Two-part question essays

Sometimes called a direct question or "two questions" essay. A statement sets the scene and is followed by two questions that are related but genuinely distinct.

The structural gift

This type tells you your own structure. One body paragraph per question. You do not have to invent an organising principle, which makes it one of the easier types to score Coherence and Cohesion on — provided you take the hint.

Introduction: paraphrase the statement, signal that you will address both questions. Body 1: question one, fully answered. Body 2: question two, fully answered. Conclusion: one sentence summarising each answer.

The failure mode

Answering only the first question, or answering the second in a single trailing sentence. This happens because the two questions are usually related, and it feels as though the second has been covered implicitly. It has not, and Task Response is capped when a required element is missing.

The safeguard costs ten seconds: before writing, number the two questions in the margin. Before finishing, check you have a body paragraph for each number.

Watch for buried opinion requests

Question two is frequently "and do you think this is a positive or negative development?" — an opinion question hiding inside a two-part prompt. Answer it as an opinion: take a position, do not describe both possibilities neutrally.

Useful language

This essay will consider both questions in turn, turning to the second question, as for whether this is desirable, the answer to the first question is largely that.