VICTORIA SCHOOL

SEC 1 HISTORY Name: ____________________ ( )

STRUCTURED ESSAY Class: ________________

QUESTION
ANSWERING TECHNIQUE
MR. LESLIE TAY

What is a structured essay question?

A structured essay question seeks for a structured answer from students regarding the
topic that they have been taught. It is called “structured” because students are expected to
“structure” arguments to answer questions with the information that they have
learnt. This means that SEQ does not merely test on your memory but your ability to
formulate arguments based on what you know.

Structured Essay Question Breakdown

(a) Why did…. (4)
(b) How did … (4)
(c) To what extent/ Do you agree…(7)

For your SA, you will be expected to do two SEQs (two sets of a, b and c). You should
not take more than half an hour for each set of question. Each question will be based
on one chapter (not theme) and every part will cover one civilisation. For example, if
part (a) is about India, (b) will on China and (c) will be on SEA.

Structured Essay Question Answering Format

The guide below serves as a template for answering your SEQs.

For the “Why did” and “How did” types of question you can use the following format.
(Either PEEP or PEEL)

P- Point (Your argument)

E- Evidence (Historical evidence to support your argument)
E- Elaboration (Show how is the evidence related to the point)
P/ L- Point/ Link (Show how point answers the topic in question)

PEEP or PEEL twice to get the highest marks. Start a new Paragraph when you PEEP or
PEEL the second time. (The person you are peeping will know that you are peeping if
you peep for too long/ you can’t peel a banana twice!) Do it a third time only if time
permits (just in case one of your points is incorrect).
For the “To what extent/ Do you agree” type of question, you can use the following
format (it is almost the same as the previous type):

Agree/ Disagree
P- Point (Your argument)
E- Evidence (Historical evidence to support your argument)
E- Elaboration (Show how is the evidence related to the point)
P/ L- Point/ Link (Show how point agrees or disagrees with the statement in the
question)

If your overall stand is that you agree with the statement, then you should have two
points that agree and one point that disagrees. The opposite happens if you disagree with
the statement overall. So how many paragraphs do we have so far? 3.

The last paragraph (only if time permits) is meant for conclusion. Conclude by saying
what is your overall stand and why? Do not do a numerical comparison of both sides (i.e.
there are more points that agree than disagree, so I agree on a whole) instead try to
explain why one point supports the statement so strongly that you agree with the
statement (emphasise why this factor is so important than your counter argument just frail
in comparison, do not repeat what you have said earlier though). Alternatively, you can
play down your counter arguments (explain why that factor is not so important).

COMMON MISTAKES AND TIPS

• Read the question and underline/highlight the topic in question. What is this
question asking you? Make sure all the arguments/ points that you have formulated
ATQ (Answer the question).
• Plan your answers. After finding out the topic in question, quickly scribble a few
points that answer the question on the question paper. For example, if the question is
“Why was QSH not a well liked ruler”, you may scribble words like “Ruthless/Harsh
punishment” and “Strict and dislike freedom” next to the question. You will find it
easier to write out the answers and also this prevents an overlapping of answers.
• Do not narrate. Make your point/argument short and sharp. When giving evidence,
mention those things that are relevant only. Do not attempt to vomit out everything
that you have remembered. (You are only wasting your own time.)
• Paragraph your answers. I cannot emphasise more on this. Make sure every point
starts with a new paragraph. This would make your essay clearer both for yourself
when you check and for the marker when he grades your essay.
• Plan SEQs (Section C) first. Some of you may feel more comfortable to do the
SEQs first before doing the other sections because SEQ involves more memory than
the other sections of the paper. What you could do perhaps is to plan out the questions
(5mins for both sets of SEQs) and then go back and start the paper with Section A.