English Grammar Rules — Quick Reference

The art of writing a strong CSS essay begins long before you put pen to paper. Examiners reward candidates who demonstrate a clear line of argument sustained from the opening paragraph to the conclusion.

Begin with an outline. A three-part structure — thesis, body, synthesis — gives your argument a spine that holds under time pressure. Each body paragraph should advance a single, defensible claim.

Précis writing tests a different muscle: compression without distortion. Read the passage twice. On the first pass, find the author's central thesis; on the second, mark the sentences that merely illustrate it.

Avoid the common trap of summarising chronologically. A précis is not a shorter retelling — it is a distilled argument. Aim to cut roughly one third of the original while preserving every load-bearing idea.