RABIE: The Five Golden Rules of Writing GAMSAT Essays:

The Written Communication Section in GAMSAT requires the candidate to write two essays in a span of 1 hour. Now, writing essays has never been the pleasantest of tasks, particularly for people who are not strong in writing English. Even for those whose English skills are good enough, there are other aspects of writing a good essay that need to be taken care of.

Firstly you should take note of the fact that the GAMSAT essay is different from the normal essay writing you are used to, because here you are not given any “topic”, but rather a group of five quotations. This group is not disparate, but linked by a common theme such as “education”, or “marriage” or “technology” or any such like. The first two quotations usually offer one point of view, while the next two offer an opposing point of view. The final quote could either toe the middle line or link the previous two sets in some manner. In the context of this, given below are the Five Golden Rules of writing an Essay (RABIE) in the Written Communication Section of GAMSAT:

Read, Research: A good reading background is absolutely essential for a well-thought out essay. You will be required to develop each of your essays from scratch in 30 minutes flat, and that includes developing a point of view and following it through in your writing.  The more well read you are the more easily you can assimilate your thoughts and ideas and develop the same. A good reading background is a must for developing a logical way of thinking and outgoing and lucid writing skills.

Analyse: The next step is to analyse the quotations. While you do not have much time for deliberation, you also need to properly understand the stance of each quotation, and the manner in which the quotations are linked with one another. These then need to be quickly analysed so as to get to the crux of the matter.

Brainstorming: After you analyse the quotations, concentrate, take a deep breath, and just start thinking. Do not forget to jot down every idea that comes to your mind. After jotting down all the points select the most relevant and forceful idea.

Ideate: This is the central and the most important stage. After having selected the most relevant idea, you have to ideate the direction of the essay before you can pen it down. Develop a clear line of thought in your mind, design the line of argument neatly and taper it down to a proper conclusion.

Execute: This is the most important stage because this is the moment of action. All your previous reading, all the analysis and ideation boils down to actually being able to writing a good essay that is lucid yet striking, that is able to cut across to the reader (the examiner) as a piece of well-thought-out writing. Write meaningful sentences because every word counts. Your target should be to write about 300-500 words. The essay should have a proper introduction that states your argument concisely but precisely, a “body” that substantiates what you have stated in the introduction, and a conclusion that sums it all up neatly and logically.

Try not to use circuitous words and sentences, avoid jargons and commonplace metaphors, use the active voice as much as possible, and adopt a gently persuasive tone.

If you practice writing at least one or two essays every week following the above guidelines, you are bound to score well in the Written Communication Section. And yes, during the period of practice, do have your essays evaluated by a teacher or if that is not possible, by a peer group. Remember, practice makes perfect, and success is not as evasive at it appears to be. You just need the right combination of planning, practice and performance. These are the 3Ps that can steer you to success, but more about that in the next post!