C2 Proficiency essay from two texts: practice

• Identifying the key point of each text rather than every point it makes.
• Paraphrasing at C2: restating an argument in different wording and different structure.
• Evaluating an argument by testing its evidence, its assumptions and its scope.
• Integrating two sources into one line of argument rather than two separate summaries.
• Formal register held consistently, including in the conclusion.
• Attribution language that keeps your voice distinct from the writers’ voices.
• Hedging: matching the strength of your claim to the strength of the evidence.
• Organisation: a plan that will still work when you are running out of time.
• Writing to a word count without padding or truncating.
• Accuracy in complex sentences written quickly, especially relative clauses and articles.

1. Step 1: 1

   Find the one key point per text first

   Read each text and write a single sentence saying what it argues, not what it is about. If your sentence has an and in it, you have not found the key point yet.

2. Step 2: 2

   Plan the essay around the relationship, not the texts

   The strongest structure is not text one then text two. It is a plan built on where the writers agree, where they diverge, and which position survives scrutiny. That structure alone lifts an answer out of the middle band.

3. Step 3: 3

   Paraphrase structurally, not lexically

   Swapping synonyms is still copying. Change the grammar: turn a clause into a noun phrase, an active into a passive, a list into a generalisation. That is what the examiners mean by using your own words.

4. Step 4: 4

   Attribute every summarised claim

   The first writer contends, the second text maintains, both authors assume. Without attribution the reader cannot tell your evaluation from your summary, and the content mark suffers even though the content is there.

5. Step 5: 5

   Evaluate with a reason attached

   Never write that an argument is convincing and stop. Say what makes it convincing: the evidence is drawn from a longer period, the assumption is one most readers would share, the counter-example is not addressed.

6. Step 6: 6

   Write the conclusion as a judgement

   A conclusion that repeats the two summaries wastes the strongest position in the essay. Use it to say which case is stronger and under what conditions that would change.

7. Step 7: 7

   Protect fifteen minutes for the second task

   The essay is compulsory and comes first, so it is the one that swallows the clock. Set a hard stop, and if you are behind, cut a supporting example rather than the evaluation.

8. Step 8: 8

   Proofread for three things only

   With the minutes you have left, check subject-verb agreement, articles, and the tense of your reporting verbs. Those three account for most of the language errors C2 candidates leave behind.

• Not thisCopying a striking phrase from one of the input texts into your essay.

  ThisRestating the idea with different grammar as well as different words.

  Lifted language is discounted, so a sentence built around it earns nothing and the content point may be lost with it.

• Not thisWriting two paragraphs that summarise text one and text two in turn, then a paragraph of opinion.

  ThisOrganising by issue, with both texts brought in wherever they bear on it.

  The separate-summaries structure makes integration impossible and caps the organisation mark however good the language is.

• Not thisI think the second writer is right because I agree with him.

  ThisThe second writer’s case is the stronger because it accounts for the exceptions the first ignores.

  Evaluation must be argued from the text. An unsupported preference is not evaluation, and the first-person assertion also drags the register down.

• Not thisIn conclusion, both texts have made very interesting points about this important topic.

  ThisIn conclusion, the case for regulation is the more robust, though it depends on funding that neither writer discusses.

  An empty conclusion throws away the last and most visible paragraph. Examiners read it as a sign that the candidate ran out of argument.

• Not thisThe writer says that it is a big problem and he doesn’t like it.

  ThisThe writer contends that the problem is substantial and is openly critical of the current response.

  Says, big and doesn’t like are all B1 choices. Register slips like this cost the language mark even when the content is correct.

• Not thisThis proves that all such schemes fail.

  ThisThis suggests that schemes of this kind may struggle where funding is short.

  One example cannot prove a universal claim. Overclaiming is the commonest evaluation error and hedging is the fix.

• Not thisWriting 400 words because you had more to say.

  ThisWriting within the stated range and cutting the weakest support.

  Overlong answers lose marks for organisation and relevance, and the extra material is rarely the strongest material.

take issue with

disagree with a specific claim

place emphasis on

treat something as the most important factor

carry weight

be persuasive or influential

on balance

after weighing both sides

make a case for

argue in favour of

part company

begin to disagree, after agreeing so far

rest on an assumption

depend on something taken for granted

be open to question

be doubtful, arguable

at best

even on the most generous reading

in essence

reduced to its central point

contend

argue, assert in the face of disagreement

concede

admit a point that weakens your own case

overstate

express something as stronger or larger than it is

be difficult to reconcile

be hard to fit together without contradiction

bear in mind

take into account

a line of argument

a connected sequence of reasoning

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