Every year, more than 80 percent of the aspirants fail the CSS English essay. In 2019, the percentage was 73 percent, and in 2021, 91 percent of aspirants failed to pass. In the recent results of 2023, 92 percent of students flunked it. Unfortunately, even students with a good grip on the English language also fail this subject.
Most of the aspirants consider it just like any subject and prepare accordingly. English essay is not just a subject, it is a skill. When one has learned this skill, it becomes easier to crack CSS and every other essay exam.
To begin with, an essay has a typical structure that needs to be maintained accurately. Good English with poor structure gains nothing. The main components of an essay are outline, introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. The first component of an essay is the outline, a mini-map of the essay. It must contain every component of the essay. In other words, nothing in the essay body can be included if it has not been mentioned in the outline. Moreover, the outline of the essay must be precise, and the usage of phrases is also recommended.
Generally, there are different levels of headings in an essay. The primary headings must include only the point the examiner has asked. However, the secondary headings are the supporting points for the arguments in the essay. For instance, if the question is Economy of Pakistan: Issues and Hopes, the primary header will account for the introduction, the economy of Pakistan, its issues, hopes, and conclusion. On the other hand, the secondary headings may include current economic trends in Pakistan or a relevant case study.
Secondly, the main essay starts with an introductory paragraph that entirely summarises the whole essay. It accounts for 10 percent of the total essay. The introduction paragraph must start with a hook. A hook can refer to some catchy lines or ideas at the start of the essay that get the attention at once. There are multiple forms of hooks for the CSS English essay: quotations, fictional stories, statistics, and facts.
Only a single hook must be chosen for the essay at a time. The hook should be relevant to the topic and must be connected to the succeeding arguments and summary of the entire essay. An introduction paragraph must contain all the main points of the essay. Furthermore, the last line of the introduction paragraph is the thesis statement that defines the whole essay in one sentence. It is one’s stance on the topic. What a particular discourse will include should be reflected in the thesis statement.
Thirdly, body paragraphs are the main body of the essay comprising 80 percent of the whole essay. After the introduction paragraph, with proper use of discourse markers, the body paragraphs should start. Remember, each body paragraph itself has a specific structure including an introductory line, supporting statements, any instance/ stats/ facts, and a concluding statement.
However, each body paragraph must cover only a single point of outline. Each point in the outline must be discussed in a separate section following the basic structure. The most important elements in writing are the connectivity and expression that distinguish the high achievers and the ones who fail the CSS English essay exam.
Fourthly, transitional paragraphs between the switching of primary headers are necessary to maintain coherence in the discourse. Similarly, first-degree or second-degree discourse markers are a compulsion. Lastly, it is the conclusion paragraph that summarises the essay within ten percent of the word limit of the entire essay. It contributes to forty percent of the summary of the essay and concludes an essay in a “specific to general” flow.
The concluding paragraph must not include anything that has not been written in the introduction or main body of the essay. It must cohere with the sequence of the essay. The essay should be ended in a general way and an optimistic tone. However, it can also end with a quotation that must be completely relevant to the essay topic. Interestingly, this essay format is universal and can apply to any essay one has to write, in any exam of their life.
Similarly, the structure presented here makes the essay clear and accurate for the examiner to mark. In competitive exams, the evaluative criteria are high and require the aspirants to show the best of their knowledge, logic, and sense of expression to the examiner. An aspirant must try to facilitate the examiner while reading his or her essay paper. A fluent, coherent, and well-expressed discourse can help the aspirants gain good marks and increase the passing percentage of the subject.
Besides, mastering English is not enough, it is pertinent to master the skill of writing an essay. In the end, it is the skill that helps the aspirants in the three-hour exam to brainstorm, outline, think, and write a masterpiece. To all the aspirants of CE-2025, keep practicing the right structure for your CSS essay. It will pass, God willing!
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The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Paradigm Shift.
She is a clinical psychologist and author with over six years of experience in freelance writing, specializing in mental health, social issues, and global affairs. She co-authored L’Art de Vivre, a book on positive psychology, and contributed to flood relief efforts in 2022. She also qualified the CSS Special Competitive Examination in 2023. Through her work, she is committed to promoting resilience, raising public awareness, and fostering informed discourse by combining psychological insight with socio-political analysis.