Does the examiner actually read through?
 

AOA,

Dear Members,

I have just been wondering to discuss here what the process of marking of a CSS essay is. In particular, is the essay marked [I]primarily[/I] on the basis of the outline and headings OR the substance within the skeleton is also as important and [B]actually read[/B] by the examiner...?

[QUOTE=Aik Admi;863059]AOA,

Dear Members,

I have just been wondering to discuss here what the process of marking of a CSS essay is. In particular, is the essay marked [I]primarily[/I] on the basis of the outline and headings OR the substance within the skeleton is also as important and [B]actually read[/B] by the examiner...?[/QUOTE]
I think they must read it in its entirety otherwise they'll never know if the candidate even knows proper English or not.

"I look at the outline first and foremost. There are three possible types of outlines
1) relevant, to the point
2) twisted, convoluted and confusing
3) incomprehensible due to poor English
The last two outline-producing varieties of candidates are half-failed in my mind when I reach the end of their outlines.

Then I look for the thesis statements and again there can be three types of them
1) coherent and relevant
2) irrelevant
3) incomprehensible

For the third variety, their thesis statement marks the end of their stories. I skim through the pages of their sheets in next few seconds just to find out more blunders and finally award them marks in 0-20 range.

For the second type of thesis statements, if the outline is irrelevant too, I give a read to their introductory and concluding paragraphs, and just a fleeting glance to the material they've written in the body. If they used correct English, I award them marks just for doing that.

If the thesis is irrelevant but the outline was relevant, I give them a fighting chance. I read the introductory paragraph, if it conveys some sense as a whole, I continue. If the essay is coherent and strong till the end, and my eyes don't find mistakes while turning the pages, this type of candidate can make through.

For the candidates who have relevant outlines and thesis statements, they are already half-passed when I reach the end of their introductory paragraphs. I skim through their essays just to check if they have written the same stuff as their outline inside or if they have digressed and gone beyond the scope of the title. If they haven't done that to an unforgiving extent, they are clear.

Some candidates produce very good outlines and introductory paragraphs. Once I have decided to pass them, I read whole of their essays just to decide how much they deserve above 40. But this is a very rare variety."

I have quoted a person who used to be an examiner for FPSC. I hope this can answer your questions, Aik Admi.

And brother Xing Lee, they don't need to read the whole essay just to ascertain this. The guy I quoted above also said that he could know whether a candidate knew proper English just by reading five or six of his sentences. Lol

My experience could obliquely shed some light.

I scored 41 in essay back in 2014 (So not impressive, I know). I attempted tge topic "Great nations win without fighting."

I wrote hardly 15 pages. Since I had not practiced writing at all, I too suffered from that "perfect-word-syndrome". So for the first three pages, I tried to come up with flowery expression and avoided banalities. While I was still left with quite a lot of content, it dawned upon me that only ten minutes were left. In a rush, I quickly jotted down my outline (that I had written with pencil on the answer sheet). Then I quickly wrote down conclusion which was technically wrong. The paucity of time made me feel nervy and I introduced new ideas in the conclusion and the not so apposite quote by Imam Shafi. My conclusiom stretched from 1-2 pages (IMAGINE!). In my essay, I had also marked my mistakes with pencil, thinking that I would correct them later. I never found time to erasw those pencil marks, let alone their correction.

Not to forget, my essay was also devoid of any thesis statement.

I made a slight mistake in the quotation of Dwiht D. Eisenhower that I wrote on the first page. I also made a mistake in quoting Kahlil Gibran (something I realized only after I was out). Add to it that irrelevant quote of Imam Shami (it did not fit the context) and the absence of a thesis statement coupled with a technically wrong conclusion and the mistakes that I had made manifest myself. I was not expecting to get through, yet I did.

Whether I sailed through out of sheer luck or whether it was my content that earned me 41 marks is something only the examiner can tell; I am inclined to believe that it was the former case though.

Alright. JazakAllah everyone for helpful responses, especially Cogito! But Cogito where did you get this? Is it the complete response of the Ex-Examiner? Any more such resources to share?

Anyway, that takes us to the second problem I am facing. Hope you can help. How does one expand a reasonable essay to spread over tens of pages without sounding redundant and stupid?

Do the examiners of the essay (and other subjects as well) have access to laptops and the internet when marking the papers? How do they ascertain the accuracy of facts and figures mentioned in an essay or answer?

[QUOTE=Aik Admi;863525]Alright. JazakAllah everyone for helpful responses, especially Cogito! But Cogito where did you get this? Is it the complete response of the Ex-Examiner? Any more such resources to share?

Anyway, that takes us to the second problem I am facing. Hope you can help. How does one expand a reasonable essay to spread over tens of pages without sounding redundant and stupid?[/QUOTE]

I had a meeting with this guy. This is pretty much all I got from him. The other stuff he told me was known to me already—things that are common knowledge about essay writing, structure, technique and so on. I asked him if this method of examining the paper was exclusive to him or a general one, followed by every essay examiner. He said that if we exclude individual factors, this is pretty much the standard way.

As for the expansion of an essay, I personally think there is only one way of doing this: choose an essay upon which you have sufficient material in your mind.

This reminds me of another interesting story. A friend of mine appeared in 2012 exam and chose the essay topic in a bit of haste—his choice was dictated by the deceivingly easy appearance of the particular topic. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, he was completely clueless about what to write next! He was out of material in his mind to regurgitate on the paper! In a state of panic, he crossed that essay and began to write another one! He wrote 8 pages, managed to make an outline and furnished the essay with a proper introduction and conclusion as well. After appearing in all the compulsories, he was so disheartened with his essay paper that he didn't even appear in the optionals. 7 months passed quickly, and guess what? Lo and behold, his essay was clear :D

[QUOTE=Aik Admi;863059]AOA,

Dear Members,

I have just been wondering to discuss here what the process of marking of a CSS essay is. In particular, is the essay marked [I]primarily[/I] on the basis of the outline and headings OR the substance within the skeleton is also as important and [B]actually read[/B] by the examiner...?[/QUOTE]
As far as my little knowledge is concerned, the very first thing which an examiner looks for in an essay is the thesis statement and relevancy. If you are very brilliant in writing good structure with the use of heavy vocabulary ,but your attempt will be futile without thesis and relevancy to the topic. These things allocate fifty percent in grading an academic essay like css, pms. Rest of the weightage includes your vocabulary, thoughts, sentence structure and logical flow of ideas.

[QUOTE=Demonstrative;863107]My experience could obliquely shed some light.

I scored 41 in essay back in 2014 (So not impressive, I know). I attempted tge topic "Great nations win without fighting."

I wrote hardly 15 pages. Since I had not practiced writing at all, I too suffered from that "perfect-word-syndrome". So for the first three pages, I tried to come up with flowery expression and avoided banalities. While I was still left with quite a lot of content, it dawned upon me that only ten minutes were left. In a rush, I quickly jotted down my outline (that I had written with pencil on the answer sheet). Then I quickly wrote down conclusion which was technically wrong. The paucity of time made me feel nervy and I introduced new ideas in the conclusion and the not so apposite quote by Imam Shafi. My conclusiom stretched from 1-2 pages (IMAGINE!). In my essay, I had also marked my mistakes with pencil, thinking that I would correct them later. I never found time to erasw those pencil marks, let alone their correction.

Not to forget, my essay was also devoid of any thesis statement.

I made a slight mistake in the quotation of Dwiht D. Eisenhower that I wrote on the first page. I also made a mistake in quoting Kahlil Gibran (something I realized only after I was out). Add to it that irrelevant quote of Imam Shami (it did not fit the context) and the absence of a thesis statement coupled with a technically wrong conclusion and the mistakes that I had made manifest myself. I was not expecting to get through, yet I did.

Whether I sailed through out of sheer luck or whether it was my content that earned me 41 marks is something only the examiner can tell; I am inclined to believe that it was the former case though.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the helpful response. But what was wrong with a 1-2 page conclusion? You mean to suggest it was too big or too small?

[QUOTE=Cogito Ergo Sum;863079]"I look at the outline first and foremost. There are three possible types of outlines
1) relevant, to the point
2) twisted, convoluted and confusing
3) incomprehensible due to poor English
The last two outline-producing varieties of candidates are half-failed in my mind when I reach the end of their outlines.

Then I look for the thesis statements and again there can be three types of them
1) coherent and relevant
2) irrelevant
3) incomprehensible

For the third variety, their thesis statement marks the end of their stories. I skim through the pages of their sheets in next few seconds just to find out more blunders and finally award them marks in 0-20 range.

For the second type of thesis statements, if the outline is irrelevant too, I give a read to their introductory and concluding paragraphs, and just a fleeting glance to the material they've written in the body. If they used correct English, I award them marks just for doing that.

If the thesis is irrelevant but the outline was relevant, I give them a fighting chance. I read the introductory paragraph, if it conveys some sense as a whole, I continue. If the essay is coherent and strong till the end, and my eyes don't find mistakes while turning the pages, this type of candidate can make through.

For the candidates who have relevant outlines and thesis statements, they are already half-passed when I reach the end of their introductory paragraphs. I skim through their essays just to check if they have written the same stuff as their outline inside or if they have digressed and gone beyond the scope of the title. If they haven't done that to an unforgiving extent, they are clear.

Some candidates produce very good outlines and introductory paragraphs. Once I have decided to pass them, I read whole of their essays just to decide how much they deserve above 40. But this is a very rare variety."

I have quoted a person who used to be an examiner for FPSC. I hope this can answer your questions, Aik Admi.

And brother Xing Lee, they don't need to read the whole essay just to ascertain this. The guy I quoted above also said that he could know whether a candidate knew proper English just by reading five or six of his sentences. Lol[/QUOTE]
Hello where would you place this outline if you were the examiner ignoring the fact that I wrote "adversaries" instead of "adversities". :)

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