"Crisp sentences are often more effective than rambling ones."

The above quote has been extracted from an examiners' report about General Paper scripts. Pretty surprising, right? So, let's take a closer look at what the examiners have to say.

While many students seem to want to impress the examiner with complex, lengthy sentences, examiners seem to be looking for just the opposite. What may at first seem like a paradox to many, is easily demystified when we look at things from the markers' perspective.

As a matter of fact, unnecessary rambling may make it harder for the examiner to actually spot your main argument in the first place. If the examiner has to go the extra mile to locate your arguments, your essay will look poor in terms of structure and coherence.

Simple terms can sometimes convey even the most complex argument. This is not to say that everything should be oversimplified. Knowing the right mix between sentence length, structure, and juggling smoothly between various categories of vocabulary will make it a smooth read for the examiner. Grasping this technique will undeniably score you higher marks.

As your tutor, you can count on me to boil down the essentials and demarcate the dos from the don'ts in class. All the tips and guidance provided come from scrutinising the content and the presence of trends in examiners' reports for the past years.