1. Answering Paper 1 questions
You have one hour, 30 minutes to answer Paper 1. You should
answer four questions, one from each topic you have studied
during your course. Each essay question is worth 15 marks,
giving 60 marks overall (out of a total of 90).
The difference between Higher and Standard Grade or
Intermediate is that, at Higher, you are expected to be able to
debate and show you understand two sides of a discussion.
PEERL paragraphs
TOP TIPS
Watch the news;
you will pick up facts
which are up-to-date
and useful.
Read, read, read; get
into a revision plan.
The simplest way to answer these questions is to split your
answer up into three PEERL paragraphs. A PEERL
paragraph is one PEEL for a view and one PEEL against the
view (Rebuttal). It also needs a mini-conclusion at the end
where you explain which view is right
e.g. if question is about USA immigration you might have
one PEEL saying it’s good for jobs, one where it’s bad for
jobs and ultimately your mini-conclusion should explain,
overall, what you think it means for jobs (and why).
Each essay should have the same basic answer structure, as outlined below:
Section
Introduction
PEERL 1
PEERL 2
PEERL 3
Conclusion
Content
State what your report is about; summarise the three topics
you are going to examine (PEERL topics)
State arguments for the view, state arguments against the
view; summarise your overall opinion in the mini-conclusion
State arguments for the view, state arguments against the
view; summarise your overall opinion in the mini-conclusion
State arguments for the view, state arguments against the
view; summarise your overall opinion in the mini-conclusion
Summarise your essay, recap your main arguments (miniconclusions), give overall conclusion to answer the question