Structuring an Extended Written Response: Question 4
Syllabus W1, W2
You are writing a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Should all students be required to learn a musical instrument at school?"
(a) Write the opening paragraph of your essay (60–90 words). Your opening should engage the reader, establish the topic, and signal a clear stance. [5]
(b) Briefly explain two techniques you used in your opening paragraph to engage the reader and signal your stance, referring to your own wording. [3]
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Worked solution
Assessment focus
This question tests the higher-level structuring skill of opening an extended response effectively: engaging the reader immediately, establishing the topic’s central tension, and signalling a stance without a blunt, unsupported assertion, then reflecting analytically on the choices made.
Model opening (a) (84 words)
Picture a classroom corridor on a Monday morning, filled with thirty different instruments being tuned at once: for some students, this is already a treasured routine; for others, it is a source of daily dread. Requiring every student to learn an instrument sounds appealing in theory, promising discipline and creativity, but forcing an unwilling teenager to persevere with a violin they resent is unlikely to produce either. Compulsory instrumental lessons, in short, are a well-intentioned idea that overlooks how differently students respond to music.
Explaining the techniques (b)
- An imagined scene as a hook: the opening sentence pictures a specific corridor moment rather than restating the question (“Some people think students should learn an instrument…”), which draws the reader into a concrete situation before any argument begins.
- A stance delayed to the final sentence: rather than announcing disagreement immediately, the paragraph first acknowledges the idea’s appeal (“sounds appealing in theory”) before pivoting on “but” to reveal the writer’s actual position. This makes the stance feel earned by reasoning rather than simply asserted.
Common pitfalls specific to this task
- Opening with “This essay will discuss whether all students should learn an instrument,” which announces structure rather than engaging the reader or taking a position.
- Giving a summary of arguments for and against with no signal of the writer’s own view, leaving part (b) with no genuine stance-signalling technique to describe.
- In part (b), naming “an interesting opening” as a technique without identifying what specifically makes it interesting (the imagined scene) or why it works.