivity : How much we produce with a given quantity, per unit of time
Increased productivity can lead too more goods and services produced with the same amount of resources.
This can lead to an increase of wants satisfied, thereby increasing the living standards and quality of life.
Explain : Relate cause and effect
Internal Economies of Scale : These are cost saving advantages and result from a firm expanding its size. They occur when a firm's output level is below the technical optimum. For example: A business can take advantage of specialisation of labour by expanding. The production process can be broken into different stages and can improve effiency
External Economies of Scale : Cost saving advantages and result from external influences. For example : Increasing the localisation of the industry - locating in a highly populated are with a supply of skilled labour and a major consumer market.


2. How do I string these together into an essay format? How do I use the directive terms throughout the whole essay?

3. Do I "relate cause and effect" for every paragraph in which I am explaining a point about internal/external economies of scale and "provide features and characteristics" for points and paragraphs related to productivity?

4. What is a good structure to follow for extended responses?

5. Are statistics only necessary for questions which require the comparision of different economies?

6. Should I practice lots of essays and start from stratch during an exam? Or should a memorise a predicted essay and use it if it proves to be close to the question otherwise just create an new one?

7. When is it appropriate to show the marker your understanding by going in depth on a paticular point? Or does this waste time?

Short Answer

Eg: 4 mark question
1. For Discuss or Explain questions, do you "Identify issues and provide points for and/or against" 4 times?

2. How do I restrict yourself from going too in depth with short answers? When can you declare to yourself that you have written enough for the questions?

3. How do you break down a higher mark question and plan the structure of your response?


Sorry for spamming so many questions, but these have been on my mind and I would really like to find out how I should go about them.

Thank you very much, all advice is appreciated.
 
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