Structuring a persuasive essay under a tight word limit
A student must write a 400-word persuasive Tamil essay arguing that her school should offer a Tamil debating club. She has collected: a survey showing 62 of 180 students would join, a teacher's comment that rooms are already fully booked after school, a neighbouring school's report that its club grew from 15 to 40 members in a year, and her own experience of losing a debate because of weak speaking practice. She drafts 250 words on her personal experience and 90 words on the survey, then realizes she has no space left for the counterargument about rooms. The criteria reward a clear position, well-chosen evidence, acknowledgement of an opposing view, and control of length.
1. Diagnose the essay's structural problem and explain which material should be cut or reduced.
Read the worked answer
The essay is unbalanced: 250 of 400 words go to personal anecdote, which is the weakest and most self-focused evidence, while the survey and the neighbouring school's result are compressed or absent. The counterargument about room availability is missing entirely, so the essay does not meet the criterion on acknowledging opposing views. The student should cut the personal experience to a brief illustrative sentence, expand the survey to show demand (62 of 180 is roughly a third), and use the neighbouring school's growth as evidence that a club can succeed. This reallocates space from assertion to evidence and frees room for the counterargument, which is a required element rather than an optional extra.
2. How should the student handle the rooms objection so that it strengthens rather than weakens the argument?
Read the worked answer
She should state the objection fairly, then answer it rather than ignore it. The objection is real: rooms are booked after school. A workable response is to propose a time or space that does not compete, such as a lunchtime slot, a shared classroom, or alternating weeks with another club. Conceding the constraint and offering a specific solution shows the position has been tested, which is what the criterion rewards. Ignoring the objection would leave an obvious weakness unaddressed and signal that the writer had not considered practical limits. The response should be brief, since the essay has a fixed limit, but it must be present and specific rather than a vague promise to 'find a way'.