Examiners look at the five following aspects of your written work if you are asked to write an essay as part of the CAEL:
1. Mechanics - "Mechanics" means grammar. So, the examiners will look to see whether your essay has any grammatical mistakes.
2. Structure - This refers to the structure of your individual sentences. The examiners want to see that you can use a good variety of sentence structures that contain a wide array of verb tenses.
3. Organization - The examiners also look to see whether your entire essay is well-structured. Your essay should have a good introductory paragraph that contains a thesis statement, also known as the statement of purpose of the essay. You should finish the essay with a strong concluding paragraph. In addition, the paragraphs of your main body should should be well-organized, using phrase linkers and subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.
4. Development - You need to develop your ideas in your essay. This means that you need to give reasons and examples to support your viewpoints.
5. Focus - The message of your essay must be clear. Your essay must demonstrate a logical progression of thought and have a good written flow. You should not discuss items that are only loosely related or unrelated to the essay topic.
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